I have the honor of nominating Stephanie Shada BS, RDH, for the 2025 Heart to Hands Award.
At a time when many dental hygienists are leaving dental hygiene and dentistry entirely or wanting to leave the clinical operatory for a different role in dentistry, Stephanie re-entered clinical dental hygiene in 2024 after several years away. A move which prompted some to ask, why are you taking extreme steps to re-enter a healthcare profession that others are leaving?
Stephanie graduated from dental hygiene school in 2006 and practiced clinically for several years after graduation, she voluntarily stepped away from clinical hygiene for a time after having her children. Through no will of her own, her dental hygiene license lapsed when her abusive ex-husband wouldn’t allow her to attend continuing education courses or do the other things necessary to keep her hard earned dental hygiene license active. Stephanie got her life back in 2023 and set out to also get her dental hygiene license back and return to a profession she loves, so she can make a difference in the lives of others.
Stephanie attended the Central Regional Dental Testing Service/CRDTS Care Program for dental professionals who, for a myriad of reasons, want to take the board exam again to either regain their license if it has lapsed or become licensed in a different state. She studied the recommended resources before attending an intensive didactic and clinical re-education program at the CRDTS site in Kansas, While there, after completing the re-education she took the CRDTS clinic board, passed, and regained her dental hygiene license in Colorado in early 2024. Stephanie is committed to continual growth as a dental hygienist. In fact, her first investment was attending RDH Under One Roof in Denver.
Currently, Stephanie has a permanent position at a general dental office and also works as a guest hygienist. This summer at her permanent position, while performing a comprehensive visual and tactile, extraoral, and intraoral, evaluation, on a male patient in his 20’s, Stephanie discovered asymmetry in his thyroid gland. Stephanie shared this: “I had him feel it so that he knew what I was talking about. He said that he had a physical coming up and would get it checked out. I said please do! I discussed all the things with him and made thorough notes in his chart. A few months later, I saw his mom for an appointment. I didn’t know that it was his mother. I finished her hygiene appointment, walked her out to the front office, the front office person comes back and says that the mom would like to talk to me again. So I went back out and his mother was crying and said, “I just want to thank you so much, you saved my son’s life! You found a lump and he was diagnosed with cancer!” She gave me a hug several times. I am so sad for this family, but so happy and thankful that I was able to help because of early detection. As hygienists, we are swamped with the impossible of what we can accomplish in an hour, assessments, cleaning, x-rays, probe readings, exams, rescheduling, referrals, the list goes on and on it’s ridiculous. But after this experience, one thing I will ALWAYS do is a proper intra/extra oral exam.”
It is an honor to nominate Stephanie for this award. Her commitment to excellence in dental hygiene, providing thorough assessments and screenings, and optimal treatment to her patients, saved the life of this young man. Dentistry and Stephanie’s patients are incredibly fortunate she has returned to clinical dental hygiene. She is the epitome of what the Heart to Hands Award stands for.
Nomination by Susan Cotten BS, RDH, OMT