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Welcome to the New Mexico Dental Hygienists' Association-the professional organization representing the Dental Hygienists of New Mexico.

President's Message

Valoree Althoff, RDH, BS
NMDHA President, ADHA Council on Member Services, ADHA NM Institute for Oral Health Liaison, Tres Rios Immediate-Past President

“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” I came across this quote from Robert Schuller while preparing for my term as president of the NMDHA. It really made me think of why we hold ourselves back from attempting to be the person we have the potential to be. What is holding us back from becoming this incredible person? There are honestly a lot of things that do and should take precedence over other responsibilities such as family, friends, and our profession that help us to provide for our families. We create excuses that hold us back. We think we do not have enough time or talent to step out of our comfort zone. What we don’t realize is that each and every one of us has something to offer, a talent to give.

The NMDHA is a voluntary organization for the representation and progression of our profession. We rely on the volunteerism of our members. We also realize that even being a dues paying member is the only way some of us are able to be involved depending on the current situations in our lives. Each and every member we have is representing our organization and the NMDHA strives to represent EVERY hygienist well, no matter membership status. We are all hygienists, therefore all connected. The installation pin for the Board of Trustees for my term is president is the infinity symbol, to represent this connection we share.

This is a very important time to be a member and representative of the NMDHA. Change is on the horizon with the potential legislation of a dental therapist here in NM. We have the chance to change the future of dental hygiene and really impact access to care across the nation. We can either be involved in the conversation or not. Imagine what our profession could be, the practice acts and self regulation we could have already developed if each and every hygienist took a step beyond his or her comfort zone. Imagine the world we could create. So I ask, now that you know you cannot fail, what are you going to do?