Local dentists and hygienists provide complimentary care during the Give Kids A Smile initiative, led at Pacific by assistant professor Shawna Rohner.
Dental Health Science faculty member named ambassador for national initiative
Assistant Professor Shawna Rohner honored for her efforts to provide dental care to children of low-income families.
Pacific University assistant professor Shawna Rohner, RDH, has been selected as an ambassador for the 2012 Give Kids A Smile Community Development Leader Institute Oct. 24-27 in St. Louis.
Rohner, a faculty member in the University's School of Dental Health Science, is one of ten individuals awarded a travel grant from the American Dental Association (ADA) to participate in the national program, sponsored by Hu-Friedy, Henry Schein and the ADA Foundation.
Rohner spearheads Pacific University's annual Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) initiative each February in partnership with the Washington County Dental Society. The annual event provides comprehensive dental care, including preventative maintenance and repairs, to 80 children of low-income families.
At the institute in St. Louis, some 650 underserved children will receive comprehensive dental care as part of the bi-annual event.
Rohner will work in a variety of capacities, depending on individual interests, that may include triage, education, sterilization labs and others. She will have the opportunity to learn how to initiate, expand and enhance a GKAS program.
Rohner holds a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from Eastern Washington University and a master’s degree in adult education from Portland State University.
She is an active member of the American Dental Education Association and the American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA) as well as a dental hygiene study club.
October is designated as National Dental Hygiene Month by the ADHA.
Posted by Joe Lang (jlang@pacificu.edu) on Oct 18, 2012 at 11:58 AM
Edited by Jenni Luckett (jluckett@pacificu.edu) on Oct 19, 2012 at 9:17 AM
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