Strive-the Student View
September-October, 2006 edition

Journey of a Dental Hygiene Student

 
By Carey A. Webb

A professor of mine told our class, "It takes a certain individual to become a dental hygienist." Of course, I believe his version leaned more towards obsessive-compulsive tendencies and anal retentiveness, and an opinion of hygienists as complex creatures (in a positive way). I on the other hand, yielded to thoughts of a dental hygienist as being a compassionate, intelligent, and forgiving (of those that don't floss) individual who wanted to make a difference in people's lives through oral health care. Well, I am proud to say that I count myself in as one of those individuals.

Today, I am a senior in the dental hygiene program at the University of New Mexico. Throughout my schooling I have met many wonderful dental hygienists and through them, I have discovered that no matter the differences between us, we all have one thing in common. We all have been on a journey-a journey through dental hygiene school.

If someone were to ask me how my journey as a dental hygiene student began, my reply would sound something like this, "Eight years ago, I landed a job as an orthodontic assistant in a small practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had no past experience in the dental field, but quickly came to find that I had a knack for it, and my passion for dentistry grew quickly." Who knew the oral cavity was such an intriguing, vast world of its own and held so many wonders?

Feeling I needed to extend my knowledge further, I decided to go to college, hoping at the time that it would lead to becoming a dental hygienist. Well, voila! Fast-forward to the day that I pulled from my mailbox a crisp manila envelope that contained my acceptance letter to dental hygiene school. It was like the winning lottery ticket, with the elation I felt when I held it in my shaking hand. I stood jumping up and down on the curb because I was finally on my way to becoming a dental hygienist, and it still gives me butterflies in my stomach when I think about it because it was one of the happiest days of my life.

Sitting there on the first day of class as a sophomore dental hygiene student, with 23 other shell-shocked new hygiene students, it finally hit me that a profound change was about to occur in our lives. As I met my fellow classmates, I discovered that were various paths and reasons that had led us to the same place. Some students recalled they knew they wanted to be a dental hygienist when they had their first cleaning and stared timidly into their hygienist's eyes at the ripe age of five. Others claimed that they were so taken by their experience as dental assistants that they knew they wanted to further their career as dental hygienists. But regardless of how we came to be dental hygiene students, the common denominator for the majority of us was that we were here to make a difference in people's lives through oral health care.

Looking back on what I have learned at this point of my schooling, one of the most important things was that if you think you know everything about the oral cavity or dentistry, think again. Despite my years of orthodontic training, I quickly discovered I had just touched the tip of the iceberg. My first valuable lesson in school was, don't ever think you know everything about the oral cavity, because if you did, you wouldn't be here in dental hygiene school.

Then came clinic, and I might as well have been a toddler learning to walk all over again. If you thought your mother taught you to wash your hands right, think again! And how about that fulcrum? I might as well have had an octopus at the end of my arms because my fingers sure weren't working right for that lesson. But alas, the day came where it all started to make sense and feel like second nature.

I could go on and on about many things I learned in school, but to me there is one important key that sticks solid in my mind. The pearl, as I like to call it, is dental hygiene is not black and white. As a student, you must challenge yourself to think outside of the box, as a few of my instructors termed it. Every patient has different needs, and you, as a dental hygienist, must tailor their care to that need. If you go in thinking it is solely your way or the highway, you may be disappointed in the end. However, if we as students utilize our patients and professors as individual learning experiences, our skills will advance.

So what will the future hold for us after we graduate and begin as dental hygiene professionals in the working world? As students, we have many opportunities to look into the future and decide what is of interest to us. One of the best ways to do this is to join the Student American Dental Hygienists Association (SADHA), a part of the American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA). This membership will serve as your valuable link to the profession of dental hygiene outside the walls of your school. Through SADHA, we as students can accomplish many things-organize fundraisers to support our class, attend legislative sessions, obtain scholarships and promote our profession through extracurricular events (for example, Special Olympics or community service opportunities). As an example, my class had a fundraiser at the NMDHA convention, and raised a large amount of money through a silent auction we conducted there. We organized several community service events and targeted our underserved community with educational presentations for children. Not only are these rewarding and fulfilling experiences, but they are invaluable ways to promote our profession. There is nothing more encouraging than a group of wide-eyed children staring eagerly at you as you pass out new toothbrushes.

As you will find once you begin your clinical rotations, dental hygiene has come a long way, and opportunities for work exist outside of private practice. For example, as hygienists, we can work in nursing homes and tend to the oral health care needs of seniors. There are hygienists who cater to the developmentally disabled, Medicaid patients and underserved populations. Collaborative practice and the movement towards the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP) are opening up doors and opportunities that no one thought would ever come.

For those students who want independent business opportunities as dental hygienists, there are a wide variety of entrepreneurial opportunities. As students, we must be active members of SADHA and ADHA for the advancement of our profession in the years to come.

Upon graduating, we will also have an opportunity to further support our profession as a member of ADHA. While some graduates may choose not to join ADHA, I strongly encourage them to weigh that decision carefully before heading out on their own. ADHA not only supports our profession, but is also focused on advancing it. Without ADHA backing us up as dental hygienists, certain bills such as collaborative practice might not have ever emerged.

My journey as a dental hygiene student has been a long one, not without its trials and tribulations. Some lessons have been hard learned while others easy, but nevertheless, each lesson holds its own value. When I reflect back, I can't believe I made it to this point, but the knowledge and skills I have learned in the program are without a doubt priceless and worth the ticket paid. When I started this journey I was a single woman, slightly in debt, working as an orthodontic assistant, unknowing what my future in dentistry might hold. Today I am a mother of a vibrant three-year-old, wife to a loving husband, really in debt (because of school loans) and actually considering going for my master's degree in dental hygiene.

As students, we will all have our own individual experiences in school and own personal journey to tell. Some days might make you wonder if you would be better at flipping burgers, but hold strong and tuck your heads, learn and take in all your brain can hold, and most of all, don't falter in your quest to be the best student you can be. Because at the end of this journey, you will hold in your hand a license that states Registered Dental Hygienist, and believe me, you earned it!

Carey Webb is currently in her senior year at the University of New Mexico pursuing a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene. Before that, she worked for eight years as an orthodontic assistant in New Mexico. She plans to pursue her master's degree in dental hygiene and to work in underserved areas of New Mexico.