Vote now for the NZOHA People's Choice Award 2022
This year NZOHA has introduced a new category to our annual practitioners awards, the People’s choice award, and the winner for this award will be chosen by NZOHA members.
The overall winners will be announced in Auckland on the 30th of July, 2022, venue details will be given at a later date.
Voting closes 8pm Sunday 17th July 2022.
Read about the nominees and vote below
Lynette (Lyn) Adler
Dental Hygienist
Dental hygiene was introduced to Lyn whilst working as a dental assistant for Professor Bernadette Drummond 23 years ago. Her guidance helped Lyn set up to study the profession, and helped her get to where she is today. Lyn often thinks of Phoebe Blitz and her inspirational words that have guided her in the oral health profession, “To be a successful dental hygienist, you need to be passionate”.
Passion drives Lyn. Anything about health and fitness, Lyn is 100% in. Oral health fits well with Lyn’s ethos of life. She shares her passion with the world and mentors’ new graduates to do the same.
Lyn visits primary schools to share her oral health knowledge with mokopuna and also attends women’s community groups and has mentored new graduates since 2008.
Lyn has her own oral health Facebook page and shares all things oral health. Her greatest attribute is the dedication she has for patient care. She loves one-on-one contact with patients, helping them to make positive changes with their oral health which reflects in their overall general health and wellbeing. Dental hygiene has given Lyn complete job satisfaction, her heart is full when clients are smiling.
Kate Boyden
Dental Therapist
Kate’s passion for oral health and care extends beyond what is necessary for just the patient, to the family and greater community. She regularly stops at the local coffee cart, not just for coffee, but to chat and meet members of the community, informing parents who may be there to bring their children along to the clinic. She’ll also stop at the bakery to chat with others and pick up morning tea which is shared amongst staff and patients at the hub clinic. Kate has worked as a Dental Therapist in New Zealand communities since 1999 and also had an opportunity to work in Darwin, Australia, flying out to aboriginal communities providing much needed dental care as well as being based community and school-based dental clinics around Darwin.
In 2006, Kate gained a Dental Therapists position for Te Taiwhenua O Heretaunga, Hastings, providing mobile dental care for adolescents in low decile secondary schools around Hawkes Bay. Initially, portable equipment was moved between sites, utilising space in the school. When funding became available, Kate was involved in the design and commission of a double chair mobile dental unit to move around the schools, greatly increasing adolescent enrolment.
Jacquie Clements
Oral Health Therapist
Jacquie has been practicing oral health therapy for 9 years working in the Wellington region and Kapiti Coast. In the past nine years, Jacquie’s career has grown from strength to strength. She has recently navigated her way through opening her own practice, Kapiti Oral Health Clinic.
She has networked with many dentists in her areas to gain acceptance and support for a individualised oral health clinic, separate to that of a dentist office. She is highly motivated and an advocate for ensuring oral health therapists and dental hygienists utilise their full potential. She cares deeply for both the profession continuing to spread our knowledge to our communities and for us supporting each other in continuing to grow and earn and to be successful in what we do. Creating an independent oral health practice is very challenging, Jacquie is very determined to succeed and raise awareness of the importance of oral health in Aotearoa.
Jacquie hopes to expand her clinic as patient education improves. Jacquie model of care is patient focus with a commitment to prevention. The clinic Jacquie has created on the Kapiti Coast is inspirational and is a great example of what other oral health therapists can achieve.
Caroline Kells
Oral Health Therapist
In NZ, Caroline works as an OHT in private practice in the Waikato, where she is a respected and valued member of the team. Over the last five years, Caroline has been on several volunteer dental trips to remote areas of Vanuatu, and more recently in Aitutaki (Cook Islands). Being accepted into these communities has required respect for individual and community core values of those living in these remote areas, and an ability to connect with people from many backgrounds.
Caroline is passionate about her role as an OHT and gives her time freely to these underserved populations. She is caring, compassionate, dedicated, and most importantly, a kind person who wants to make a difference in the world, and she deserves to be recognised.
Volunteering is a passion for Caroline, who wants to share her skills freely to make the world a better place. These trips have involved teamwork with dentists, dental therapists, doctors, assistants, and local health workers. All members of the team arewilling to take on any role to ensure the clinics run smoothly, and this includes taking turns to assist where required, scrubbing instruments, and being of help wherever required.
Marise Matulich
Oral Health Therapist
My passion for oral health began at an early age as it is instilled in our family, two of my aunt's and my mother were dental therapists. I began my career in oral health as a dental assistant in private practice (PP) for two years and completed the NZDA Dental assistant course.
In 2009 I moved from Hawkes Bay to Auckland to study oral health therapy. I received the scholarship to work in ARDS, South Auckland, a high needs community. I also worked in PP to maintain my hygiene skills, working six days in both ARDS/PP. I have worked for ARDS since 2012. I have belonged to NZDHA & NZDOHTA attending the CPD nights, meetings & conferences. Through these events I have met most faces personally. My manager said, ‘we just need a thousand more of you’ & ‘you make a hard job look easy’. I have been involved with setting up Transportable
Dental Units (TDU’s), working on screening vans doing screening days at schools and volunteered at community events to increase dental awareness within the community. I was picked to do a dental talk to a group of new mothers in the community, the digital radiography trail for ARDS.
Dustin (Dusty) Pearson
Oral Health Therapist
Dusty is a caring and passionate oral health professional and always goes above and beyond to positively represent our profession. He is a supportive colleague and offers encouragement to undergraduates and new graduates. He has demonstrated leadership among his colleagues and is always willing to help and volunteer his own time. He is devoted to becoming a better oral health therapist (OHT) and invests his own time and money into furthering his education and standard of
care.
Dusty is an advocate for the oral health therapy scope of practice being recognised as an important part of providing quality care for New Zealanders. He has been a strong voice in recognising the significance of an OHT as an independent profession. Dusty is a supporter of an adult scope of practice for OHT’s in NZ and for the upskilling of OHT’s that currently have a limited restorative scope of practice. Dusty doesn’t just volunteer, he enjoys volunteering! He is known as an amazing networker that always has time for others to help guide them in their profession and seek better working conditions and more recognition for OHT’s in the workplace.
Adrienne Rollo
Dental Therapist
Adrienne has been a dental therapist for over 35 years working most of her professional career in the regional areas of South Auckland. In her clinical career she volunteered as a Public Service Association (PSA) representative for her team for about 32 years. Her clinical career was spent working with school and preschool aged population, supporting her clinical team leader and she actively volunteered to supervise students and mentor new graduates. Adrienne recently took on a team leaders’ role and within one year of her he was able to manage two teams successfully. She also restructured the preschool outreach programme incorporating whereby children who had a low to no attendance rate were able to utilise the oral health service when they came for their B4 school health screening. This programme has now been ongoing for about three years, and it has flourished from a minimum few to about 35 or more preschool children screened each Saturday. Adrienne is a very kind and supportive team leader who always ensures that both her staff and the community are well looked after.
Kate Rotella
Dental Hygienist
Kate Rotella is an extremely motivated dental hygienist and is well respected amongst her colleagues. Kate understands the importance of knowledge and patient education to improve oral health outcomes.
Kate has recently opened her own practice so her dreams of patient centred care can flourish. Kate offers the most relevant treatment methods and is always upskilling so she can offer her the best possible treatment to her patients. Kate has also considered how she can make her new practice more socially responsible with a strong focus on reducing unnecessary waste.
Kate’s passion for education also extends to her peers, Kate has presented a number of workshops about tooth whitening. Kate also mentors’ new graduates, helping them develop their career and adapt to daily clinical practice. Kate is always keen to have an engaging conversation about patient cases and is always willing to help with treatment suggestion if required.
Kate is a proud dental hygienist and is a role model in the profession.
Cynthia Wallbridge
Dental Hygienist
Cynthia Wallbridge trained as a dental therapist 39 years ago and as a Dental Hygienist 29 years ago and continues to work in this field.
At 26 years of age Cynthia volunteered with Mercy Ships from 1985 to 1990, seeing and treating the dental needs of people living in poverty in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. She voluntarily treated oral pain and addressed the dental needs of children in these countries.
Since 1995 she has worked with more vulnerable communities in New Zealand continuing to undertake voluntary dental projects in Fiji, Samoa, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. She was donated a grant from NZDHA towards this. In 2014 she co-founded Family Teeth Matters Charitable Trust, advocating with both her local MP and the Minister of Health.
The Family Teeth Matters education programme has now reached more than 12,000 parents and children and teachers in Auckland. The NZDTA gave her a grant towards a couple of preschools for this programme. She consulted on a children’s and parents’ book Detective Sugar Spotter making Healthy Choices with one of the Trust’s Directors who is a psychologist. This book has been sponsored by NZDA Auckland Branch to take out to the Auckland community.
Dr Elizbeth Webb
Dental Therapist
Liz is a registered dental therapist who enjoys working in diverse community settings to provide opportunities for improved health outcomes. She has excellent communication and leadership skills and works across wide-ranging cultural settings, especially in Pasifika communities in New Zealand as well as in the Pacific Islands. Liz is a Global Child Dental Fund Alumnae (Senior Dental Leader SDL13), member of the NZOHA and has recently been appointed an Honorary Fellow of the International College of Dentists (Australasian Chapter).
Liz has recently completed her PhD investigating the association between volcanogenic fluoride from Ambrym volcano ant the oral health burden. This research has seen Liz explain her volunteering to other Pacific Islands and the formation of the charity a ‘Friend of Kokorosa”. Liz has secured grants and donations of huge variety to provide to those in need. Liz has organised several peers to accompany her on her volunteer missions. On these missions, education of the locals and their children is a key factor as well as offering much needed dental treatment.
Liz works for the Waikato DHB and has a strong focus on improving oral health outcomes for NZ children. Liz’s contribution to oral health is to be admired.
Rebecca Woledge
Oral Health Therapist
Rebecca has been a member of the New Zealand Dental Hygienists’ Association from the first year of university, actively participating in meetings and CPD events. She was the chair of the Auckland branch of NZDHA from 2017-2022 and in her role, she organised the 2020 Global Dental Summit for the dental team. She has represented Lumino and NZDHA at career and employment events in Auckland and Dunedin a number of times. Rebecca has supported new graduates and one-on-one in the clinics and online for over five years. She has also worked with Dementia Waikato to publish an oral health and dental care education and promotion booklet and online resource for people who have been diagnosed with dementia. In her career Rebecca has also delivered health promotional talks to various women’s fellowship groups.