Table of Contents
CURASEPT 4 WOMEN
For the 2022 edition, the first of the project, the focus is on women in dentistry and dental hygiene: Curasept 4 WOMEN. Through the testimony of 4 female professionals who, with passion, courage and vision, have been pioneers in this traditionally male-dominated field, we want to bring inspiration and motivation, with messages of innovation in the world of oral care and prevention. A theme, that of the feminine, which is close to the heart of Curasept, an Italian company that has been working in the field and conducting research for oral and periodontal health for over 30 years, with laboratories 80% female and 60% of the company staff female, 50% in management positions.
The 4 Curasept 4 WOMEN professionals are featured in a mini-series of video portraits in which they each tell their stories about their work, challenges, successes, little secrets and advice.
Watch the trailer:
CLINICAL CASE COMPETITION: 2 AWARDS FOR GENDER HEALTH
Curasept 4 WOMEN, however, is also concrete support for women’s health. For this reason, we have launched at Curasept 4 WOMEN the Clinical Case Competition called “La Donna al Centro” in partnership with SIdP (Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology), which will award two prizes, each worth €1,500.00, reserved respectively for the most meritorious research conducted by a dentist and a dental hygienist on a clinical topic inherent to the field of dental-parodontal pathologies with a higher prevalence in the female sex. The winners of the competition will be announced in March 2023 at the SIdP International Congress.
The competition is open to dental or dental hygiene students and graduates. Full details for submitting your practice here.
THE VIDEO STORIES
Denise Calzolari
Graduated in Dental Hygiene from the University of Ferrara in November 2008, she immediately began working as a freelancer at Dental Centers in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy.
In 2015, he opened his professional Facebook page with the aim of informing as many people as possible about the importance of Oral Hygiene and the prevention of tooth and gum disease. Since then he has been posting daily to disseminate in an understandable way to those at home what the guidelines and scientific literature say about Oral Hygiene.
A somewhat atypical Dental Hygienist with an unusual career that often keeps her away from home “Every day I look for positive input and try to involve my daughter and husband in my work so that they rejoice in my joys and don’t feel abandoned. It is also thanks to them that I do what I do today.”
But for Denise, it is worth it if through her outreach work more and more people learn to distinguish fact from fake news. “I fight online hoaxes by taking them apart in a simple way; I cite literature: I don’t speak <<in my opinion>>, I translate scientific literature.”
With much candor and the help of a few emoji Denise teaches people how to take care of their mouths and recommends “products that really work,” because what matters is reaching as many people as possible and improving their health.
Gianna Maria Nardi
Gianna Maria Nardi is a researcher-Dental Hygienist.
His mantra is “Prevention is a true wellness therapy,” in fact, he has made research, promotion and dissemination of prevention knowledge and technologies dedicated to health maintenance the primary goals of his professional life.
Associate Professor Sapienza University of Rome, Teaching Director and lecturer Course of Studies Dental Hygiene Pole A Sapienza University of Rome. Founding member and president of A.I.D.I (Assoc. Igienisti Dentali Italiani) from 1981 to 1996, now president of A.T.A.S.I.O. (Accademia Tecnologie Avanzate nelle Scienze di Igiene Orale) and vice-president of Il Chirone Academy of Odontostomatologica Prevention. Through his work he restores smiles to people: “For me, research and experimentation are very important to enable professionals to deliver innovative minimally invasive protocols dedicated to healthy smiles.”
Her numerous positions and activities in her professional and private life mirror her idea of the modern woman “moving from a family situation to a professional one, interfacing in a dynamic mode and with a perception of change, reconciling emotionality and sensitivity with practicality.”
Gentle sensitivity allows understanding the patient’s true needs, including emotional needs: it is not easy to condition a patient positively, but it is necessary to ensure his or her health; sensitivity is appropriate to accommodate patients’ needs and design personalized health pathways to accompany them in their own health project.
Challenges in life are there, they must be accepted, but Gianna Maria likes them: it is true that they involve a lot of work, but with tenacity “however it goes, it will be a success”!
He often repeats to his students that “history has to be written with facts!”-you have to look around with curiosity, study and work hard to get results!
An encouragement not only to those who want to follow in his footsteps, “any job can give great satisfaction, the important thing is planning: waking up in the morning and having a plan gives you the energy to feel alive and to smile every day.”
While it is true that in each of us there is a masculine and a feminine side, it is this balance that allows us to achieve results. One wish Gianna Maria suggests is, “maybe we women should be more supportive of each other.”
Restituta Castellaccio
In the early 1980s, she majored in pharmaceutical chemistry and technology; in the 1980s and 1990s she was supervisor of many chemistry and microbiology laboratories between Milan and Rome. In the early 2000s, he devised the ADS system, an innovative system that revolutionized the oral hygiene industry by ensuring the effectiveness of chlorhexidine without the notorious side effects such as pigmentation and taste disturbance. He has continued over the years to develop, together with leading research centers, other formulas for Curasept.
For Restituta, being a woman today means “being aware that there are still prejudices, stereotypes, but we have managed to get a role in the working world, without necessarily having to give up certain aspects of femininity or motherhood.”
In the 1980s, it was not easy to enter the industry; when she entered the workforce, advertisements were still possible for men. Today fortunately there is an incitement even for girls to study science subjects more, finally it is understood that it is important to move in this direction: today parents condition their children differently, because before they saw women only as mothers, teachers etc. Restituta, therefore, is optimistic about the future even though there is still work to be done.
Restituta has innovated the chlorhexidine market, improving patient adherence to a key therapy for the treatment of gingivitis and periodontitis. An ambitious project for which she was met with skepticism at the beginning of the journey, but which turned out to be a success. Thanks to patience and perhaps an extra sensitivity, a trait that comes in handy in all jobs because it “gives you the enthusiasm to do things with passion and care.” For her, innovating means improving, even with small changes: “innovating for me means taking into account what others have done, adding something new (if possible very new).”
To those who want to follow in his footsteps he recommends above all patience, tenacity and passion!
Silvia Masiero
Silvia Masiero is a Paradontologist, lecturer, author of scientific publications, speaker at Congresses.
She mainly deals with Periodontology, Implantology and Prosthetics, and is an author of scientific publications and Speaker and Congresses.
For Silvia, being a woman means bringing to the work environment an added value related to what are presumably characteristic aspects of the female world as they relate to brain characteristics: greater emotionality, desire for mediation and sharing.
Caring for people in his work means both attending to the patient’s treatment plan and devoting time to the patient’s emotional needs. “I have also dedicated myself to learning this. All of us health professionals should pay attention to this and follow two tracks: one related to practicing the discipline and one related to improving patient understanding.”
Silvia devotes her main scientific interest to the correlation of Periodontology with Systemic Pathologies, the development of mini-invasive techniques of surgical and non-surgical instrumentation, and Physician-Patient Counseling, because “research must have the goal of improving the quality of life for everyone, focusing on prevention: it is the most ambitious area of research, without which, however, we would not arrive at the fundamental goal of having a life both long and dignified.”
Silvia is an Active Member of the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology, Coordinator of the Study Club Dentists and Hygienists, and a member of the Sidp Editorial Board: “Being able to join with an active role in my home Scientific Society has been an important achievement for me, it is a satisfaction that gives a lot in daily professional life.”
“A craft like this is difficult because it takes dedication, boldness and a lot of work, but the results pay off.”