Readers" Forum

The best advocates

Dear RDH:

I fully agree with the editorial comments regarding licensing for dental hygienists written by Carolyn Hall, RDH, in your June 2005 issue of RDH (Readers’ Forum, page 10). How sad it is to lose an experienced and dedicated member of our profession due to the disparity in practice laws governing dental hygienists across our country. I would like to encourage Carolyn and other dental hygienists who now have the time to become involved in the legislative efforts of their state dental hygiene association. What wonderful advocates they would be in making changes in our practice laws and promoting our profession!

Beth Roach, RDH
Jesup, Georgia

Much prefer ‘now’

Dear RDH:

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Tammy Filipiak’s article, “That was then, this is now,” in the June 2005 issue. I also graduated from hygiene school around the same time. Things sure are different from the philosophies that were taught in school in the 1980s!

If it wasn’t for the outstanding hygienists who are frequent contributors and columnists for RDH, hygienists across the country could still be practicing in the “then” that Tammy talks about.

Thanks for letting Tammy and other hygienists’ talents shine!

Colleen Rutledge, RDH
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

About the Cover

Veronica Korologos, as implied by the cover photograph, knows a thing or two about cheerleading. She is the cheerleading coach for a high school on Long Island in New York. She became “the coach” in 2001, and the varsity cheerleading squad has placed first in local competition in three of the fours years since she began her version of the rah-rah.

“Though working with teenagers in any way can be demanding both physically and mentally, I truly believe it keeps me young at heart,” Korologos said.

Veronica is not exactly one of the uncool old squares roaming the halls. She graduated from the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists in Boston in 1995, moving to her current home to work part-time for Long Island Family Dental and part-time for a dental manufacturer. Korologos is also vice president and editor of the Long Island Dental Hygienists’ Association.

“I have learned how to communicate with teenagers and children clinically and personally through the situations that have occurred while coaching ... that’s one thing I never imagined could happen. I thought it would be interesting because cheerleading has become such a big thing lately, and whenever I tell people that I do these two things, they find it very interesting.”

She is married to a dentist, Dr. George Korologos, and the couple have a two-year-old son.