News about Dental Hygiene

On April 7, Penn College’s second-year dental hygiene students – led by Bridget E. Motel, instructor of dental hygiene, and Grace G. Hicks, clinical director of dental hygiene – provided 39 oral cancer screenings for members of the college community.

The screenings, offered on campus during Oral Cancer Awareness Month, are done to identify mouth cancer early, before there are symptoms.

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, about 54,000 people in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2022. For more than a decade, there has been an annual increase in the rate of occurrence of oral and oropharyngeal cancers.

“While some think this is a rare cancer, mouth cancers will be newly diagnosed in about 145 new individuals each day in the U.S. alone, and a person dies from oral cancer every hour of every day,” the foundation states.
Photos by Bridget E. Motel

Aspen Dental Management Inc. is partnering with Pennsylvania College of Technology to establish a new scholarship that provides two $1,000 awards annually to students in the dental hygiene associate degree major.

The Aspen Dental Scholarship will provide one award each to a student in the first and second years of the program.

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“If a career in a health care setting is your calling, your path to a thriving career starts right here at Penn College,” says dental hygiene student Dacia James, who leads a virtual tour of the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. The Williamsport resident (aided by Ally K. Swartz, a paramedic technician major from Bellefonte, and Alexia O. Zelenevskaya, a dental hygiene student from Ephrata) guides viewers through an 11-minute exploration of paramedic, physician assistant, dental hygiene, nursing, physical therapist assistant, surgical technology, radiography and applied health studies, as well as the school’s newest majors: health science and allied health.

Retired faculty member Darla B. Logue has established a scholarship for first-generation college students at Pennsylvania College of Technology in honor of retiring President Davie Jane Gilmour.

The James E. and Darla B. Logue Scholarship also honors Darla Logue’s late husband, who taught for 49 years – 39 of them at Penn College – and was the recipient of the institution’s highest teaching honor: the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology bestowed two Distinguished Teaching Awards on faculty during an event held on main campus.

Mark E. Sones, instructor of diesel equipment technology, was presented with the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award, the highest honor accorded to a faculty member at the college.

Bridget E. Motel, instructor of dental hygiene, received an Excellence in Teaching Award.

Both presentations were made during an Employee Recognition Week event held in Bardo Gymnasium and livestreamed across campus.

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The capstone project of a Fall 2020 Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate – on COVID-19 and dental care – has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Dental Hygiene and is being offered as a continuing education opportunity by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Breanna J. Connell, of Easton, received her bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene in December. Her paper – and the related continuing education offering – is titled “COVID-19 and Oral Maintenance.”

“My motivation for this research was to create a one-of-a-kind literature review that discussed a topic that was fresh and new. At the beginning of the pandemic, I found that my coworkers and I did not know proper COVID-19 related protocols,” said Connell, who has been a registered dental hygienist since 2015. “As the protocols were constantly changing, I found the topic to be extremely interesting and knew that researching this topic could improve my career as a dental hygienist.”

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With her keen knowledge of the ties between oral and overall health, recent Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate Lori Dietz hopes to help people near and far.

Here in Pennsylvania, the registered dental hygienist, who earned her bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from Penn College in December, already has a full plate educating and caring for others as a part-time, private-practice dental hygienist and an adjunct clinical instructor for first- and second-year dental hygiene students at Northampton Community College.

Recently, as part of her Penn College senior capstone project, Dietz, of Pen Argyl, educated peers in the dental profession on the role of a dental team in helping patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology students achieved second- and fourth-place honors in the Pennsylvania Dental Hygienists’ Association’s “informative posters” event for college students.

A poster titled “Transforming Treatment for Transplant Patients,” presented by Tara L. Roupp, of Lewisburg, and Kimberly R. Bergenstock, of New Columbia, placed second among more than 40 entries from across the state.

Taking fourth place was “Going Green: Innovative Products for Periodontal Prevention and Maintenance,” presented by Madilyn G. Serenko, of Williamsport, and Erin K. Gohn, of Spring Grove.

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Newswatch 16’s Chris Keating visited Penn College’s Dental Hygiene Clinic on Tuesday for a story about the services the clinic provides to more than 2,000 members of the community each year while giving future registered dental hygienists critical hands-on education. He interviewed Shawn A. Kiser, director of dental hygiene, along with students Erin K. Gohn, of Spring Grove, and Lauren Groody, of Lititz. The segment premiered at 5 p.m. and aired during several of the ABC affiliate’s subsequent news broadcasts.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s state-of-the-art Dental Hygiene Clinic is scheduling appointments for the fall semester.

The clinic provides low-cost preventive dental hygiene services to the community, including cleanings, exams, X-rays and sealants. The clinic collaborates with area dental offices and can share records to prevent duplication of services.

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From the Spring 2020 Penn College Magazine: Lisa M. Zimmer’s resolute spirit has borne her through a 12-year journey to a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene that included overcoming opioid addiction and developing a senior project, now a nonprofit organization, to provide oral health care to those in recovery. Read “Restoring smiles and lives.”

Shawn A. Kiser, dental hygiene program director at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was appointed to the position of commission site visitor for 2020-21 by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

Site visitors assist the commission in a number of ways, including developing accreditation standards, serving on special committees and serving as site visitors to predoctoral, advanced dental and allied dental education programs. Site visitors are fact-finders, who report their findings to the commission, which then decides on a program’s accreditation status. Kiser’s term begins in October.

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Last week, the Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene program held a special event for its first- and second-year students, engaging an international motivational speaker who is well-known in the dental field to speak with students via videoconference.

“Our students have been going through such turmoil during this COVID-19 pandemic, that we felt the need to lift their spirits,” said Shawn A. Kiser, the college’s director of dental hygiene.

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Penn College’s planned April 4 “Service Saturday” – a dental hygiene outreach to veterans, active-duty service personnel and their dependents – has been canceled.

Pennsylvania College of Technology dental hygiene students and volunteer dental professionals will provide free dental hygiene services to veterans, members of the armed services, and their dependents on Saturday, April 4.

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