Global Dental Hygiene Research Meeting Is a Success

More than 500 oral health professionals from around the globe convened in Ottawa, Canada, in October to discuss a range of oral health topics during the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice’s fourth Global Dental Hygiene Research Conference. Together with the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA), the conference, “Translating Knowledge to Action” gave dental hygienists throughout the world an opportunity to explore commonalities in research, education, and practice interests.

Each of the conference’s 15 workshops focused on areas identified in the new CDHA and American Dental Hygienists’ Association’s (ADHA) research agendas: risk assessment and management, capacity building of the profession, access to care and unmet needs, alternative practice in the United States and Canada, and older adults and oral health.

Jane L. Forrest, RDH, EdD, director of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice, professor of clinical dentistry at University of Southern California’s Ostrow School of Dentistry, and Dimensions of Dental Hygiene’s Editorial Advisory Board member, presented “Educators’ Session: Engaging Students in Research at All Levels,” with Joanna Asadoorian, RDH, PhD. This section discussed what faculty can do to integrate research throughout the curriculum. “Research supports evidence-based practice, which is integral to providing appropriate care to patients, so it is important that it be included at each level of education,” Forrest explains.

In addition, she and members of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice’s Advisory Board hosted a workshop on “Jumpstarting Your Research Project,” which featured a Q&A session to support participants in developing a successful project and provide networking opportunities with others who have similar interests.

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. November 2017;15(11):10.