
Greetings!
The 74th IDHA Annual Conference, 4th Annual General Assembly, and Inaugural Virtual meeting was a success. Thank you to all who attended and thank you for your membership and support.
It is a privilege to serve as IDHA President for a second term. I have grown personally and professionally, learned so much, and gained confidence in my role as a leader and it is largely due to the strong support of the Board of Directors. IDHA continues to be THE force in protecting and promoting the dental hygiene profession in Indiana. I now look forward with enthusiasm to what is ahead for the coming year. I warmly welcome our new board members, President-Elect Lauren McNicholas, Vice President Jessica Rocke, Treasure Crystal Heath and ADHA 3-Year Delegate Madison Shuee to the team.
We accomplished much this past year despite the pandemic and will continue toward completing the 2020 goals. My theme for 2020-2021 is Moving on, Moving Forward. I hope to do so while applying four key concepts: Energy, Unity, Diversity and Positivity.
The ADHA Board of Trustees each received a book titled, The Energy Bus and are using it as a guide in achieving their goals this year. Our District V Trustee, Beth Tronolone, gave each of the Presidents in our District this book and asked us to “Hop on Board.” I am sharing this book with my team with a ticket to join the Energy Bus. We will be using the ten bus rules to “fuel” our journey.
We are better together and unity within IDHA begins with the Components—the grass roots membership. My vision in our goal for leadership development is to get YOU excited about being involved in IDHA; to invite, recruit and share every member’s ideas, talents, and goals for this association and ultimately our beloved profession. Please ask yourself what can I contribute? How can I help? How can I be a part of IDHA’s future?
Now, more than ever, it is time to honor the diversity of educated, licensed, and dedicated dental hygienists in Indiana. As a professional association, representing hygienists of every race, creed, religion, and gender, we are committed to developing strategies to increase diversity in membership and the leadership of IDHA. As members, you have the power to take this message to your colleagues and encourage membership in ADHA.
As we continue to accomplish our goals, remember that we write the script. We choose to be positive, not negative. We choose to see possibility over impossibility. We can change our mantra from unable to able. In 2021 we will continue to move on and move forward in the Indiana Dental Hygienists’ Association. Please join us!
Respectfully,
Sheli R. Taulbee
IDHA President
ADHA Board of Trustees Meeting Highlights
The Fall ADHA Board of Trustees Meeting, October 17-19, 2020, may have been held virtually — but we made some very real progress!
Working together to make wise decisions for leading ADHA into the future requires an intense commitment to assess, affirm, and carefully pivot when things change. And we’ve certainly experienced a lot of change in 2020. Following are some highlights from the three-day intensive:

COVID-19 Resource Center for Dental Hygienists
CDC: Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for Dental Settings During the COVID-19 Response
6/18/2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated Guidance for Dental Settings.
Key highlights from CDC
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Dental settings have unique characteristics that warrant specific infection control considerations.
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Prioritize the most critical dental services and provide care in a way that minimizes harm to patients from delaying care and harm to personnel from potential exposure to COVID-19.
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Proactively communicate to both personnel and patients the need for them to stay at home if sick.
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Know the steps to take if a patient with COVID-19 symptoms enters your facility.