As a passionate dental professional who is committed to raising awareness about oral cancer, Jo-Anne Jones and her company, RDH Connection, have been educating the dental community since its establishment in 2008. She is proud to have developed professional education programs for companies like 3M ESPE, Philips Oral Healthcare and Wrigley’s (UK) and was awarded “The Most Important Dental Story Published in 2012” for her piece on a family member’s battle with oral cancer. With a resume that reads like hers, she’s becoming a businesswoman, motivational speaker and educator to keep on the radar.
“My strength is what I know best; that the collective team effort is at the heart of every successful dental practice,” she said. “The overall focus of my day-to-day efforts is bridging the gap between education and clinical practice.”
The part of her work she enjoys the most is the gratification of knowing she has been able to assist dental professionals with the day to day challenges and opportunities that are so common to the profession.
“Making a difference in people’s lives is the main passion and motivator of all I do,” Jones said.
Initially her interest in the subject of oral cancer was related to researching the cancer and finding the best ways to identify the illness at an earlier stage. Her research revealed that the emergence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer was escalating by 225 percent while the incidence of oral cancer caused by smoking and alcohol was on the decline by 50 percent. Then, a close cousin of hers was diagnosed with HPV-16 oropharyngeal cancer on September 26, 2011, just days before she was to deliver a presentation on her research to the National Dental Hygiene Association at the Annual General Meeting.
Unfortunately, Jones’ cousin lost her fight against the cancer on December 6, 2012, but Jones continues to dedicate her life and work to the education and early detection of HPV-related oral cancer.
“Since I’ve been delivering this message I have had countless emails as well as colleagues coming up to me at conferences and lectures recounting stories of earlier discovery of pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions through more thorough examination techniques. This is rewarding beyond words,” she said.
Her journey has not been one without challenges, but she’s taken every hardship in stride because she considers even the most difficult trials to be an opportunity to learn, to teach or a little bit of both. On a professional level, whether it’s the challenge of the fast paced and ever changing technology present in the dental community or maintaining balance between her personal and professional life she is confident in her skills and she invests a lot of faith in what her gut tells her is important.
“When you love what you do it is easy to be pulled into it continuously,” she said of her work-life equilibrium. “Your body has a wonderful defence mechanism that is a strong reminder when life is not in balance. We need to listen to this inner voice.”
Jones is a strong believer in the philosophy, the harder you work the luckier you seem to get. And though many of her experiences and hardships have been less than lucky, she’s taken each experience and made it a learning opportunity and the strength and determination it’s taken to do so is more than admirable.
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