CODHA Explorer March 2022
Meet the CODHA Leadership
Jennifer Hosburgh, RDH, OMT
Chair, CODHA Council on Membership Services

What do you like best about your job? I like to help others and the feeling you get when you do “well”. I find tremendous value in improving the lives of others, especially in establishing healthy habits and lifestyles. Both dental hygiene and orofacial myofunctional therapy allows me to teach, which is my second love. Teaching also requires me to be a lifelong learner to ensure that the material I teach is current.

Myofunctional therapy is often misunderstood. What would you like our readers to know about the profession? Basically, orofacial myofunctional therapists help restore proper function of the muscles of the airway and mouth by using neuromuscular re-education with therapeutic exercises. OMT’s evaluate and then teach specific exercises to improve mobility, strength and flexibility and we help the patients to perform these exercises correctly.

There are specific goals of myofunctional therapy that together help improve airway, swallowing and oral posture for patients.

OMT has been shown to help patients improve their sleep quality and reduce orthodontic relapse, correct dysfunctional oral habits such as tongue thrusting, thumb sucking and mouth breathing, to name a few. It is exciting to help others in many ways and I enjoy learning so that I can help pass along this information so that it may make a difference in someone else’s life.

It’s made a difference in my own life.

Why and how did you get involved with CODHA? Previously I lived in Florida and was very active in the Brevard County dental hygiene component. When I moved to Boulder seven years ago, I wanted to continue my active involvement. I quickly began to participate in the CODHA Boulder component by organizing continuing education courses. I then served as the Chair and Trustee for the component. This year I expanded my participation when I was appointed as Chair of the CODHA Council on Membership services.

What are your favorite professional resources? I frequently visit many social media sites, including Facebook to keep updated to trends in the dental hygiene profession. I also subscribe to Dimensions of Dental Hygiene, a monthly peer-reviewed journal that focuses on articles of interest to practicing dental hygienist. I prefer the journal’s format of publishing one article at a time instead of a quarterly journal because I can read it in short intervals.

What inspires you? My inspiration starts with my mom, she never stops, never stops learning and never stops helping others. I’m inspired to help others also, knowing that I have helped someone is very rewarding to me. I also believe helping can be achieved through teaching. I have presented numerous lectures on orofacial myofunctional therapy to a wide variety of audiences. I am always amazed when, through my teaching, it results in an individual’s ability to change their behavior. Needless to say, my ability to increase someone’s knowledge is very gratifying.
I am continually inspired because I believe there is just so much to do and see and learn in this world, I don’t know why anyone would stop.

What is the last gift you gave someone? My hobby is baking and cooking. The last gift I gave were a tray of brownies to a friend who is the owner of RallySport Health and Fitness Club in Boulder. He loved them so much that he now offers them for sale at the club. My husband has celiac disease, which was the impetus for me to begin exploring substitutes for traditional baking ingredients. Not only are my brownies delicious, healthy and wheat free but I also make a signature pecan bar that I am often asked for the recipe, which I am providing below.

When did you enter the profession of dental hygiene? I started when I was 19 in the United States Air Force. I loved it so much that I then graduated from Brevard Community College (Florida) in 2000 with an Associate in Applied Science in Dental Hygiene. I practice two days a week as a clinical dental hygienist. Three days a week I work as an orofacial myofunctional therapist as my own business which you can find at: healthyhabitsomt.com.

Tell us a bit about your family. I have been married to my husband, Paul, for 32 years. We have two sons, Adam (age 29) and Kevin (age 27). Our family has shared interests, which include hiking, biking, many outdoor activities and having weekend family meals together.

Notes: It was my pleasure to interview Jennifer Hosburgh. Her dedication to helping other serves as an inspiration to all. Jennifer encourages you to contact her if you wish to learn more about her, orofacial myofunctional therapy or about CODHA. She can be reached at via email at membership@codha.org.

Cynthia Fong, RDH, Co-Editor CODHA Explorer Newsletter

Eazy Peazy YUMMY Pecan Bars: Gluten & Dairy Free

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in the center of oven. Use a 13” x 9″ pan.

CRUST:
1 PKG Gluten Free Plain yellow Cake Mix
8 Tablespoons of Ghee (clarified butter)
1 Large Egg
Directions: Mix together – will be a thick dough. Press and smooth the crust evenly over the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan.
Bake the crust until it starts to brown – 20 minutes

FILLING:
In the SAME Mixing bowl, while crust bakes, Mix Filling (NO need to clean the bowl)
3/4 Cup Agave Syrup
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans (roast them 1st for more flavor)
Directions: Mix until well combined.

When Crust comes out of the oven pour the filling over the crust and spread evenly (best you can) so it covers the entire surface of the crust.
Bake until it just starts to set, 22-25 minutes.
Cool 30 minutes before enjoying.