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Profile in Oral Health Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, MS, Hygienetown Editorial Director

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by Trisha E. O'Hehir, RDH, MS

Dental hygiene is primarily a clinical career, with options to move away from clinical practice into education, research or the corporate world. However, the majority of hygienists dedicate their careers to clinical practice and to the people they help with their clinical skills and oral health education. Some in this group find a burning passion to make a change, a problem that needs to be solved or a new direction they can take their career, while still focusing on clinical practice. Several of the Hygienetown Townies have done just that. Some have had interesting and varied work experiences, taken courses for advanced certification and others are inventors of products, iPhone apps, software programs and treatment protocols.

With instruments at work in the mouth and the patient unable to engage in conversation, hygienists have time to dream, think and plan. Do you think of new inventions during this time? Perhaps you're thinking of ways to solve perplexing problems encountered while providing patient care. Or maybe you dream of completely changing the way dental hygiene care is provided. Whatever it is that captures your attention during your work day – it might just be the next new product for your dental hygiene colleagues or future dental hygienists!

I asked several Townies who are clinical dental hygienists to tell me about their unique experiences tied to clinical practice. Here are their stories.

Tim Ives, RDH
Practice Appraiser • England • www.dentalvillage.co.uk
I'm a firm believer in setting goals for both personal and professional life, and a great promoter of life-long learning. However, experience has taught me that sometimes it's beneficial to undertake a course or qualification that might not immediately be of benefit and doesn't fit in with my immediate plans or career path, but can be put away in a bottom drawer to be used at a later date.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of England have a qualification called the Certificate of Appraisal in Dental Practices. A few years back they made this course available to hygienists and dentists. The one-year course qualifies clinicians to appraise all aspects of the dental office and the clinicians to ensure they are compliant in all aspects of dental care. In 2007 I was the first U.K. hygienist to gain this qualification.

Three years passed without ever using the qualification. But last year the government changed the way U.K. dental practices were legislated and many of the policies changed as well. This created a state of confusion and much anxiety amongst all members of the dental team.

An independent company established to assist dental offices through these compliance changes was looking for certified clinicians and offered me a position. I now spend one day a week out of the clinic as a practice advisor.
Suzanne Mann, RDH
Temp Hygienist • Illinois • www.hygienetown.com
Twenty years ago my help was needed managing the family seasonal restaurant in Wisconsin. That ended my full-time employment in a single dental office. Thereafter I worked as a temp and one winter had the opportunity to fill in for a friend in Boulder, Colorado, an adventure that opened a Pandora's Box of excitement and learning.

I decided that combining work and vacation was the only way to fly, so from then on I found jobs in underserved areas of Colorado and it became my way to combine work and play. There is nothing like living in an area for four- to six-months stretches to let you know how the locals live.

I never felt new or isolated in any area as I was making friends with eight patients a day. They took an interest in the out-of-state hygienist and wanted to go to lunch or fill me in on social doings in the area.

In the various practices, I introduced new ways of doing things: polishing first, disclosing everyone, ultrasonic scaling and my own personally evolved spiel. Most importantly I viewed each office as a continuing education treasure trove as each did things differently than the previous office. There would be no other way to gain this hands-on experience of new equipment, new products and new management philosophies. I brought a lot of experience to each practice, but I honestly left with more.
Judy Carroll, RDH, Director
PerioPeak Innovations • Washington • www.periopeak.com
Periodontal endoscope technology caught my attention in the periodontal office where I was employed in 2000. I was forever changed from the moment I picked up the endoscope. It changed the focus and direction of my career from an employee, where I felt like a "cleaning lady," to an entrepreneur with my own practice within a dental practice: PerioPeak Innovations. I could see the path clearly and felt I could finally make a tremendous difference in the lives of my patients in a more definitive and measurable way. I knew intuitively that hygienists like me could restore "hopeless" cases, as well as provide unparalleled preventive care through more definitive diagnosis of all conditions.

Since 2000 my focus has been exploring clinical possibilities with advanced endoscope protocols, carefully documenting hundreds of cases. Restorative Periodontal Endoscopy (RPE), became the "fruit of my labors." Clients travel to our clinic from all over the world to undergo our advanced treatment. Clinically I am very fulfilled as I continue to explore and document the clinical significance of RPE for combined endodontic/periodontal lesions, root resorption cases, cemental tears, root fractures and furcation defects (teeth all deemed hopeless). I feel the door is wide open for RPE to become an evidence-based treatment option.

Currently I'm developing a business plan for the next-generation periodontal endoscope. Innovative clinical education with more advanced protocols and techniques will be a big part of this plan, as well as publishing research on RPE.
Victoria DaCosta, RDH, BSDH, SHC
Systemic Hygiene Consultant • California • www.holisticdentalhygiene.com
Early in my career, with just two years of experience in a periodontal practice, I realized the connection between the mouth and the body. This happened in 1990 and it forever changed my approach to clinical dental hygiene. Research was just emerging about the potential link between periodontal disease and systemic health. My interest was piqued and my studies began. Despite my excitement and enthusiasm about this, I was fired from four different general dental practices for talking to my patients about the mouth-body connection.

A friend of mine, a successful businessman, encouraged me to develop a mouth-body connection screening software program so that all dental hygiene patients could know and understand why their gums were bleeding. Never in a million years did I realize that this project would eventually affect the career options of thousands of my fellow dental hygienists. After much research and years in development, the StrawBerrySafeKiss Wellness Screening software evolved – a program that calculates a mouth and body wellness score.

My weekly schedule now includes clinical dental hygiene days and non-clinical days as a certified systemic hygiene consultant, offering "SafeKiss" screening appointments. As research accumulates confirming the link between oral health and general health, it is my goal to help other hygienists become systemic hygiene consultants to then go on to help their patients achieve optimum oral and systemic health.

Along the way, I developed an all-natural, organic, fluoride-free prophy paste for use in the dental office. This provides an alternative for dental hygiene patients looking for holistic dental hygiene services.
Andy Codding, RDH
Board Review Study App Developer • Georgia • www.andyrdh.com
I remember how stressful and time consuming studying was for the board exams. I remember feeling a huge void when seeking mentorship and encouragement as a student. Students and new grads don't have a support system to help them adjust to their career. I had an epiphany that not all students have to go through this... my goal became to help dental hygiene students succeed as students and as hygienists.

Since graduating from dental hygiene in 2002, I've been mentoring dental hygiene students and recent graduates. Mentoring ranges from applying to dental hygiene school through the educational process and finally to finding and adjusting to clinical practice. I help with the transition into the real world of clinical dental hygiene; how to improve speed without compromising effectiveness or ethics, handling objections to needed treatment and how to be an extraordinary employee. This process motivated me to create several products, one for clinicians, the RDH Data Tracking Program, and for students, the Dental Hygiene Board Review CD and a new Board Review Study app for smartphones and the iPad.

The Board Review Study app allows students to take their study material wherever they go and to take practice mock board exams at any moment of the day, and at any location.
Mark Frias, RDH
Inventor of the Kona Adaptor • Massachusetts • www.facebook.com/konaadapter
Since starting hygiene school in 2005, I've been obsessed with oral isolation products. I tried many isolation products on the market, but was not impressed by any of them until I tried the Isolite System. In 2008, I decided to buy my own Isolite System with the hope that my corporate employer would embrace the technology after seeing it in action. To make a long story short, that didn't happen. I work out of eight chairs doing assisted hygiene, so having only one Isolite System was not enough. Purchasing eight Isolite Systems was beyond my personal budget and constantly moving the one Isolite System from chair to chair just wasn't practical.

One day in the summer of 2010, I decided to tinker around with the Isolite mouthpieces. I created a simple connector made from modified saliva ejectors. It wasn't perfect, but it worked and it got me excited about using my Isolite mouthpieces again. Prior to that time, it had never crossed my mind that I could design, manufacture and sell a simple high volume evacuation adapter for the Isolite mouthpiece myself. By August 2010, I decided to do it. The process of bringing the Kona Adapter to market has been very exciting and it has sparked a drive within me to create more products for the dental hygienist. I would encourage all dental hygienists who have a desire to do something beyond clinical practice to do it! Don't be afraid to make mistakes or fail. If you have a passion for something, keep pursuing it until you succeed.
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