On Friday September 20th and Saturday September 21st Dixie State University’s Russel Taylor Health Sciences Building was transformed into a state-of-the-art dental conference facility in order to host the annual Dixie State University Dental Hygiene fundraising event DentalCon. The event was kicked off the Thursday night before with DSU dental hygiene students hosting a sealant night, which provided over 96 protective tooth sealants to children from St. George and the surrounding areas.
Sponsors from across the nation including Henry Schein, Ultradent, and Colgate helped support the event, in addition to support from the local sponsors Sunrock Dental Careers, Bloomington Dental and Incline Marketing Group.
Over 200 attendees were able to go to classes covering all aspects of dentistry from billing and business models, to using the most current technologies of laser therapy and Sub-gingival endoscopic visualization. Additionally, courses covering the life-saving recognition and treatment of patient prescription drug use, oral cancer and sleep apnea were offered, along with the use of the most up to date preventative materials and methods available. A course in cardiac life support was available for attendees wanting to update their CPR certification. During the event attendees were treated to breakfast, snacks, delicious lunches from Chick-fil-A and ice cream from Sub-Zero.
Exhibitors from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, Elevate Practices, Forward Science, Fotona Ultra Performance Lasers, Q-Optics and Young Innovations were also available to demonstrate some of the most current technology and products available in dentistry today. Additionally, a DSU faculty member was able to recruit participants for a doctorate research study relevant to the profession of dental hygiene and the education of future DSU dental hygiene students.
The proceeds from the event will help the DSU dental hygiene department continue to provide an excellent education for our students and provide essential preventative dental services to members of the Saint George and surrounding community. DSU Department of Dental Hygiene wishes to extend a huge thank you to the event organizers Ronda and Dr. Chris Neilson who continue to support our dental hygiene program and students. Also, thanks to the Department of Dental Hygiene program chair Brenda Armstrong, dental hygiene faculty, staff and students, and to the volunteers from the community who all worked hard to ensure everything ran smoothly and he conference was a success.
