Noel Paschke, MS, RDH, knew exactly what she wanted to do when she graduated. As a pioneer in the concept of the oral-systemic link, she approached the chairperson of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, hoping to make an impact on the lives of immunosuppressed patients. The chairperson declined. Noel’s parting request was that when he changed his mind, he would call her first.
Six weeks later she was delivering care and developing protocols for bone marrow transplant and head and neck cancer patients. She completed her master’s degree and was appointed the first RDH to the faculty of Johns Hopkins University Medical School, where she created hospital rotations for dental hygiene students. Noel continued to be a pioneer in our profession when she was elected by the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners as the first woman and first RDH vice president, chairing the board’s Disciplinary Committee. She served as an examiner with the Northeast Regional Board of Dental Examiners for more than 20 years.
When she joined the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, she transferred her experience and ideas from her days at Hopkins. She was recognized with Teacher of the Year Award, and years later the inaugural Linda DeVore Dental Hygiene Alumnus Award.
She later chose a corporate administration path as the manager of clinical education at Dentsply Preventive Care, senior manager of professional education at Philips Oral Healthcare, and director of education at ACTEON, where she hired 125 clinical trainers creating future career opportunities for RDHs across the country.
Noel’s entrepreneurial spirit has been demonstrated in product advancements through the patent process where she is still currently active.
This spirit also drove her to form Ultrasonics Plus in 2020 to help clinicians master magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic technologies.
