The awards, supported by the Sunstar Foundation, celebrate and recognise the achievements of dental hygienists worldwide. They were originally established in 2007.
The 2024 winners are:
- Public Health: Federica D’Anteo, a dental hygienist at II Centro Dentale s.a.s, in Cavaria con Premezzo and author
- Research:Thérèse Elkerbout, a dental hygienist and clinical epidemiologist at the Academic Center for Dentistry, Amsterdam
- Entrepreneur:Juhwa Lee from Hiroshima University Graduate School
- Full Time Clinician: Lorella Mengarelli, a dental hygienist at Studio Tiozzi Ferroni in Cesenatico
- New RDH:Brittany Glauz, a dental hygienist and creator of Brush with Britt Podcast
- Academia:Gianna Maria Nardi, a dental hygienist and associate professor at Sapienza University
Mayumi Kaneda, director of the Sunstar Foundation, “First of all, we want to congratulate all the winners! We are extremely proud to see your work and impressive contributions to the profession. We look forward to celebrating together at the International Symposium of Dental Hygiene in Seoul.”
The selection of winners consisted of two parts. All nominations were judged by an international committee of independent dental hygienists which accounted for 50 per cent of the total score. The other half was taken from ‘likes’ accumulated on the one-minute videos submitted by the winners and published on the Sunstar Oral Health YouTube channel.
The World Dental Hygienist Award Ceremony will be held on July 12, 2024, during the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene. Winners will receive a trophy, $1,500, and an all-paid expenses trip, as well as registration to ISDH Seoul.
Besides the World Dental Hygienists Awards, the Sunstar Foundation promotes other educational initiatives for professionals – the World Perio Research Awards and the Perio Link Award – and research and innovation grants to raise awareness about the importance of oral care and support oral care professionals.