Dental Success

I am thrilled to be a part of McKane and Associates and looking forward to working with everyone in both the consulting/coaching and online continuing education webinar series. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and encourage everyone to contact me to introduce themselves as well.

I am a graduate of the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists and have been a hygienist for 30 years. I have a Masters Degree in Education in Instructional Design from the University of Massachusetts – Boston. I am a monthly columnist for RDH Magazine and a national continuing education speaker. I have been a faculty member in dental hygiene and dental assisting programs and am actively involved in a number of professional dental hygiene organizations.

Having practiced in a number of general and periodontal practices over the years, I have been involved in all aspects of the dental office. I have been a hygienist, business administrator and surgical assistant, so I understand the challenges, frustrations and joys of being a dental professional from all of the auxiliary functions. As a patient, I have experienced the best that dental practices can offer and want to encourage others to experience it as well.

I became involved in education as an outgrowth of my own patient experiences. A number of years ago, I developed severe TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders). At the time, I was working with a periodontist who had some experience with TMD and he began treating me. However, as I was researching my disease I found very little information that was truly helpful. I decided that as a dental professional, if I was having difficulty locating information, what was the average patient doing? So I began presenting continuing education programs to hygienists and dental team members on TMD, as well as developed a patient support network.

Over time, the support network dissolved but the educational component continues to this day. I enjoyed writing and speaking, that my employer who was very supportive of me, encouraged me to continue to pursue continuing education. He had recently brought dental implants into the practice, after having participated in years of research at a local dental school, and thought that presenting programs to dental teams on implants would be a wonderful opportunity for me. From there the rest, as they say, is history! I have now expanded my programs to include a variety of topics, many of which will be presented in webinar format for those who are interested in participating.

A few years ago, I came to the conclusion that I had done almost everything in private practice and there really wasn’t much more for me to learn. I challenged myself and entered full time academia while at the same time pursuing the master’s degree. Having completed the program in 2007, it is now time for a new challenge. I have always been interested in helping dental teams achieve their fullest potentials and McKane and Associates has a wonderful reputation for doing just that. I look forward to working with everyone and please feel free to contact me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ann-Marie C. DePalma, RDH, MEd, FAADH