Dental Hygiene Basics

It may sound strange, but some things are better left behind when entering dental hygiene school. Your mindset is something that has a substantial impact on everything you do, including your education. Mindset is something you have control over and can use in your favor! This ten-minute episode can change your thinking when it comes to dental hygiene school and make you an overall better learner.&...

Are you preparing to start dental hygiene school soon? If so, this is the perfect episode for you! Marie Richey, a current dental hygiene educator, joins me on this episode to give insider tips and tricks for incoming and current students. Listen to her perspective as a professor to have a clear understanding of what dental hygiene school will look like and be ready to go on your first day! Timest...

Two years ago, Dental Hygiene Basics was founded to provide educational tools to aspiring dental hygienists and help students transition into DH programs. Today, the mission remains the same, with the addition of awarding scholarships to dental hygiene students! I'm proud of the trajectory of DHB thus far and hope to continue supporting Future RDHs. Feedback for DHB is always appreciated, so pleas...

Starting dental hygiene school soon? You've come to the right place! Anistinn joins me on this episode to share her RDH journey so far. She's currently in an accelerated dental hygiene program and is on track to graduate in October. She's staying busy building a social media platform, tutoring other dental hygiene students, and studying for boards. If you're starting your dental hygiene journey, y...

Maggie Moodie started her dental hygiene career early, getting into a DH program at the early age of 18! Her career has taken her through various working environments from temping, working in public health, and now being an educator. As an educator of 5 years, she's cultivated ways to help dental hygiene students have better understanding of their curriculum. Game-based learning is something she h...

Shelley Brown joins me on this episode to share her dental hygiene journey from struggling to get accepted into a program to now, being an educator in Utah and practicing as a public health hygienist! She's done so much for the dental hygiene community and continues to expand her functions to propel this career forward. Find all of her latest educational material on her website www.shelley.dental....

My favorite RDH origin stories are the ones of people who didn't originally plan to become dental hygienists and somehow fell into it and end up loving this career. That was the case for Wafaa, @the_hijabi_hygienist, an influencer hygienist practicing clinically for 9 years now. She faced challenges in her pre-req classes as a pre-med student, and just so happened to be getting orthodontic treatme...

Dental hygiene programs require students to be up to date on all their vaccines and submit their records prior to starting school. This episode focuses on what vaccines your dental hygiene program will most likely require and where you can go to access your records. It's so important to start this process early in your application process to avoid delays in starting dental hygiene school or being...

Ever wondered how to provide dental hygiene care to patients with cancer? Jill is a dental hygienist who recognized the limited course material she was given in school when caring for cancer patients and sought to learn more. Her passion stems from seeing her mom's oral health suffer after her breast cancer diagnosis. Jill founded Side Effect Support, an online resource for both dental professiona...

Future RDHs who have been listening to my podcast for a while know I am a huge advocate for scholarships and encourage all students to apply to as many as possible. But I also want to shed light on scholarship scams and how students can avoid them. Listen now to learn some of the red flags you can look out for when applying to scholarships.  Timestamps: (00:00) Applying to Scholarships ...

The transition from dental hygiene school and working in a dental practice may sound overwhelming. If this sounds like something you're experiencing, you're in the right place! In this episode, I talk about all the things I wish someone had told me when entering the dental field as a new grad. You'll find advice on interviewing, when to leave an office, personal finances, clinical advice, and more...

Future RDH's, finals week is just around the corner and the stress is probably starting to kick in. Trust me, I've been there before, and I get that it can be overwhelming so I've put together my best tips for students to follow so they can be successful on their finals. They're simple and easy to implement, so make sure you tune in to get motivated and in your best headspace. Best of luck on fina...

This episode is the second and final part of my interview with Makya Smith, the first student to receive the Dental Hygiene Basics Scholarship! In this episode, you'll get to learn how Makya lost access to her full-ride scholarship halfway through dental hygiene school and still managed to graduate with zero debt! I love her perspective on receiving scholarships because it allows her to be more co...

Congratulations to Makya for being the first Dental Hygiene Basics Scholarship recipient!! We're celebrating with two episodes dedicated to sharing her story and showcasing her dedication to helping others. Before dental hygiene school, Makya spent three years volunteering with YWAM Medical Ships as a dental clinic manager, helping to provide dental services to underserved communities in Papua New...

Brittany Cox, a dental hygienist for 10 years, joins me on this episode to talk about her career. She graduated DH school at the age of 19 while raising a toddler and working full-time! As if that wasn't impressive enough, she recently graduated with a Master of Arts in oral health promotion and has become a key leader in implementing sustainability in the dental field. Her drive to continue learn...

Building foundational knowledge is key to being successful in school, especially in dental hygiene school, where all the topics overlap with each other. I've dedicated this episode to explaining why it's important and tips on implementing this into your study routine. As a former educator at several dental hygiene programs and tutor for the DH national board exam, I've seen a pattern in students o...

Heather DeJonge joins me on this episode to share her journey in dental hygiene and how she's become known as The Relaxed Hygienist! Her self-proclaimed title is earned through years of working on herself and regaining her mental and physical health to achieve a more relaxed lifestyle. We cover all topics relating to burnout, stress, and the long-term effects of neglecting your health. She has som...

In this episode, you can hear all about Jazmine's amazing dental hygiene career and how she founded a dental hygiene-independent practice in the state of New Mexico! She's been a practicing RDH for ten years, with experience as an educator and recently took over a dental business development company, Dental HyGenius. Jazmine has found many outlets in this profession that I'm excited to share with...

This episode features Angy, a travel RDH who is a learning and development manager with Cloud Dentistry, the online staffing platform! She shares her arduous but inspiring journey to becoming a dental hygienist. As a DACA recipient, she had to navigate paying for school out of pocket and taking the national boards without U.S. citizenship. Angy also worked 40-hour work weeks throughout her two yea...

Marisa Kibiersza, known as the financial hygienist on Instagram, joins me on this episode to share her experience of becoming a dental hygienist with a passion for personal finance. We delved into the topic of finance as a dental hygiene student as well as post-licensing to hopefully educate future RDHs on a topic that is not commonly explored in our profession. She shares how she got a bachelor o...

Some dental hygiene programs require applicants to take a TEAS test, an exam commonly used for nursing school applications. My goal with this episode was to help guide students who aren't sure where to get started when preparing for this exam. There are several tips and resources in this episode so make sure you give it a listen! Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE ! Transcripts a...

My guest speaker on this episode, Daisy, shares her amazing story of becoming a dental hygienist. She practices hygiene in the state of Washington, working part-time so she can focus on her brand and marketing. Daisy and I shared a great conversation about finances and how she covered school costs; spoiler- she was the recipient of 10 scholarships! Her story is especially inspiring as she is a fir...

This episode might win for the best RDH Origin Story on the podcast. Amber D'Andrea joined me to talk about how she ended up in dental hygiene despite originally wanting to become an RN- it's a crazy story that I'm excited for you to hear! She also shares the experience she had in the dental hygiene program at the College of DuPage in Illinois, which allowed her to obtain a bachelor's degree by co...

Jose has recently graduated from dental hygiene school at NYU's associate's program and plans to continue his education by getting a bachelor's in health promotion and education. He talks about how his major in arts helped him appreciate the field of dentistry when he worked as an orthodontics dental assistant. This clinical experience helped him stand out on his application since his GPA wasn't a...

It's no secret what working in dentistry can do to your body long term... but a topic that isn't talked about enough is noise fatigue. This episode focuses on how noise fatigue is common in the dental office and how it affects both our ear health as well as our mental health. Do you want to know the simple solution to this? Give this episode a listen right now! Submit your application for the DHB...