NNHH Welcomes New Board Member

National Network of Healthcare Hygienists (NNHH) is excited to welcome Tamara Thomas, RDH, CSOM, CH-OSE to our board of directors. She lives in San Diego, California and is a hybrid Healthcare Hygienist, working a few days a week clinically and running her own myofunctional therapy practice. 

We sat down with Tamara to find out why she felt drawn to a leadership role with NNHH.

What type of setting do you currently work in? Are you integrated in any way, or do you collaborate with any medical providers?

I currently work as a dental hygienist a few days a week at an office I have been at for 14 years. I also run a myofunctional therapy business, where I collaborate with healthcare professionals on issues such as mouth breathing, tongue ties, craniofacial growth, and more. Each year, I speak at the STAR (Sleep, Ties, and Airway Revolution) Course and volunteer with Airway Circle to foster connections, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing among healthcare professionals. Additionally, I mentor students through Myofunctional Therapy University.

You instructed a few airway modules in the Oral Systemic Educator Certificate Program (OSEP), and recently completed the program as a student. What made you want to learn from the other instructors?

I love teaching, mentoring and spreading awareness about airway health. Having the opportunity to help advance the field of dental hygiene is something I began thinking about in dental hygiene school. I enrolled in OSECP to review and gain more current and in depth education about mental health, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders, and oncology care. By doing this I feel has helped refresh my mind on all the things I can watch for in my patients. Staying up to date with current research, screening tools and refreshing our knowledge on the oral systemic links are important for all us, whether we are clinical, non-clinical or hybrid. My dental hygiene patients have been with me for 10-14 years and are always asking what classes I'm taking because they know how much I like to stay up to date and learn. Patients have expressed great appreciation that I am always bringing the latest research-based knowledge into my skill set. 

How did it help you gain confidence collaborating?

Before starting the course I did not feel up to date on the intricacies of the oral systemic connections. You hear or read about them, but it is difficult to retain it all when you receive the knowledge in a scattered format. After going through the OSECP it sparked so many new medical areas that I could reach out to and has given me more excitement for all the opportunities to help more people. 

 What did you choose for your Capstone Project or Practicum? How did that help your community or deepen your learning?

I chose to talk about the STAR course because there is a smaller diverse audience locally. The STAR speaking engagement was all about giving the tools for providers to take back to their clinics or hospitals. Having an IBCLC, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse, Pediatric Occupational Therapist and Pediatric Physical Therapist attend helped me gain a larger understanding of the lack of knowledge of oral health in the medical setting. Offering this course in person helped me teach the participants hands on nasal hygiene techniques, mouth breathing awareness techniques and discuss best referral sources to get the patient the help they need.

What demographic tugs at your heart strings and do you have a personal story attached to that?

Sleep disordered breathing patients. Yes - My father is my WHY. He has suffered from obstructive sleep apnea for as long as I can remember. Even utilizing a CPAP machine, he still always feels like he is fatigued, anxious and unable to catch a breath. Knowing that genetics and epigenetics play a role in craniofacial growth, I have seen the same deficient craniofacial growth patterns in my nieces and nephews. I also suffer from poor craniofacial growth and did not have the appropriate interventions to help guide my development from a young age. My father's poor craniofacial growth leading to poor tongue space could have been prevented if he had the correct growth guidance as a child. As an adult, the only way to help him address the skeletal structure is maxillary and mandibular advancement surgery. Maxillary and mandibular advancement surgery is costly and after having a consultation with an oral surgeons, they concluded they would not recommend it at his age. It is near and dear to my heart to help raise awareness so families can grow healthy airways, improve sleep and not have to go through life constantly tired, fatigued and drained like my father.

What type of role / job description do you dream of?

I would love to be able to collaborate more with sleep physicians on obstructive sleep apnea about myofunctional therapy benefits. I dream of this being the standard of care when someone is prescribed a CPAP, they are also given information on myofunctional therapy as an adjunct treatment option.

What made you want to volunteer your time on the leadership team at NNHH?

Connect with Tamara at [email protected] or at https://www.facialphysique.com/