The motivation for my first publication came from my faculty members. As a dental hygiene student at the State University of New York-Farmingdale, I published a paper titled, “Revision of Dental Practice Acts.” I then went on to Columbia University for my BS and MS Degrees under the direction of the late Patricia McLean, a past president of ADHA. Membership in ADHA was not a choice - you HAD to be actively involved! Phebe Blitz, RDH, and I were classmates at the time and we co-founded the Westchester Dental Hygienists' Association which is still one of the most active components in the country.
Leadership, mentoring and motivation is what has shaped our “body of knowledge” through the years. Imagine a world without internet, email, computers or smartphones. Without these modern devices, communication in general would easily be perceived today as an insurmountable challenge. Our Journal editors, authors and staff met these challenges and produced outstanding publications which all documented our history and the development of our profession.
During my tenure as Editor of both Educational Directions and Dental Hygiene (which became the Journal of Dental Hygiene), the late Wilma Motley, Editor Emeritus was my role model and mentor. She provided the foundation on which we would build our profession. The review process was definitely a process, but the Editorial Review Board and Editor served as mentors, assisting authors in the publication process.
We truly had outstanding publications and in October 1989, the International College of Dentists (ICD), USA Section, awarded the Journal of Dental Hygiene “The Golden Scroll Award.” This was a significant accomplishment to be recognized for the most change in a refereed publication by the ICD.
Educational Directions was a quarterly publication that was active for 11 years. I served as Editor from 1982 to 1988 when it merged with the Journal of Dental Hygiene. The manuscripts in Educational Directions were specifically helpful to educators since topics included content on curriculum, administration, teaching methods and professional development. Examples of titles published are Dental Hygiene Educators: A Report of Credentials by D.E. Wayman, Value of the Terminal Degree in Dental Hygiene-One Educator's Opinion, by Michele Darby and Perceived Differences Between Two Year and Baccalaureate Degree Dental Hygiene Programs by Rigolizzo (Gurenlian) and Forrest. We constantly evaluated ourselves, the educational process and researched higher learning opportunities. In 1983 and 1986 the entire issues of Educational Directions featured content from the University of Maryland and Old Dominion University, respectively. These two schools and their faculty contributed tremendously to the “body of knowledge” which defined our profession.
In 1988, Dental Hygiene became the Journal of Dental Hygiene with a new cover and layout design! We received 80 to 95 manuscripts per year. Topics addressed clinical practice, expanding roles and timely research. Book reviews were part of every publication. In the October 1988 issue, Clinical Periodontology for the Dental Hygienist, 1st Edition by Carranza and Perry, WB Saunders, 1986, was reviewed and published. The text cost $21.95! How times have changed.
Our professional growth as a profession continues to be documented in our publications. Rebecca S. Wilder BSDH, MS is an invaluable leader, mentor and professional. We are fortunate to have her lead us into the next 100 years!
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