Critical Impact

Most of our readers entered this field because of a passion for helping people maintain good oral hygiene. That will always be part of the role, but the ways in which dental hygienists can impact patients' lives continue to expand. Now, in addition to helping prevent caries and malocclusion, you can play a pivotal role in the early detection of various life-threatening conditions, ranging from oral cancer to cardiovascular diseases, mental health disorders, and more.

This month's cover story addresses what has been one of the hottest topics at recent dental hygiene conferences: screening for oral cancer. With all due respect to scaling and root planing, a strong case can be made that these screenings truly are the most important few minutes in a dental hygiene examination. You have the power to save lives.

As this month's continuing education article shows, dental hygienists can screen for other conditions as well. As the authors conclude, it is the dental professional's duty to stay up to date on potential indicators of disease, warn patients of potential risks, and guide them toward appropriate next steps.

The Inside Dental Hygiene team takes our role in providing education on these topics very seriously—a commitment spearheaded by our Director of Business Development, Jeffrey Gordon, who retired at the end of February after 35 years in the dental industry. We want to thank Jeffrey for his work over the past 5 years on IDH, congratulate him on his retirement, and build on his legacy by continuing to serve the dental hygiene community at the highest level!