Holly Buchanan Contributing Writer

Pierce College’s dental hygiene students placed 2nd and 3rd at this year’s Washington State Dental Hygienists’ Association Competition, sponsored by Crest and Oral-B.

“I felt like a proud parent. I was pretty excited,” said Dental Hygiene professor Carolyn Roberton, when her students won their awards.

Placing in 2nd were students Anna Kurkov and Olesja Litvin who did their table clinic research on “A Dental Hygienists’ Guide to Treating a Patient with Bulimia.”

Litvin and Kurkov researched how bulimia affects the body and mouth and the ways they can talk to patients about it. “We found out a way we can educate and talk to our patients with care and concern,” Kurkov said.

Kurkov and Litvin chose Bulimia as their topic after seeing a student undergo the illness. “It was just a project in our textbook, then we saw it first hand and it solidified our choice,” Kurkov said.

“We focused on what causes people to become bulimic and the gentle ways we can show them how it affects their teeth,” Litvin said.

“Men are affected by bulimia as well which was surprising to me,”Litvin said. “I didn’t think it affected them. Men do it to maintain weight for sports or from having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

Litvin concluded from her research that the most common cause of becoming bulimic is the need to be in control. “People want to have control and they feel like their body image is the one thing they can control.”

At the competition students presented a trifold board of the research they found on a topic chosen from their textbooks. “Table clinics are common in healthcare and nursing. I added them to my classes as a requirement,” Roberton said.

Roberton encouraged her students to compete but she couldn’t make it a requirement. “Sometimes I don’t think students know what they’re capable of doing. You have to push them towards their greatness,”Roberton said.

“I said no at first because it seemed too overwhelming, but I’m glad we did it,” Kurkov said. It took Kurkov and Litvin one and a half weeks of on and off researching on the Internet and through their textbook, Women’s Health Association.

Roberton brought back the WSDHA competition through doing a Master Teaching project in 2011. In the past Pierce had been in this competition but when Roberton started teaching in 2000 the college was no longer actively participating.

Pierce College dental students have had five placements since they started competing in 2011. In 2012 students received 1st place competing nationally at the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, completing a table clinic on, “Advantages of Computer-Controlled Injections Over Traditional Injections During Initial Dental Hygiene Local Anesthesia Education.”

Pierce College dental students will maintain competing at the WSDHA competition according to Roberton. “ I think the competition will grow and continually expand,” she said.