Sunstar Foundation Announces Winners of the World Dental Hygienist Award

Sunstar Foundation announces the winners of the World Dental Hygienist Award (WDHA). These awards are organized by the SUNSTAR Foundation and supported by the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene (ISDH) every 3 years to recognize dental hygienists who have made significant contributions to dental hygiene science.

The winner of the Research Category is Danielle Clark, RDH, MSc, from Canada, for the project entitled: “The Role of Loricrin in Severe (Formerly Aggressive) Periodontal Disease”. In a nutshell, this paper suggests that low-levels of loricrin protein could be considered as a risk factor for AgP/Grade C Periodontitis (Aggressive Periodontitis).

For Project Category, the winner is Tan Minh Nguyen, from Australia, for the project entitled: “Integrating Evidence-Based Dentistry Within a Public Dental Program for Children.”  This study demonstrates that supporting dental practitioners from an oral health prevention approach based on minimal intervention dentistry within public dental service in Australia could influence the type of dental services provided over a year to children aged between 0 and 12 years old.

As JoAnn Gurenlian, RDH, PhD, president of the selection comitée for the WDHA and past president of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists, says: “The World Dental Hygienists Awards helps us take the time to recognize and celebrate the major contributions dental hygienists make to the profession and discipline of dental hygiene. Patients trust us, they value us, and we are great at educating them. So we can work with our patients and help them understand how to improve their oral health”.

These awards started in 2007 and are divided into two categories, research and activity/project, and are targeted to professionals but also to students to encourage dental hygienists across the globe to share their best practices and most recent work. The 5th WDHA Ceremony will be celebrated in Brisbane, Australia, coinciding with the 21st ISDH on August 16, 2019.