President's Message
I selected, “Keys? Which One Will Unlock the Door?” as my theme because I strongly feel that we must be able to open the door for the advancement of dental hygienists in Texas. We need to be prepared in so many areas as we render treatment to our clients. Just think of all we do clinically.
If we are to provide services to the underserved, we must possess the key of Wisdom as our judgment will impact our treatment. We must have Courage to move forward and not concede on what may be detrimental to the public. We have to recognize the Opportunity when it presents and seize it! To accomplish all these things we must pursue Knowledge.
After we complete our studies for our degree and take our required exams, we do not want to open another book. With time this changes and we desire to learn more and apply what we learn. Our being a profession hinges on specialized knowledge and requires intense academic endeavors and achievement.
I do not know how we can create a sense of professionalism and a desire to belong to our professional organization, but I do realize that we must snag the students while they are in school. I have looked into the faces of students in San Antonio and Central Texas and cannot help but wonder what the future holds for them in dental hygiene. They are so optimistic and so trusting. I wonder who will be my hygienist in 20 years. Will I have a professional treating me? Will I be in someone’s care that only sees the paycheck and has received on the job training? Will they care? I mean really care about me? It disturbs me that so many hygienists do not seem to desire to advance the profession and are happy to rely on their ability to “clean” teeth. How do we fan a tiny ember to become a fire in the desires of the individual? I do not know. I wish I had an answer. I do know that we cannot give up on recruitment of new members.
I hope that the quarterly payment plan for our membership will bring more members on board. I hope that each of you is working one on one with someone. I hope that they can see that for the future of dental hygiene, we must possess or cultivate Wisdom, Courage, Opportunity, and Knowledge.
Ester Ball, RDH, BS
President
Texas Dental Hygienists’ Association