Working

Tammy Filipiak, RDH,BS

Tammy Filipiak, RDH, BS, is the director of dental hygiene at Midwest Dental-a company that operates 40 comprehensive family-practice dental offices throughout Wisconsin, with a couple in Minnesota and Illinois. For the past two years, Filipiak has worked with Midwest Dental's dentists to develop, through training and communication, their dental hygiene teams. "It's about quality assurance. It's always focused on providing the patient with the best level of care," said Filipiak.

Effectively communicating with patients/clients is one of the most important tools of a dental hygienist, said Filipiak. "It's about learning to communicate," she said. "You don't learn that in hygiene school. You learn the concept of practicing dental hygiene in dental hygiene school. I think you refine your skills by learning from the people around you."

After observing dental hygienists treating patients/clients, Filipiak can recommend better ways for them to communicate. For example, Filipiak often helps dental hygienists explain the importance of fluoride to adult patients/clients. "The thought is that, since they don't have insurance, they're not going to want to have it done," said Filipiak. The truth is, given the right explanation, many adults would opt for the preventive treatment.

One of Filipiak's main focuses has been implementing Midwest Dental's periodontal protocol. According to Filipiak, presenting background information to patients/clients is an important role of a dental hygienist because it allows patients to make educated decisions that directly affect their health.

"I have been in the office helping refine how to deliver [the periodontal protocol] to the patient; how to get the patient to understand that this is what we need to do." Sometimes this means explaining the rationale for modifying the treatment plan as treatment proceeds.

Although most of Filipiak's time is spent watching dental hygienists interact with patients/clients, on occasion she reverses the roles and provides the treatment directly. "A lot of my clinical experiences today come in when I have a doctor say, 'I know my hygienist needs help with this.' Then I will go in and sit down and treat patients and have them watch me," said Filipiak.

When not out in the field observing and training the dental hygienists, Filipiak works with Midwest Dental's senior management team to analyze and review the dental hygiene teams at the various offices.

Keeping up on the latest research and trends in the oral health care field is another important element of Filipiak's job. By furthering her own knowledge, Filipiak is able to make educated recommendations about Midwest Dental protocols to the company's Doctor's Advisory Board as well as the Auxiliary Board, consisting of dental hygienists, dental assistants and appointment setters.

Unlike most first-year students, Filipiak started college with an idea of what she wanted to do for her career. "I knew I wanted to do something in health care," said Filipiak, who considered a career in radiology but quickly changed her mind, opting instead for a career that would allow her more patient interaction.

Filipiak's positive dental experiences as a child combined with her desire to work with people led her to pursue a career in dental hygiene. "They really seemed to like what they did and they always looked like they were having fun," said Filipiak, remembering her childhood dentist and dental hygienist.

After receiving her associate degree in dental hygiene from Northcentral Technical College (NTC) in Wausau, Wisc., Filipiak went to work in a dental office just a few miles away. In 1999, having worked as a clinical dental hygienist for more than 10 years, she decided she was ready to go back to school. Shortly after, she enrolled at Upper Iowa University to complete her bachelor's degree. Although Filipiak planned to stay in the dental hygiene field, she chose to finish her degree in business.

"I chose to finish my degree in business because I always thought if I want to do something else in dentistry that [dental hygiene and business] would be a good combination."

While taking business classes at Upper Iowa University, Filipiak also taught dental hygiene courses-dental materials and radiography lab-at NTC. After graduation, while still working in clinical practice, Filipiak took on the position of hygiene educator with OraPharma, Inc., where one of her accounts happened to be Midwest Dental. After meeting with Midwest Dental's CEO Jeffrey Moos, DDS, to review what she had observed, Filipiak was offered the position she holds today.

"It was scary because it was change, but it's been very, very rewarding," said Filipiak, who had been working for the same dentist for the previous 16 years.

"As a clinical hygienist, I got rewards from my patients. But I knew if there was a way for me to get other people to feel that reward that I got, I wanted to be involved in that," said Filipiak. "And that is really so much of what I get to do now. My rewards now come in seeing the light bulb go on for somebody else."

The field of dental hygiene has been exceedingly rewarding for Filipiak, who says that "her passion for the profession" has kept her excited about doing the work she does.

"As an individual clinician I could impact 1,000 patients a year. If I can impact 90 hygienists, then we have that many more patients who are receiving a better level of care," explained Filipiak.

"There is so much opportunity for me in my current role," she added. "I have a great gig."

Filipiak has been a member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association for nearly two decades and is the past president of the Wisconsin Dental Hygienists' Association. She currently serves on ADHA's Clinical Practice Guidelines Task Force.

This edition of Working was prepared by Katie Barge