Hygienist Spotlight

Dental hygienists who are lifelong learners, science nerds, and thrive on changes and challenges are amazed at what can be accomplished. Courtney Beth Anderson, RDH, a 2009 AAS graduate of Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois, believes in going the distance with her career, and she is frequently undertaking new challenges. As a child with "bucky teeth," Courtney didn't smile...

Yes, this article will focus on my own personal experiences doing some good in the community. My story could show some insight on how to find what you are passionate about in your own community. Sometimes opportunities such as this are unexpected, and they present themselves to you when you aren't even looking. In my case, I was attending a...

Switching settings now, we enter the public health sector, which includes the school-based community. According to the American Dental Association, dental public health is defined as "that part of dentistry providing leadership and expertise in population-based dentistry, oral health surveillance, policy development, community-based disease prevention and health promotion, and the maintenance of the dental safety net.”1 I asked Paula Morrison,...

When we first entered dental hygiene school, we were taught that as dental hygienists, we perform many different roles such as clinician, advocate, researcher, educator, and administrative/manager. Some of us work in different types of dental offices such as private practices, general, perio, and pedo to name a few, while others work in the public health sector. Some hygienists have...

The dental hygienists interviewed for this Decades of Dental Hygiene feature continue to impress me. We have met Fran Tourdot, RDH, an 82-year-old elder care advocate. We tried to keep up with 75-year-old Barb Orth, RDH, BS, a 5K runner who is still temping. This month, meet 67-year-old Renee Ahlf, RDH, MS, whose dental hygiene career is nothing short of...

In part three of our series, we move our way up the ranks to a hygienist who has many years of experience under her belt. Kimberlee Faria, RDH, is a Massachusetts native who has been practicing for 30 years. She graduated from dental hygiene school in 1990. To view the previous articles in the Different Stages of Career series, click...

Over the past three years of clinical experience, I have been introduced to many different dental professionals, especially hygienists. Everyone possesses their own opinions, perspectives, and experiences about the profession. My goal here is to have hygienists reflect on their dental hygiene career based on their experience − a new graduate, a hygienist with a few years under her...

Angie Abramowicz is a recent, 23-year-old graduate of Fox College in Chicago. A first-generation American, Abramowicz offers a unique perspective about embarking on a career in dental hygiene. It was exciting to learn more about Angie and her goals and dreams for her professional future. In recent months, Decades of Dental Hygiene has interviewed Fran Tourdot, Barb Orth, Renee Ahlf, Kelli...

We’ve met some amazing dental hygienists, all at different points in their careers: Fran Tourdot, age 82. Barb Orth, age 75. Renee Ahlf, age 67 and Kelli Dash, age 56. The next chapter in our Decades of Dental Hygiene introduces us to Kym Dallstream, RDH, BS, age 42. Kim is a nonstop volunteer and has used the networking connections...

"We can do hard things" is a mantra that seems to be everywhere. Authors Glennon Doyle and Alan Packer wrote of the challenge. This isn't a new idea. President John F. Kennedy's "moon" speech in 1962 proclaimed, " We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but...