Two Pasadena City College Dental Assisting Faculty Named to National Boards

Two members of PCC’s dental assisting faculty have been named to positions on the boards of national organizations.

The Dental Assisting National Board has elected Denise Romero, an associate professor of dental assisting at PCC, as the Secretary-Treasurer of its Board of Directors. Lori Gagliardi, dental assisting program director and a professor in the program, has been elected to the Dental Auxiliary Learning and Education Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Dental Assisting National Board was founded in 1948 and is the national certification board for dental assistants. More than 37,000 dental assistants are currently board-certified nationwide. The Dental Auxiliary Learning and Education Foundation, founded in 2010 as an affiliate of the Dental Assisting National Board, offers interactive online educational courses and resources to advance the dental team and prepare dental auxiliaries for board certification.

In addition to her service at PCC, Romero consults with dental offices, teaching an eight-hour infection control course and two-hour Dental Practice Act course. In addition, Ms. Romero has 17 years of clinical experience and has worked in a variety of settings, including general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and orthodontics.

Romero is active in her professional associations, including the American Dental Assistants Association and the Board of Directors for the California Association of Dental Assisting Teachers.

Dr. Gagliardi has been an educator in both dental assisting and dental hygiene for more than 25 years and has worked in the field of dentistry since 1977. She is an author and contributor to textbooks, articles and other publications.

As an active member of the dental community, Dr. Gagliardi has served in multiple roles at the local and national levels. She most recently served as chair and commissioner on the Commission on Dental Accreditation Dental Assisting Review Committee for six years. She is on the board of the California Association of Dental Assisting Teachers. And she is also a member of the American Dental Assistants Association; American Dental Education Association; American Dental Hygienists’ Association; and Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention.