A real live hygienist
1 RDH has gone through its phases of using actual hygienists to serve as cover models (the current phase may seem a little permanent, though, since it has been in effect since 1999). One such phase kicked off in 1989. From left, Norine Ouellete, a hygienist with the Air Force; Laura Mallery-Sayre of Hawaii; Pam Myers, a prison hygienist; Debbie Wilson, a hygienist based in RDH’s first home in Waco, Texas; and Polly Sweeney, who sits next to a heart transplant patient she treated.
A case study on longevity
2 The January 1989 issue featured the debut of the Case Study column. The columnist, Dr. Joen Haring, penned the column on oral pathology on a monthly basis until 2005 - 16 years. Something tells us that it will be awhile before another RDH columnist approaches that record. The Infection Control column started a couple of months later. But the column has had three authors (Chris Miller, Chuck Palenik, and Mary Govoni), and the column does not appear every month as the Case Study column did.
Dibs on Electric Lime
3 Arguably, one of the the strangest things RDH ever did was insert some coloring pages for young patients in the January 1989 issue. The only explanation offered in the table of contents was, “Give your young patients a treat at their next appointment with this unique drawing for their coloring pleasure.”
All in the family
4 Irene Woodall, the magazine’s senior editor for the first decade, appeared on the December 1989 cover. The magazine’s current editor, Mark Hartley, has had his children appear on two RDH covers. The first time was his youngest son on the April 1990 cover. His wife wrote an article on infectious waste for the June 1990 issue.
