News and Events Archives

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Debbie Owens, RDH, BA NSDHS President Dear Fellow Hygienists and Colleagues, I am honored and proud to serve as President of the North Suburban Dental Hygienists’ Society. We are the largest component of the Illinois Dental Hygienist Association, and I am reminded of how hard our previous Presidents and Board member have worked to achieve this over the years. We need the history of this organization to encourage and mentor for the future. We need to have patience and passion as we offer this encouragement and assessment to our new members and leaders. Those of us who have been the history of this association must embrace those who are the future. We must remain as a team, young and old, novice and expert. We cannot be divided or we shall lose our momentum. CLICK HERE to read entire article Lisa Schmidt, RDH NSDHS Vice President Allow me to introduce myself… I’m Lisa Schmidt your new Vice President of North Suburban Dental Hygienists Society. I’ve been married to my wonderful husband Brad for 10 years (I sound like a contestant on Wheel of Fortune). I have a 22 year old son who just graduated from Iowa State as an Aerospace Engineer and has begun his career at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (is it obvious how proud I am…) I have been a member of ADHA and this component since my graduation from the Dental Hygiene Program at Harper College in 1999. The work of the Society is of great interest to me and I wanted to give something back by participating in some capacity for North Suburban. Laura Burke must have read my mind. She approached me and suggested I run for this office. I feel honored to be chosen to serve on this board. I will put my “all” into serving the members of this great organization. Thank you! Kathy Barnum, RDH, BS Immediate Past President My Fellow Hygienists, My 2 year presidency of NSDHS has ended and I have to say it was a great ride! I thank you for allowing me to be in charge of this wonderful organization. Your Board of Trustees is such a great group of dental hygienists and it has been a pleasure working with them. I leave you in capable hands with your new president, Debbie Owens. I will continue on this board as the Immediate Past President. My role is to help educate everyone about our Board positions and develop a slate of candidates for any open positions. If you are interested in joining our board or just being on a committee, please contact me and I will be happy to give you more information. Have a warm and enjoyable summer. Kathy Barnum, RDH, BS NSDHS Immediate Past President National Children's Dental Health Month Members share their stories and pictures Hi Ladies, Thanks again for the toothbrushes and toothpaste! The Circle of Friends Developmental Pre School is where my son, now age 16, went to school. They support both typical kids who are included as peer mentors / students, as well as kids with developmental disabilities. Having NSDHS provide the materials for me allowed me to focus on the fun part of visiting with the kids. For that I am grateful. I am forwarding some photos that were sent to me. I thought if others in the NSDHS organization see that you offer brushes, etc, it makes it fun and easy to do a presentation to any age group. I wonder if many know we can get a CE when we do community service? Illinois special needs population is unfortunately under served. Thanks so much, Joanne Prifti-Nicholas Joanne Prifti-Nicholas, RDH, BS presenting to special needs children Kathy Barnum, RDH, BS utlizing NSDHS resources for National Children's Dental Health Month   2010 NSDHS Delegation 2010 NSDHS Delegates Back Row: Gina Strelecki, Cristina Bordabeheres, Jenny Rush, Kathy Barnum, Sonja Kerr, Erin Peters, Trish DeDios Front Row: Bonnie Lyons, Melissa Salzmann   Volunteers Needed To Serve Northwest Community Hospital’s Mobile Dental Clinic has been providing high quality oral health care services to our community for seven years now.  The program has grown tremendously and has operated at full patient capacity for the last few years.  We feel fortunate to have the invaluable support of Elk Grove, Palatine, and Wheeling Townships, our volunteers, Harper College Dental Hygiene Program and the dental students from the University of Illinois. From the beginning, generous dental professionals like you have been extremely important in enabling us to expand our service to the community.  Our newest mission is to help provide dental services to persons with disabilities. Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) has formed a partnership with the Little City Foundation (LCF) in Palatine to provide dental services to their residents. This process was started with a dental assessment of the residents to see how to best use the designated funds. Through philanthropy, a 2 operatory dental suite that sits within the LCF medical facility at 1760 W. Algonquin Road was constructed. Little City has hired a part time hygienist to oversee the program and provide direct services, along with a caretaker training, and patient desensitization component. The Mobile Dental Clinic will provide restorative dental services 2-3 days per month at this location and would like to keep the MDC running at full capacity. In order to do this, we will need the help of our volunteers. If you would like to get involved either by volunteering at the MDC or helping out at Little City, please fill out the Mobile Dental Clinic volunteer application by CLICKING HERE, or contact me. Thank you for your support, Nancy Colovos ncolovos@nch.org NCH Dental Program Manager

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IDHA Annual Session 2010 By Gina M. Strelecki, R.D.H., B.A.

We had another successful IDHA Annual Session this year.  I want to thank all the NSDHS members who took time off and spent the weekend of October 1-3rd in Westmont, IL.  The NSDHS Delegation included, Bonnie Lyons, Sonia Kerr, Cristina Bordabeheres, Kathy Barnum, Trish DeDios, Jenny Rush, Erin Peters, Melissa Salzmann and Gina Strelecki.  The IDHA Annual Session enabled Illinois dental hygienists to discuss issues that will affect our future.  Saturday morning began with a Mega Issues Forum entitled “What does IDHA need to look like to meet the needs of dental hygienists of tomorrow?  A lively discussion looked at the future of Illinois dental hygienists from 1-5 years and 6-10 years.  The results will help the IDHA Board of Trustees plan for their Strategic Plan. The IDHA Houses ran very smoothly.  A special thanks to Sonia Kerr for volunteering on the Reference Committee.  I am very proud of our first time attendees, which included Kathy Barnum and Erin Peters.  They were not shy at the microphone and contributed to a lot of discussion during Reference Committee Hearings.  I am also very proud to announce the NSDHS members who serve IDHA, Bonnie Lyons-Finance Committee, Debra Owens-Legislative Committee, Melissa Salzmann-IDHA Editor and Website Chair and Gina Strelecki-IDHA Bylaws and Policy Chair. I encourage all dental hygienists to think about and decide where you see yourself and dental hygiene in 1-5 yrs. and 6-10 years.  Do you consider dental hygiene just a job or do you see it as your career?   If it is your career, I encourage all of you to think about taking part in your future and get more involved at any level.  NSDHS would be happy to mentor and guide you.   Thank you for letting me serve as your NSDHS Component Trustee!

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This Board, your board is an amazing group of women. We vary in life experiences from the young, recent grads, newly married, mothers of babies, small children, middle school children, high school teens and young adult college students to mature, long time clinicians and married children and grandchildren. This variety is the spark of this organization! The dedication here to our hygiene profession is very impressive. All of us wear many hats in life and on this board so we are constantly juggling our full plates but because we all pitch in and support each other, this board keeps your component strong.

Let me introduce you to them……

Ashley Angelo is our newest board member. I had the pleasure of working with her as a student at UIC and I am enjoying even more working with her as a board member. Her ideas and suggestions are real and fresh. She is the co-chair for Community Service and you will be seeing more of her.

Angela Kozak is our most recent grad. Does it feel like you have been out a whole year already? Angela has given wonderful input into our board. She jumped a board to learn how this organization works and taught us a few things in the process. She has been instrumental in communicating between the Harper students and North Suburban as Student Relations Chair.

Alison Stahl is a very busy mom, clinician, student and instructor who found that little extra time to help us with Ways and Means and our 50/50 raffle. She is leaving her position to pursue more education. Best of luck to you.

Linda Argeros is another person with a very full plate but Linda has managed to run a coat drive in the fall and a food drive in the spring and had a baby (her 4th) in between! Thanks so much Linda.

Sara Hallowell is a very passionate hygienist who is very giving of her hygiene knowledge. Sara and I go back several years now when we presented dental health education as tooth fairy ladies for the whole elementary school! She is a past president and she returned to our board to maintain all seminar and handout correspondence. As a mother of teenagers, you know she can handle anything.

Jill Gauss is also a past president and wins the award for traveling the farthest to our component seminars. See what I mean by dedication. She just loves our group too much! She has found time to record our minutes at all meetings and offers her experienced advice all while working and continuing her education.

Sonia Kerr is the chairperson of my favorite committee, Dental Health. When I met her, I knew she was just right for this job. Then I had the pleasure of presenting with her and that sealed the deal. She is maintaining supplies and running this committee especially in February while working and being a wife and mother of 3 (twins the most recent!) She is so amazing to me. She sure has a true passion for dental health.

Debbie Owens loves politics and is great conversing with the legislators! Deb keeps us updated with current legislative news as Legislative chair. This is one of the most important reasons; I believe to be a member of ADHA, IDHA and NSDHS is keeping up with the rules and regulations that govern our profession. In my career lifetime, these rules have changed for the worse and for the better. The “for better” was because of people committed like Debbie and the actions she took to make it better. She does this while raising two children and working clinically.

Kimmy Yaras is our current past president and a very experienced member of our board. She has also served on the IDHA board. She manages to find time from her children and husband as well as working clinically to be a great asset to this board. I believe she has had two babies serving on this board!

Gina Strelecki was unable to make it tonight due to a family event but she is both a past president of NSDHS and IDHA. She holds 3 positions on our board, is a mother, clinician and make up consultant and probably does more that I don’t know about. She is a strong believer in membership on our profession so students you will be hearing from her.

Laura Burke has probably held almost every position on this board. Her experience and dedication keeps this component in tip top shape. Even after major surgery, it was hard to keep her away from the computer! She wears many hats in life, mother, grandmother, and clinician as well as holding 3 positions on this board. She controls the money, the website, and your reservations for the seminars. All I ask is to respect her, she deserves it!

Dona Gabzdyl is a very special person and one person you definitely want to know. She is not currently on our board but does over and above for NS and our hygiene profession. She amazingly manages many aspects of her hygiene related careers while completing her education, winning awards and raising a family. She recently presented at our March seminar and was just featured in the April RDH Magazine, From The Podium by Ann Marie DePalma called “Kicking the Out of Habit.” For NS she is our website designer and maintainer. Nsdhs.org is the best website in the state!! Please check it out!

To serve on the board of trustees:
1. You must be a member of ADHA.
2. You must attend 4 Board meetings and 6 Component seminars.
3. You must be full of ideas, able to share your opinion, and willing to give just a little extra time to the best profession ever!

Back Row: Laura Burke, Linda Argeros, Alison Stahl, Ashley Angelo, Sonia Kerr, Kathy Barnum, Dona Gabzdyl
Front Row: Angela Kozak, Jill Gauss, Kimmy Yaras

Angela Kozak, Dona Gabzdyl, Simona Catana, Jenny Rush, Melissa Salzmann, Sonia Kerr, Cristina Bordabeheres, Trish DeDios

Dona Gabzdyl, RDH, BS, MBA was one out of ten recipients to receive the prestigious 2009 Hygienist Hero Award, following in the footsteps of fellow NSDHS member, Donna Grzegorek - 2008 Hygienist Hero Honoree! The criterion is based on finding hygienists who are an an integral part of the dental team who go above and beyond daily practice. A Hygienist Hero donates time to charities to enhance oral health care in their communities. Hygienist Heroes champion to raise awareness for oral health care and are an inspiration to all.

In appreciation of Dona's extraordinary efforts, the American Dental Hygienists’ Association presented Dona the Hygienist Hero Award at the ADHA Annual Session in Washington D.C. This program is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., maker of LISTERINE® Antiseptic and REACH® Brands. Dona also received a $1000.00 honorarium to donate to the Northwest Community Healthcare Mobile Dental Clinic - her charity of choice.

Dona’s winning essay discussed her personal pledge to actively make a difference in the community: to serve the undeserved population in attaining comprehensive oral health care. Dona worked with the Northwest Community Healthcare Mobile Dental Clinic on various community outreach programs both in and outside of the clinical setting. She was the only hygienist to participate in the WGN Channel 9 Television Network “Back-To-School Health Fair,” performing oral health examinations to hundreds of school children.

In addition, she conducts oral health presentations to elementary schools along with conducting various oral health projects with her Brownie Girl Scout troop for which she is a leader. One outreach program Dona participated in was a pilot research project entitled, “Determining Health Status and Health Disparities for an Embedded Rural Workforce” screening over 300 at-risk men, women and children who live in the Arlington Park Racetrack dormitories. This project researched the health-related risks and disparities of those who work on the backstretch areas, being one of the most vulnerable to lack access to health care. According to the results of the study, 46% had untreated carious lesions, 17% had soft tissue lesions, and 28% had periodontal disease. Identifying these disparities can now bring about awareness to this population so they can receive additional care and supportive services.

Dona attibutes her success based on her involvement as an NSDHS delegate and board member: "I thank North Suburban Dental Hygienists' Society for making me the person I am today. It is my involvement with my professional association that has allowed me to vote on behalf of dental hygienists and allow us to practice under General Supervision in Illinois so we can serve many of those who never saw a dentist or hygienist for preventive care before. Through the Mobile Dental Clinic, I can provide periodontal therapy and the highest standards of education for those who cannot afford to receive care due to financial barriers, with the same standards I provide in my clinical practice." Click here to visit the J&J Website to hear the other Hygienist Hero stories and to apply to become the next Hygienist Hero.

NSDHS Congratulates Dona Gabzdyl for this wonderful achievement!