	Good news! This year’s spring and summer fashion trends are something any 

The underlying theme in the seven trends highlighted here is low maintenance style (fashion designers on the runways made the models look as if they’d styled their hair themselves) so it’s never been easier to try new trends. Plus, the patterns and cuts from the latest runway looks can be worn to flatter all body types. Check it out-the easiest fashion trends ever:

The great thing about this trend is that you probably already have it in your closet. Even better: you can pair it with mismatching patterns, such as plaid or stripes. Just tone it down a bit with the opposing pattern: A good idea is to keep the second pattern small and monotone, 

The easiest and lightest summer material is back, baby! Gingham is everywhere-from 1960s-era matching top and short sets to loose-fitting button-ups à la your boyfriend’s closet. Pair it with a great leather jacket for a night out or with a pair of your favorite skinnies for weekend errands (Check it out at 

Related reading: Fashion with a bite: Creepy or cool?

Rompers made a comeback for grown women around 2012, but they are all over the place now. From teeny little things that look like pajamas to the sexy take on a pantsuit, rompers are easy pieces to accessorize and wear. What’s better than a one-piece outfit (Check it out at 

This one takes many forms right now: From the air-dried look to low and loose ponytails and braids, styling your hair as if you weren’t even looking in the mirror is the trend (and that’s not a bad thing!). This is a great thing for those of us who’ve been growing our hair out to keep up with the Kardashians’ luscious locks (don’t lie, you know you want Kim’s old hair). Even if you can’t get your strands to stay in a braid or look alive in a low pony, the point is this: Unplug your hair tools and go with what you’ve got (Check it out at 

Related reading: Move aside designer bags and make room for designer toothbrushes 

This is my absolute favorite trend to play around with. Let’s say you’re not great at applying eyeliner (it can be very tricky!) but you still want to have inky black eyes. Start here: Apply the eyeliner to the top lash line only, focusing on the other edge and drawing the line out and up just a bit to create a small wing. This opens your eyes, making them look bigger (and your face a bit younger). The best part: There’s no smudging or running at the end of the day, as will often happen with a bottom lash application. 

Check out Sephora for these great application tutorials.

With crazy manicures everywhere on social media (looking at you, 

), it’s refreshing to see such a simple style come into vogue. Forget about spending lots of time and effort creating a Nicki Minaj-inspired pattern because soft pinks and beiges were all over the runways for spring lines. Three cheers for easy, natural-looking nails (especially in a clinical setting!).

Do red lips really ever go out of style? I think not. There are so many great shades available that every woman can find her perfect hue and rock a Marilyn pout (Monroe not Manson). No time for applying a flawless winged eyeliner? No problem! I love pairing a bare face with glamorous red lips for a quick, beautiful look. Just toss the lipstick in your purse and go (Check it out at 

Related reading: Top 25 women in dentistry in 2014

Articles

 Good news! This year’s spring and summer fashion trends are something any woman can get excited about.

7 spring fashion trends you should know about

In 2013, investigators on a routine inspection of an oral surgery practice in Tulsa, Okla., discovered numerous violations of health and safety laws and major violations of the state dental act.

Among the findings in the office of W. Scott Harrington, DMD, was medication with long past due dates (1993!) and equipment that was rusted and not properly sterilized. State health officials immediately initiated screenings of the dentist’s 7,000 patients when it was further discovered the practice included a high volume of patients with infectious diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.
	
	Like many others in the dental industry I was disgusted to learn of such egregious violations of basic protocol. As a practicing dental hygienist, and being intimate with the inner workings of dental offices for more than 20 years, my attention immediately turned to the many assistants and dental hygienists who, through the years, had been complicit in the dereliction of duty. I lament, I sympathize and I ponder: How can we, collectively, prevent such episodes from recurring?

Philosophers have long studied ethics, usually in the greater context of discovering its role in leading a meaningful, fulfilling life. Modern medicine is still greatly influenced by the work of the Greek philosophers. Aristotle, pupil of Plato, spent decades studying humanity’s greater purpose. He introduced the idea of eudaimonia, what he believed to be the purpose of the human race and what we refer to as “happiness.” Living  a virtuous life, characterized by temperance and courage, will ensure eudaimonia.

The most recognized of all Greek contributions to ethical behavior in medicine is the 

. Found in the Corpus Hippocraticum, a body of manuscripts that embody a code of principles for the teachers of medicine and their students, the oath dictates the obligations of physicians in caring for their patients and their students. Contemporary versions keep alive the humble vision of a physician as caretaker and heale--a noble profession practiced only by the most virtuous members of society.
	
	In health care and elsewhere, ethical behavior is the result of perceiving an action as either right or wrong. According to famed psychologist 

, the foundations of moral (ethical) behavior are forged in childhood and adolescence, reinforced by the practices of our parents and those around us. In adulthood, people behave morally mostly out of an understanding of the need to keep order in society. Few reach the highest levels of moral reasoning where ethical decisions are based on respect for oneself and for the rights of others.

Dental hygiene programs have long recognized the need to incorporate at least some ethical education into their curricula. However, most scholars agree it is not enough to keep up with the pace of a world that is changing so quickly.

Ethics education programs that are not grounded in a community context fail to produce significant moral development. For true character to develop, a community that nurtures and supports moral action must exist. Legislators dutifully pass laws and create governmental departments tasked with the duty to enforce moral conduct. Although ethics and the law are closely related, they are not the same. Ethical obligations may-and often do-exceed legal duties. The drawback of relying on rules (i.e. laws and government) to ensure people behave ethically is that while it is probably a good defense against the actions that contributed to the last crisis, they are not effective against preventing newer crises from occurring.

The burden, then, is on the strongest amongst us to take the lead. Ethical leadership consists of taking seriously the notion that each of us has great power and great influence-that the seemingly small actions we perform every day can and do affect others positively (and, conversely, negatively).

By placing less emphasis on monetary gains and more on strong character, we can ensure incidents such as the one in Tulsa do not happen again. I have previously written about the use of personal mission statements in maintaining a strong ethical perspective. Many professional organizations  now offer continuing education courses devoted to the topic. 

 offers an excellent course on practical ethics, and various other MOOCs (massive open online courses) are available through higher education institutions such as 

In 2012, prior to the incident in Tulsa, news broke of an oral surgeon who had agreed to discontinue practicing dentistry after it was discovered that, in addition to prescription fraud, he had reused needles and syringes on more than 8,000 patients at two of his dental practices. While news of the voluntary surrender of his license in Colorado is of little satisfaction to me, what IS of great satisfaction is the knowledge that, in that case, authorities were prompted to investigate due to the report of an employee. The employee notified authorities Dr. Stein was ordered drugs under patients’ names.

Whoever she is and wherever she is, I thank her and commend her actions-Not just because she saved so many others from danger but because I know that I was not the only one who was inspired by her strong character.


Diana Macri is an assistant professor in the dental hygiene department at Hostos Community College. Previously, she was as an adjunct lecturer at 

, both in New York City. Within these programs she taught both clinical and didactic courses. Currently, she teaches three core courses: Dental Hygiene Practice I and II and Ethics, Jurisprudence and Practice Management. In addition to her teaching duties, she has presented lectures at professional conferences locally and nationally. She serves as a trustee on the National Board of the Hispanic Dental Association and is the chair of the Communications Committee. Additionally, she has been appointed to the Minority Affairs Advisory Committee of the 

n. She is involved in many advocacy efforts, specifically those which seek to resolve oral health disparities seen in the Hispanic population. Prof. Macri obtained a bachelor's degree from the 

 and a master's degree in higher education administration from 

. She happily resides in New York City with her three sons.

 In 2013, investigators on a routine inspection of an oral surgery practice in Tulsa, Okla., discovered numerous violations of health and safety laws and major violations of the state dental act.

How can you prevent violations of health and safety in the dental industry?

	We recently asked 101 dental practices around the country about whitening. We wanted to know if it was offered and what were some of the obstacles to patients accepting it.

Within the next five pages, you’ll see what you told us about whitening in your practice. Of course, there’s always room to grow this part of your practice. When we talked to practice management consultant Gary Takacs about the subject, he gave us some great ideas on how to boost your office’s whitening bottom line. 

Check out our exclusive interview with him here

Virtually all adults (99.7%) believe a smile is an important social asset.

96% of adults believe an attractive smile makes a person more appealing to members of the opposite sex.

Three-quarters (74%) of adults feel an unattractive smile can hurt a person’s chance for career success.

And when respondents were asked, “What would you like to improve most about your smile?” The most common response was whiter and brighter teeth.

VIDEO: The important role hygienists play with in-office whitening

So patients have said whitening is important … but are they taking advantage of it in your practice? Read on to see what you told us, and hear thoughts on the survey results from Catherine Diaz-Cardoso, marketing manager for whitening for 

Just under 75 percent of the practices we surveyed said they offered in-office whitening.

“That’s very much in line with our data,” Diaz-Cardoso said. “We haven’t seen much change over the last few months so that seems very consistent with our numbers.”

A majority of dental practices said that they are doing about the same amount of whitening as last year. However, more answered they were doing less this year than those who said they were seeing an increase.

“I’m not surprised,” Diaz-Cardoso said. “Consumers now have a lot of options for whitening. There is a proliferation of oral health items that people can buy now to help them enter whitening at a very low cost barrier, including toothpaste. If people can buy toothpaste with the added benefit of whitening, they’re going to do that and think they are taking steps to whiten their smiles.”

This was perhaps the most surprising result of our survey that we saw. We’ve heard for quite some time that white teeth are seen as a very important quality to dental patients, yet 56 of the 101 respondents (55.5 percent) listed whitening as only somewhat important to the practice and patients.

Very important (16.8 percent) actually came in third behind not very important (23.8 percent).

“There is a lot included in this question,” Diaz-Cardoso said. “How important is it to the practice? It’s important, but it has to be relevant to everything else being done in the practice. Patients are concerned about many things with their oral health, including whitening. Yes, they’re concerned about yellow teeth but they also know there are solutions to help them with that (like the toothpaste mentioned earlier). Many consumers don’t realize the difference that a professional whitening treatment will really deliver.”

We’ve known for a while that cost was the biggest roadblock for whitening services being accepted … but did we really know it was this big of a hurdle? Of our respondents, 76.5 percent listed cost as the thing that holds patients back from accepting whitening treatment.

“Consumers in general are not aware of the types of professional whitening solutions available,” Diaz-Cardoso said. “There’s a misconception out there that professional whitening is only for celebrities or people with a big budget. It’s important for dental practices to communicate the pricing information right up front. If you’re going to bring a patient in with a whitening promotion, make sure you share the price point. In many cases, consumers will be pleasantly surprised.

“The misconception about cost and professional whitening doesn’t have to be there. Look at Philips Zoom QuickPro. It’s a great professional brightening option for budget-minded patients who can spend about $99 to $125.”

RELATED: QuickPro named as one of top 5 patient game-changers of 2014

Yes hygienists, when it comes to who has the job to explain whitening and its benefits, it falls to you in most of the practices (to the tune of 69.7 percent of our respondents).

 We recently asked 101 dental practices around the country about whitening. We wanted to know if it was offered and what were some of the obstacles to patients accepting it.

What 101 dental practices told us about their perspectives on in-office whitening

? Five years ago, University of Texas, MD Anderson 

 care and research, changed its logo to indicate its intention to strike out 

. This idea can be seen in ads, PSAs, signage in airports and more. TV and radio ads bleep the word 

. It’s time for dentistry to bring these type of innovative ideas from other successful 

 awareness groups to make finally start seeing positive changes in the mortality and morbidity of oral 

Huge strides have been seen based on the passion of women through the work of multiple breast 

 Awareness month, it seems the world gets 

. We see shirts, hats and bracelets. Professional football players wear pink shoes. There are even energy drinks branded pink. The statistics show since 1990, breast 

 mortality has decreased by 34 percent. This decline is due to improved breast 

 treatment and early detection. Awareness didn’t happen with just one group, it took the efforts of many. It’s time for dentistry to take a similar approach with a variety of groups, people and efforts.

Statistics show that 42,000 newly diagnosed with oral 

 since last year’s awareness month. Fully 40 percent of those individuals will be lost to the disease by the year 2020. One person dies from oral 

 every hour, 24-7-365, which adds up to 8,760 people died since our last awareness month. The unfortunate news is we have a seen a change in the rates of oral 

r-a negative change. There has been a dramatic increase being driven by a virus. The HPV 16 virus is replacing tobacco as the primary driver of the disease with healthy, young non-smokers dominating those newly diagnosed.

Never before has opportunistic screening and public awareness been more important. Insanity is to continue to the same things over and over thinking we will get a different outcome. It’s time to learn from others success. The Oral 

 Foundation asks each of us to be part of the change. The ways you can make a difference are many and varied.

As a Modern Millennial Hygienist, you LOVE the recognition and opportunities provided by OCF. They say it this way:

"One group of individuals is uniquely positioned to be in the forefront of the early discovery paradigm; members of the dental hygiene community. With over 150,000 hygienists working in communities across the U.S., they have the numbers to have an impact. With a hygiene professional seeing approximately 10 patients per day, they see a huge segment of the American population in their practice every year. Most importantly, they spend a large amount of time at each patient visit looking at the soft tissues of the oral cavity, where the early manifestations of oral cancer occur. Lastly, their training gives then an existing skill set to identify suspect tissues, and refer them upwards in the dental community for confirmation (general dentistry), biopsy (oral surgeons and periodontists), histopathology and diagnosis (oral pathologists)."

Ways to Be Part of the Positive Change in Your Practice

Another organization we can learn from is the American Red Cross. They had slogan a few years back, ‘If not you, then who?’ Starting can begin in the practice or practices in which you work. You can call for an oral 

 screening calibration session. First update yourself on current knowledge of oral 

 risks. As mentioned above, there have been changes that all staff members may not know. Discuss and create a risk assessment checklist to be used routinely for all patients. Yes, ALL patients are important. There should be no age limitations. The opportunity for public awareness can start with teaching patients about the risks.

Consistency of screening is the next step. To guide the session, you can use something as simple as using the one of the excellent hands-on demonstration videos on 

. In addition to the extraoral/intraoral screening, decide specifically together your protocol for written documentation and more importantly photographic documentation. Extraoral and intraoral screening is still the gold standard and the foundation needed to determine the use of adjunctive technologies. Discuss the adjunctive fluorescent screening technologies. If you have one already, calibrate how each person is using it; if you don’t discuss which system to buy.

The key to success is the collaborative teams that can built with your practice. With periodontist, oral surgeons and oral pathologist. But don’t stop there, build relationships with medical professionals too. Oncologists, oncology nurses and more. How can you as MMH dental professional work with the oncology team? What is your dry mouth protocol? Do you have one? In upcoming issues we will be talking dry mouth.

Modern Millennial Hygienists can positively reshape the statistics by thoughts, choice and action. We would love to hear your thought on the strike out’s here and for you to share what you are doing for Oral 

Once again, April has arrived with thoughts of spring, flowers and a new beginnings change perceptions and outlooks. Did you think, hey, it’s also Oral Cancer Awareness month?

modernhygienist.com-2015-04-01

7 spring fashion trends you should know about

How can you prevent violations of health and safety in the dental industry?

What 101 dental practices told us about their perspectives on in-office whitening

Be Part of the Oral Cancer Change