Barbara K. Tritz

At RDH Under One Roof, Katrina Sanders, RDH, delivered a powerful closing mega session that did far more than end the conference—it opened a door. With energy, courage, and unmistakable passion for our profession, she challenged dental hygienists to imagine a future in which we are no longer defined solely by “cleaning teeth,” but recognized for the full depth of our education, clinical judgment, preventive expertise, and ability to change lives.

What if that’s what dental hygienists have really been all along? Looking beyond the plaque: Healer For decades, dental hygienists have been viewed primarily as the professionals who “clean teeth.” But the longer I practice biological dental hygiene, the more convinced I become that this description barely scratches the surface of what we actually do.

One of the most frustrating situations in dentistry is the patient who appears to be doing everything right, yet continues to lose bone and experience inflammation. These patients brush carefully, floss consistently, irrigate daily, and show up faithfully for maintenance visits. Their plaque control may appear excellent, and yet their gums bleed heavily, their tissues remain inflamed, and bone loss around implants continues to progress.