By Erin Haley-Hitz, RDH, BSDH, MS, FADHA, MAADH
2024-2025 ADHA President
July 9, 2025

As I close out my term as the 98^th ADHA President, one thing is crystal clear: we are no longer waiting for change—we are shaping it. As I began my leadership journey over two years ago, the need for the association’s business model to advance and develop real muscle for speed and accuracy was great. To remain relevant, many businesses have had to evolve, and ADHA is no different.

This past year, we didn’t just celebrate milestones—we built momentum. We have evolved at incredible speed and unprecedented efficiency. From legislative progress to professional recognition, the ADHA community is helping dental hygiene take its rightful place in the broader healthcare system. ADHA has broadened many minds this year, and the possibility of full practice authority over the dental hygiene profession holds promise for the future, not only of ADHA but also the dental hygiene profession itself. Just as healthcare delivery is evolving to meet patient needs, the ADHA is evolving to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s dental hygienists. That evolution is not reactive or protective—it’s proactive, deliberate and grounded in ADHA’s mission.

From Milestones to Movement

This year, we didn’t just mark milestones—we built a movement. Legislative successes, public policy shifts, and growing professional recognition all point to a seismic shift in how our profession is perceived and practiced. The data tells part of the story:

• Direct access is now a reality in most states, giving patients more direct routes to preventive care.
• Medicaid reimbursement is authorized for dental hygienists in 19 states, expanding access for vulnerable populations.
• Independent hygiene practices are thriving in states like Colorado and Maine, with many other states developing public health permits and licenses demonstrating the viability and vitality of autonomous care models.
• Scope of practice expansion now includes functions like anesthesia delivery, temporary restorations, prescriptive authority, administration of neuromodulators, dental laboratory work orders, and preventive restorative care—roles once unthinkable for many of us.

These achievements didn’t happen in a vacuum. They happened because ADHA members showed up in statehouses, in classrooms, in communities. Volunteers gave their time, leaders built a strategy and advocates raised their voices.

We didn’t ask for permission to lead—we stepped into it.

Autonomy: It’s Bigger Than You Think

Autonomy isn’t just clinical independence, it’s about regulatory control, educational oversight, and professional freedom. That includes:

• Regulatory autonomy: The authority to self-govern our licensure, scope, and standards of care, just like other respected health professions.
• Educational autonomy: Control over our curriculum, credentialing, and academic advancement, grounded in evidence and led by hygienists.
• Professional agency: The freedom to practice in diverse settings, shape our roles, and make decisions that reflect our expertise and values.

Let me be clear—we are not walking away from dentistry. We are redefining our place within it.

We are prevention specialists.
We are care coordinators.
We are patient advocates, educators, and leaders in health equity.
We are collaborators—not subordinates—in the healthcare team.

As our profession advances, autonomy and full practice authority are the keys to unlocking our full potential impact.

What’s Next: Future-Focused and Profession-Led

This year, ADHA launched:

• The 2025 Clinical Practice Standards is a bold reimagining of our clinical foundation aligned with modern practice needs.
• Legislative toolkits and virtual bill trackers that empower members to engage with state and federal policy in real time.
• Hygienist Inspired, a national campaign designed to elevate our image, expand our workforce, and strengthen our pipeline with intention and inclusion.

• An interactive licensure map with grant funding from CareQuest

All the work the ADHA staff and leadership team have accomplished this year can be found at adha.org/WorkingForYou.

Looking ahead, ADHA is focused on:

• Advancing mid-level provider models to expand access to care and increase career mobility
• Elevating federal advocacy efforts to reform outdated regulations and recognize dental hygienists as essential healthcare providers
• Strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, ensuring our profession reflects and respects the communities we serve
• Investing in interprofessional education and autonomy pipelines, preparing hygienists to thrive in team-based, value-driven health systems
• Investing in interprofessional education and autonomy pipelines
• Investing in ADHA volunteer leadership training
• Investing in internal business infrastructures to solidify the foundation of the association
• Building a path to the new ADHA strategic plan and mission

This is more than a vision—it’s a blueprint. And it will only come to life if each of us continues to step up and lead forward.

A Personal Note: Thank You

This year has been a transformative chapter in my professional life. I’ve had the honor of witnessing this profession stretch itself bravely, boldly into new spaces. You leaned into discomfort, challenged the status quo, and took the future into your own hands.

Whether you advocated at your state capitol, mentored a student, contributed to a committee or shared your story, you moved this profession forward.

This year has been influential, energizing, and extraordinary. I’ve witnessed this profession leaning into leadership, rallying around advocacy, and refusing to be underestimated. You’ve shown me what’s possible—and what’s next. I hope you have found it within yourself to believe what I have witnessed and to also believe in the mission we have set before us.

We aren’t just witnessing change. We are the change.

Thank you for trusting me to lead during such a consequential time. I am forever grateful for your resilience, courage, and heart. This was a gift of a lifetime, serving the profession, association, and the foundation. I must acknowledge the ADHA staff team, Interim CEO, Corporate Partners, and various other organizations, as well as ADHA members and state leaders, for all the influence, trust, and opportunities that have been made possible this year due to your hard work and contributions.

We must also acknowledge the 8 years of board service by Dr. Becky Smith, ADHA Past President, as her service to ADHA, the profession, and the foundation comes to a close this year.

As we transition once again to new leadership, the business of the association and the valuable advocacy work we do are in excellent hands with Lancette VanGuilder at the helm. The ADHA is not the same organization it was even one year ago. This truly is the New ADHA we have all been talking about, and if you don’t see it, look again.

Final Word: Step Into What’s Next

We’re no longer just part of the healthcare conversation—we’re helping to lead it.

Let’s keep going. Let’s keep lifting each other. Let’s keep daring to ask: What’s next for dental hygiene? 

Because the answer is: Whatever we decide it to be.

Our time is now. Let’s continue this work. Let’s build this future together.

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This article was authored by 2024-2025 ADHA President Erin Haley-Hitz. In Erin’s more than 30-year dedication to ADHA she has held leadership roles on the student, local, state and national levels of the organization and worked on advancing various legislative initiatives that strengthen the dental hygiene profession. To reach ADHA leadership email [email protected].