President's Message

Welcome to the Dallas Dental Hygienists’ Society! 

Our goal is to support, develop, and empower hygienists in the Dallas area.  DDHS has many opportunities for your participation and we hope that you join us!

As your President, my goal for our society is to reach out to those hygienists that are not members of ADHA.  We must increase our membership and develop a sense of community for our local hygienists.  I have introduced a membership initiative and have challenged all our members to offer a personal invitation to our meetings to those hygienists that might work in the same building, down the hall, or old classmates that we have lost touch.  DDHS is for hygienists that treat our career as a profession, showing dedication to patient care, a passion for educating the public about oral health, and a hunger for knowledge about the latest developments and products.  If you are a DDHS member, then I ask you to take part in our membership challenge and promote the multiple reasons for becoming an active member.

Also, we must remember to support our local dental hygiene students!  We have a wonderful, long-running mentor program with Baylor College of Dentistry, Caruth School of Dental Hygiene.  This is truly a chance for us RDH’s to give back.  I’m sure we can all remember the trials and tribulations of finishing our last year of school and preparing to enter practice.  Did you know that we have members that have developed three generations of mentors, all from students that were once mentored themselves?  Students are our future and we will one day place DDHS in their hands so let us take the opportunity to mentor and show them what it means to be a professional.

We offer monthly CE courses beginning in September and ending in April, that are solely dedicated to you, the hygienist.  DDHS has access to incredible speakers that have the latest research and information on topics revolving around dental hygiene.  We also have incredible relationships with our sponsors and thank them for all their support that allows us to provide these courses.  Come and bring a friend!

Another part of our organization is community service.   There are several opportunities for RDH’s and dental hygiene students to volunteer in our area through DDHS.  We have an outstanding and nationally recognized fluoride varnish program with Mark Twain Elementary school in Richardson, TX.  Many of our members also volunteer their time within certain ministries and mission trips.

Part of being a professional RDH is protecting our profession.  DDHS members are active within legislative issues affecting dental hygienists in our state.  Every year, our DDHS delegates vote on the direction our society and state association would like to go.  Whether it means getting the permissible duty of local anesthesia or preventing dental assistants from providing prophylaxis to patients, DDHS must have the membership numbers so that we may have a legitimate presence when we are supporting our rights and our careers at the state capitol.

I am so proud to be a member and President of DDHS and I believe we have a lot to offer RDH’s in our area.  For the member that just wants to show up for CE credits to the member that desires to become active on our Board, we can accommodate all hygienists.  Please take a look at our monthly meeting/CE schedule and make some time to attend!  I hope to see you there, soon!

Best wishes for a bright future!

-Chrissy Samples, RDH BS
DDHS President 2011-2012