IFDH eNews: December 2022
Member News
Special Focus on:
Dental Hygienist Day/Week/Month
Canada
Oral Health for Total Health
The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association has coordinated celebrations for National Dental Hygienists Week™ (NDHW™) since 1988. The week of April 4-10 serves as a kick off for Canada’s Oral Health Month. Focusing on the importance of maintaining good oral health practices and helping Canadians understand the role and importance of the dental hygiene profession, this annual event has a recurring theme of “Oral Health for Total Health” to remind everyone that taking care of our mouth, teeth and gums positively impacts on other aspects of our lives.
We maintain and promote a website full of resources designed to help our members organize their own local activities. These resources include:
- Celebration Ideas
- Free Promotional Materials (activity kits, posters, bookmarks, certificates, brushing chart, trivia quiz etc.)
- Media Resources (publicity tips, feature articles, news release)
- Multimedia Files (logos, videos, images, social media graphics)
As part of the week’s activities, we run a national colouring contest, organize purple municipal landmark lightings (83 in 2022) and run a Put Your Purple On photo contest that brings in over 1,000 entries. We also implement a diverse communications strategy to government officials, media, school boards and public health units across the country and run an extensive social media campaign.
Denmark, Norway & Sweden
International Dental Hygienist Day in Scandinavia
In October, the Danish Dental Hygienists in cooperation with the Swedish and Norwegian Dental Hygienist organizations marked the day of Dental Hygiene. This is the second year in a row that the international day was celebrated on October 12th and in a Scandinavian cooperation. The theme of the day was “Sustainability” regarding Dental Care and Dental Hygiene, which has also been a theme both at the IFDH meeting in August. There is a lot to be done to make a possible positive impact on climate change and for the environment in general, and the good thing is that there are concrete steps for us as a profession.
Slovak Republic
A Multi-Pronged Strategy for State Institutions
October was our Dental Hygiene month for Association of Dental Hygienists in the Slovak Republic (ADHS), and was focused primarily on state institutions. The intention was to achieve a cycle of several joint meetings of the ADHS Praesidium (President and VP) with individual sections of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic (MZSR). In the month of October, the praesidium of the ADHS held a meeting at the MFA, which presented presentations of requirements for the establishment of a chamber of Dental Hygienists in the Slovak Republic as well as a complete version of the strategic plan of WHO, IFDH and EFDH, supplemented with current information from ISDH 2022 in Dublin, emphasizing the importance of Dental Hygiene as a profession in the sense of sustainability.
Israel
International Dental Hygienists Day
On November 16, as we traditionally do, The Israeli Dental Hygiene Association celebrated International Dental Hygienists Day. This conference includes a combination of scientific/professional lectures and social events encouraging networking and exchanging information, experiences, and ideas. Over 130 hygienists participated. The conference took place in the northern part of the Dead Sea, a location highlighting the concept of sustainability we are now promoting. In addition to being the lowest place on earth, The Dead Sea holds health benefits attributed to it. Sustainability and environmental actions are being taken to save it from drying out.
Spain
In October, we held the 33rd National Congress of Hygienists in Granada.
On the celebration of National Hygienist Day, we launched a podcast
United States
The ADHA’s National Dental Hygiene Month had the theme of “Empowerment” for this year. Several materials were produced, including a poster, podcasts and three 90-minute videos below:
- Agility and Adaptability Hacks in the Face of Change
- Become An Empowered Hygienist & Explore Career
- “Dude, What’s My Job?”: Thriving Across Generations
More Members Celebrating Dental Hygiene Month:
Belgium, Finland, Korea, Norway
