Laura J. Sleeper, RDH, DHSc, is the program director for the
Plaza College Dental Hygiene Program, the first dental hygiene program in Queens and the first in New York City in 27 years. She
is an active member of her component as a board member of the Dental Hygienists’ Association of the City of New York. Sleeper’s
interests include interprofessional education, expanded duties for dental hygiene practitioners, and promoting a
sense of ownership and community dental health responsibility among dental hygiene students.
As the legality of nondental providers offering tooth whitening treatment varies by state, dental hygienists are charged with educating patients so they can make informed decisions when considering this common esthetic treatment.