KATHY FORBES

OVERVIEW

Background & Bio

Kathy has been a dental hygienist, educator, speaker, author, consultant, seminar, and study club leader for over 40 years. She speaks frequently about the correct classification, documentation, treatment planning, and CDT procedure code selection for patients with periodontal disease. In addition, she holds a license with the ADA for *Current Dental Terminology©* which allows her to provide the most up-to-date understanding of current procedure codes.

Her national engagements include presentations to the American Dental Association’s Annual Meeting, ADHA Center for Lifelong Learning, RDH Under One Roof, and the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference. Her most recent honors include being selected as a recipient of the 2023 Sunstar RDH Achievement of Distinction in the category of Entrepreneurship and a member of the inaugural class of Fellows for the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Kathy has articles published in RDH Magazine, RDH eVillage, Dentistry Today, Dentistry IQ, and others specifically addressing dental hygiene treatment planning and correct CDT procedure code selection. Through her company, Professional Dental Seminars, Inc., she provides customized in-office, interactive workshops to address dental practices’ specific concerns related to treatment planning, CDT procedure code selection, and long-term management of periodontal patients.

For over 25 years, her faculty appointments have included the Dental Hygiene Program at Concorde Career College in Aurora, CO, the Dental Hygiene Programs at Pierce College in Tacoma, WA, and Shoreline Community College in Seattle, WA. Through the University of Washington’s Continuing Dental Education Program as well as the Pacific Northwest Dental Hygiene Institute, she taught local anesthesia and restorative procedures for out-of-state hygienists seeking licensure in Washington state and the Teaching Practicum Series for Eastern Washington University’s Degree Completion program for licensed dental hygienists seeking their Baccalaureate Degree.

Kathy currently serves as a Director for the DentalCodeology™ Consortium, reviewing and developing procedure codes relevant to dental hygiene practice which are presented to the Code Maintenance Committee of the American Dental Association each year. She has attended these hearings since 2017, providing verbal testimony and answering questions related to procedure code submissions.

– imagery & bio info courtesy of Kathy Forbes, RDH