Dear RDH,
I have re-read your article, "Reflections on Dental Hygiene" (RDH, July 1995, p. 12). I am still asking myself why it was printed.
I found that it proved that we are still dealing with dentists who have a patriarchal view of their hygienist employees who do not have a clue what we really know. [These dentists] try to make the hygienists culpable for the years of periodontal neglect that the dentist employers have allowed to develop and persist for years until soft tissue management became a practice builder. [They also] perceive that our most important new role is that of a huckster for those "profit-oriented centers" that so many are now touting.
Dr. Press, our main job is not to "make people love us."
I saw reflected in these "reflections" many of the dentists I have worked for in my 23 years as a hygienist. Thank goodness I had the good fortune to also work with employers who were talented and supportive, who were motivated by the health concerns and issues of their clients, not what was the latest in profit centers.
Joanne Sweeny, RDH
St. Louis, Missouri
