Dental hygienists from Texas and California dominated the list of recipients for the fourth annual Sunstar Butler/RDH 2005 Healthy Gums Healthy Life Award of Distinction.

Sunstar Butler and PennWell, which publishes RDH, made the announcement on June 2nd after notifying seven of the eight recipients. The identity of the eighth recipient will be released at a later date.

Three of the award winners hail from California: Catherine Kelly Draper, RDH, MS, of San Jose; C. Austin Risbeck, RDH, of San Francisco; and Noel Kelsch, RDH, of Moorpark.

Two reside in Texas: Cappy Snider, RDH, of Azle, and Cheryl Ann Thomas, RDH, of Galveston.

The other two recipients are Maxine Wehling, RDH, of Broken Bow, Neb., and Maureen Murphy Chodaba, RDH, of Highland Park, N.Y.

The award winners were selected by a panel of six judges who evaluated entries submitted by approximately 200 dental hygienists or colleagues of dental hygienists (for the first time in 2005, RDH readers were allowed to nominate a colleague).

An award ceremony for the recipients will be hosted during the RDH Under One Roof conference in Chicago on July 21-23, and an article with more details about the recipients will appear in the September 2005 issue of RDH.