If you're the winner, Dental Economics will write a one-page article featuring you and your team … AND Loyal Patients, Inc.™ will donate a free one-year Loyal Team™ Rewards program for your office (give your team up to $10,000 in travel, entertainment, and brand-name merchandise rewards for behaviors critical to patient satisfaction and your bottom-line success)!

To enter, answer the following question in 250 words or less ... What is the most compelling thing our team (or a team member) has done to delight patients and make our practice successful?

Please include how the team or team member was recognized or rewarded for his/her/their special contribution.

Team members may nominate themselves/their team, dentists may nominate a team member/their team, or one team member may nominate another. Ideas suggested by the team or ideas the dentist proposed and the team implemented with great success are all eligible.

The PennWell Dental Community panel of judges will determine the top 10 submissions that will be placed on the community Web site so that our members can vote and determine the winner. Submit your entry through the Most Valuable Team/Team Member group by 11:59 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, July 31, to be eligible. Judging will begin in early August.

Good luck!

Dental Office Design Competition deadline drawing near
Is your office a winner? If the answer is yes, you need to enter the 2009 Dental Office Design Competition, brought to you by Matsco, Dental Economics, and the ADA. Entries are judged by a panel of dental industry experts. Entries must be postmarked by July 31, and winners will be announced at the ADA Annual Session on October 2. For more information and/or to download an official entry form, click here

Midmark turns up the heat with summer incentive offers
Midmark Corporation today announced the launch of its 2009 summer “Heat” sterilizer promotion. The promotion kicked off June 1, 2009, and runs through August 31, 2009, offering cash incentives to dentists and dental facilities purchasing Midmark M9 and/or M11 UltraClave® Automatic Sterilizers.

Under the terms of this promotion, with the purchase of each eligible Midmark M9 and/or M11 sterilizer during the promotional period, the dentist or dental facility will receive a $400 rebate from Midmark. In addition, with each eligible sterilizer purchase and the donation of an old sterilizer to Direct Relief International®, the dentist or dental facility will receive an additional $250 rebate from Midmark, for a total rebate of $650.

Important dates for this promotion:
** Promotion order period: June 1 – August 31, 2009
** Last date to take shipment of products: September 21, 2009
** Last date to claim incentives: September 30, 2009

For product information, please call the Midmark Dental Customer Service Department at (800) MIDMARK or visit midmark.com. For questions regarding the promotion, please contact the Promotions Department at ext. 7575.

For more information about Midmark, visit the company’s Web site at www.midmark.com.

Announcing the 2009 recipients of the Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction
Sunstar Americas and RDH magazine recently announced the recipients of the annual Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction for 2009. The nine recipients will be honored during ceremonies and events at the upcoming RDH Under One Roof conference in Las Vegas on July 29-31.

The recipients of the award were selected by a panel of judges, who reviewed applications posted at www.rdhmag.com.

The nine 2009 recipients are:

Janet Aquilina-Arnold, RDH

Nancy Ferguson Brown, RDH

Rhonda Ford, RDH

Kimberley Grant, RDH

Mary L. Kellerman, RDH

Mary Kelly, RDH

Sandy Kemper, RDH

Kate Mills, RDH

Elaine Siebers, RDH

The recipients will be introduced prior to the RDH Under One Roof keynote session at 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 30. But UOR attendees will have a chance to personally meet the award winners during a networking reception at 4:30 p.m. that evening. All UOR receptions are included with the cost of tuition.

Aquilina-Arnold is a Canadian representative to the circle of Award of Distinction recipients. She was praised for her work as a dental hygienist in the department of dental oncology at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Aquilina-Arnold “recognized that dental hygienists play a role as advocates for the prevention of oral cancer.”

Brown, a North Carolina hygienist, has spent 30 years in the dental public health setting. She is very active in seeking dental care for uninsured children in the state. “I continue to seek help in addressing the dwindling dental treatment care of our local children,” she wrote.

Ford, a Tennessee hygienist, founded “Smiles and Blessings ... for children of all nations," a non-profit organization which has the mission to “provide oral health education, training, and services to children in the slums of Brazil.” Her Tennesse patients are "inner-city teens living in the poorest area of our city. Over 90% had gingivitis and/or periodontal disease when I cleaned their teeth. The continuous oral health education I provide them is breaking that generational cycle of poor oral health.”

Grant, a Missouri dental hygienist, recently participated in a pilot fluoride varnish program that may evolve into a statewide effort for elementary schools in Missouri. She has also focused her career on providing dental education to caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, as well as a strong emphasis on systemic links in patient education. She is also a certified critical care paramedic.

Kellerman, a Massachusetts hygienist, is also the 2007 recipient of the Dr. Esther M. Wilkins Distinguished Alumna Award at Forsyth. She has volunteered for numerous local and international dental charity events. She wrote, “I also work daily in a Boston dental clinic that serves the poor and underserved, where many clients are 'new to the country' and I am their first dental hygiene provider/ educator.”

Kelly, who practices in Des Moines, Iowa, provides clinical preventive services for local school districts and the surrounding communities. She proudly reports “conservative estimates” for the last eight years of educating, screening, and referring 15,917 children, placed fluoride varnish on 6,651, and sealed teeth on 5,758. She said approximately 20 percent had never been to a dental office. She wrote, “I am most proud of my early childhood involvement and coordinating essential and complimentary components into my program, all based on research in serving this age group in the public health setting.”

Kemper, a Seattle hygienist, was nominated by Sharon Golightly, RDH. Kemper established a tax exempt organization called Smiles Forever for raising funds for a variety of philanthropic endeavors, including a clinic in Bolivia. Golightly wrote, “Dental hygiene is indeed lucky to have such a caring, motivated professional like Sandy Kemper, and this world is a better place because of her.”

Mills, a Washington state hygienist, developed her “Mom & Me, Cavity Free” program for the Harrison Medical Center in Kitsap county. Mills, who was nominated by Carol Bruce, RDH, developed the program for expectant mothers to receive hygiene care prior to delivery. Bruce wrote, “Many of us talk about serving the low income, disenfranchised populations, and even volunteer a day or so each year. However, this is Kate's full time work, serving senior citizens in senior centers, pregnant women in her hospital dental hygiene clinic, and children in school settings.”

Siebers, who practices in Oxnard, Calif., was nominated by Noel Kelsch, RDH, a 2005 recipient of the Award of Distinction. Siebers, a long-time dental activist in local programs, is currently implementing a xylitol project in school districts where students receive a xylitol mint after breakfast and lunch. Kelsch wrote, “Elaine is never satisfied. She is never content with the minimum. She is always looking for another way to change the lives of her students, her patients, and the community.”