A Letter from Our New President, Board Chair Tamara Thomas
Mar 12, 2026Dear Fellow Dental Hygienists, Healthcare Partners, and Friends of NNHH,
It is an honor to step into the role of Board President of the National Network for Healthcare Hygienists. I am joining an organization that has spent eight years doing the hard, unglamorous, necessary work of proving that dental hygienists belong in healthcare — and I could not be more proud to serve in this capacity at this particular moment.
We are at a turning point. The medical community is no longer debating whether oral health belongs in integrated care. They are asking how to bring us in. That shift did not happen by accident. It happened because of the work NNHH has done, the credentials it has built, and the hygienists who have stepped forward to claim their place as prevention specialists and oral-systemic health partners.
My vision statement is: By elevating public understanding of the education, scope, and preventive expertise of dental hygienists, we advance trust, expand access to care, and support professional autonomy in modern healthcare. I work collaboratively with mulitdisciplinary providers every day, so I know how valuable we are to person-centered care. That is what guides my role on this board, and it is what I will champion throughout 2026 and 2027.
The priorities ahead — hospital workforce training, expanded credentialing pathways, pilot programs in acute care, and continued public education — are bold and achievable. I am grateful to serve alongside the NNHH team and our growing community of allied organizations as we pursue them.
To every dental hygienist reading this: you are a healthcare provider. More of the world knows it now than ever before. We are not done yet — but we are undeniably here.
With professional pride and genuine excitement,
Tamara Thomas, RDH, CSOM, CH-OSE
Board Chair 2026/27
Watch an interview with Tamara on YouTube HERE
