Barbara K. Tritz, BRDH, MSB, BSDATE, HIAOMT, is an internationally recognized Biological Dental Hygienist, educator, author, and speaker with more than 40 years of clinical experience advancing prevention-centered oral healthcare.

She remains actively engaged in clinical practice at Green City Dental in Edmonds, Washington, where she continues to care for patients, investigate complex oral-health patterns, and refine the practical approaches she brings to her teaching. Her ongoing chairside experience keeps her programs clinically relevant, patient-centered, and firmly grounded in the realities of modern dental hygiene practice.

Barbara’s work is dedicated to transforming dental hygiene from a procedure-based profession into a prevention-driven healthcare discipline. She integrates oral microbiome science, airway and breathing assessment, salivary and molecular diagnostics, host-response evaluation, and biologically based periodontal and caries therapies to help clinicians look beyond symptoms and identify the deeper factors influencing oral and systemic health.

Barbara is an active member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, where she serves on the Board of Directors and the Biological Dental Hygiene Committee. She co-developed IAOMT’s Biological Dental Hygiene course and teaches a periodontal-focused course within the Academy’s Fundamentals of Biological Dentistry program. She is also the founder of QueenofDentalHygiene.net, where she translates emerging science into practical, clinically relevant education for dental professionals and the public.

Her international work includes presenting a scientific poster at the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene in Milan, where dental hygienists from 46 countries gathered to share research and advance the profession. She has also been featured in The Conscious Smile, contributing articles that highlight the expanding role of dental hygienists in whole-person, prevention-focused care.

Barbara is the recipient of the Hu-Friedy/ADHA Master Clinician Award, the RDH PIRA Award for Patient Impact, and two Orkos Awards for Excellence in Case Study. Her work has been featured in national media, including the AARP Bulletin, and she presents continuing education programs to dental professionals throughout the United States and internationally.

Through her teaching, writing, and clinical work, Barbara challenges dental professionals to stop simply managing disease and begin investigating why it is occurring—creating the conditions for better healing, stronger prevention, and more personalized patient care.