Hygienists are "doin' it for themselves!"

Chicago-June 2,
2010-For the third consecutive year the
American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) has set a new attendance record
for the Center for Lifelong Learning at Annual Session (CLL/AS). With total
attendance expected to exceed more than 2,000 participants, ADHA’s recently
revamped meeting format maintains its status as the largest national dental
hygiene meeting. The meeting takes place June 23-29, at Caesars Palace Las
Vegas.

Year Three of the New Meeting
Format

Now in the
third year of the combined meeting format for the Center for Lifelong Learning
and Annual Session, CLL at the 87^th Annual Session features a variety
of continuing education career tracks on the front end and the ADHA business
meetings on the back end.

Center for
Lifelong Learning

A full slate
of continuing education courses designed around a variety of career tracks will
be offered during the CLL portion of the meeting, June 23-26. The tracks have
been organized to give attendees the maximum benefit for the variety settings
and stages of their career. Tracks are designed as
follows:

Clinical
Practice
Education
Public
Health
Research and
Scholarship
Professional
Issues
Students and
New Hygienists
Luncheons

For attendees
who are looking to experience a variety of the available offerings, there are 28
sessions including a number of general attendee sessions tailored to fit their
interests and schedules.

87^th
Annual Session

Following the
Center for Lifelong Learning will be the 87^th Annual Session, June
27-29 at Caesars
Palace. The meeting will
focus on the business-related activities of the association. Forums and
workshops have been streamlined to be topic driven and create a more
collaborative discussion environment.

Dental Hygiene
Day Community
Service

Kicking off the Center for
Lifelong Learning at the 87^th Annual Session,ADHA–in collaboration
with Wrigley/Orbit–will be sponsoring “Dental Hygiene Day” an educational
offering at the Dean Peterson
Elementary School. On
Wednesday,June 23^rd, from 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Dental hygienist
volunteers will teach elementary school children the importance of, and how to
establish good oral health care routines. Materials and samples will be
provided for the children. NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS FOR CLL at the 87^TH Annual
Session, Page
2

Dental decay (cavities) is the
most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting 50 percent of children by
middle childhood and nearly 70 percent by late adolescence. Fortunately most
oral diseases can be prevented. Education is one of the most effective tools in
the fight against dental decay. It is important to teach children early on good
oral health care techniques and the importance of good
habits.

Legislative
Chairs Workshop

On Tuesday, June 29^th,
state presidents and legislative chairs are invited to attend the Legislative
Chairs workshop to get a comprehensive update on ADHA’s advocacy efforts and
learn more about how activities at the national level can be used to further
advocacy programs within states. This year the workshop will focus on the
effects of national health care reform on the profession of dental hygiene.
Among a variety of other things, this is the first time in history
dental hygiene education
programs, faculty, and students were eligible to apply for grant funding made
available through the U.S. Health and Services Administration (HRSA).

Minnesota State Senator Ann Lynch,
champion of legislation that established the first “mid-level” dental providers
in state statute in the country, will be a guest speaker at the workshop.
Senator Lynch will offer her perspective on the advocacy effort that led to the
historic new law including her tips on passing major legislation at the state
level, and the importance of having third-party support when dealing with
sensitive legislative issues.

For information on the recent
health care reform, please visit: http://www.adha.org/media/releases/03222010_Health_Care_Reform.htm.

For more information on Minnesota
State Senator Ann Lynch, please visit: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_bio.php?district=30.

For more information on any of
these topics, please visit: www.adha.org.

ADHA is the largest national
organization representing the professional interests of the more than 150,000
dental hygienists across the country. Dental hygienists are preventive oral
health professionals, licensed in dental hygiene,