The Dental Handoff

Tammy Reavis, RDH, MPH, has spent her career stuck in what she calls a piston feeling. Chairside in periodontics, she can get gum disease under control, but she cannot touch the diabetes, the high blood pressure, or the chronic inflammation sitting underneath it. So, she went and built the second half of her career around fixing exactly that.   Tammy completed a year-long program through the Funct...

Most hygienist career transitions start with burnout and end with uncertainty. Tiffany Bairos, RDH, MPH, took a different path. After 18 years in clinical hygiene, a combination of physical wear, a research certificate, a temp job, a full-time leap, and a master's in public health brought her to a faculty role she had not planned and could not have mapped.   She now teaches caries risk assessment...

Global dental hygiene is a growing profession recognized in over 30 countries. Germany is not one of them. Anyone can use the title. Anyone can claim it. And a six-hour course can technically qualify an assistant to scale subgingivally.   Carmen Lanoway, RDH, BScDH, has practiced inside that system for most of her 38-year career. She is currently Secretary of the International Federation of Dental...

Barbara Tritz returns to The Dental Handoff to discuss the powerful connection between hormones and oral health. Women with excellent oral hygiene are developing sensitivity, dry mouth, bleeding gums, tooth decay, and bone loss. Barbara explains why the answer is often not brushing harder but understanding what is happening biologically inside the body. Subscribe to The Dental Handoff on Apple Pod...

There is a version of dental hygiene most hygienists never encounter. No production targets. No same-day schedule pressure. Care measured by how many lives you reach, not how many patients fit in the hour.   Jessica L. Woods, MPH, RDH has been living that version for over a decade. A clinician who spent years in public health and alternative practice settings, she was the first hygienist employed...

In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Dr. Derik J. Sven, DHSc, RDH, CDT. He is a doctoral researcher, 2025 to 2026 VDHA President, ADHA Fellow, and one of the most clear-eyed voices on hygiene workforce policy in the profession today.   Dr. Sven's perspective is genuinely rare. He grew up in a dental laboratory, pursued a seminary education, was rejected from one h...

In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Mary Govoni, CDA, RDA, RDH OSHA Outreach Trainer, Speaker, Author, a compliance consultant who has spent decades helping dental practices close the gap between what they think they are doing and what their documentation actually shows.   Mary walks through what she finds in practice after practice: the workaround mindset that c...

Every clinical role in a dental practice comes with a license, a certification, or an advanced degree. The office manager who coordinates everything those clinicians do? She learns it on the job, alone, and owns the outcome regardless.   In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Savanah Carlson, MAADOM, Director of U.S. Partners and Learning Programs at MaxAssist, form...

Lisa Copeland holds the CSP, the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association, one of the most respected credentials in professional speaking. Fewer than 17% of speakers in the world have earned it. She is one of only three registered dental hygienists to ever receive it. That credential came after thirty years of saying yes. Perio in Scranton. Implantology in...

In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Chris Snyder, founder of 360 Media + Marketing. Since 2016, Chris has built a reputation for helping dental professionals stand out through personal branding, public relations, and advertising with a focus on authentic storytelling and strategic visibility.   Chris breaks down why most dental marketing misses the mark, why emai...

In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Dr. John Heimke, DMD, MPH, President of Facial Designers, Inc., aesthetic dentist, full-arch implant provider, and faculty at the FMR in New York. They cover what it actually takes to build a fulfilling, high-performing dental practice.   Dr. Heimke unpacks the Blue Ocean Strategy that reshaped his practice over 15 years ago, e...

What if the biggest thing holding you back in dentistry is trying to be perfect? In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Dr. JoAnn Gurenlian to unpack a challenge many dental professionals face but rarely discuss: perfectionism. From early training to clinical practice, dentistry often reinforces the pressure to get everything right. But that constant pursuit of perf...

Have you ever had a moment in your practice where you did everything right, but something still felt off? In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Kristin Haynes to talk about the real, unspoken experiences happening inside dental practices every day. From subtle bias to moments that are hard to explain, this conversation explores how those experiences shape the way w...

Dental leadership, career growth, and navigating change in dentistry—this episode of The Dental Handoff explores what it really takes to trust your next step in your dental career. If you’re a dental hygienist (RDH), dentist, assistant, or practice owner feeling stuck, burned out, or uncertain about your next move, this conversation will resonate deeply. Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Aimee Vail...

Most dental assistants are not struggling because they are not capable. They are struggling because no one ever trained them properly. Dental assisting is one of the most hands-on roles in dentistry, but many assistants are expected to perform, communicate, and anticipate everything without structured training or mentorship. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Ju...

Dental infection control and OSHA compliance aren’t optional, but many practices are still missing critical steps. If you’ve ever wondered whether your office is truly compliant, this conversation will give you clarity. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Monica Satake to unpack the real gaps in infection-control training and why so many dental teams are unintent...

Dental hygiene is about far more than scaling and polishing. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with hygienist and educator Barbara Tritz, RDH, to explore how dentistry can move beyond “just cleaning teeth” and begin addressing the deeper systemic factors that influence oral health. This conversation is for dental hygienists, dentists, practice owners, and dental edu...

Dental leadership isn’t linear — it’s built through growth, setbacks, and purpose. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Anissa Broussard to explore what it really takes to evolve beyond the operatory. This conversation is for dental hygienists, dentists, practice owners, and healthcare leaders who feel the pull toward “what’s next” — but may also feel the fear tha...

Dental leadership can feel isolating. But broken culture is fixable. In this episode of The Dental Handoff Podcast, Dr. Kelly Tanner talks with Stacey Sloan, RDH, founder of ChairSide Collaborative, about the real challenges of dental leadership, practice culture, and scaling a growing dental organization. If you are a dental hygienist stepping into leadership, a dentist managing rapid growth, or...

Dental hygiene leadership meets denturism and minimally invasive dentistry in this powerful episode of The Dental Handoff. Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with Sarah Luetke, RDH, Denturist, to discuss independent hygiene, nursing home dentistry, and expanding access to care for aging populations. This episode is for: • Dental hygienists (RDHs) • Dentists and practice owners • Public health advocates •...

Dental leadership isn’t failing because people don’t care; it’s failing because we forget we’re human. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with practice management consultant Kristin Haynes to talk about empathy, burnout, and the unseen emotional load carried by dental teams and doctors alike. This conversation is for dental hygienists, dentists, practice owners, and...

In this episode, Dr. Kelly sits down with Krystal Afzalzada, a Canadian RDH, educator, and CE speaker who works at the intersection of: 🧠 Aging & dementia 🦷 Oral health & prevention 🤍 Fear, empathy & advocacy They talk about: Why “if you can imagine the path, it might be yours” Turning fear into “Face Everything And Rise” How to slow down in a 30–45 min appointment and actually list...

Many adults think orthodontics is just about straight teeth—or that it’s “too late” to start. In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with orthodontic hygienist and educator Liisa Moore to discuss why adult orthodontics is about far more than appearance. They dive into: Why “straight” teeth can still cause damage How crowding leads to recession, wear, and trauma The role...

What really happens behind the scenes of a successful CE speaker? In this episode of The Dental Handoff, Dr. Kelly Tanner sits down with oral pathology expert Dr. Ashley Clark to talk about the evolution of oral pathology, digitized slides and AI, and the unspoken realities of life on the lecture circuit—from shoes and slide advancers to ethics, sponsorships, and being scouted without knowing it....

In this powerful episode, Dr. Kelly Tanner and Tia Meyer break down one of the most overlooked yet transformative systems in dentistry: the handoff. From the moment your patient walks in the door to the final scheduling step, every touchpoint is an opportunity to build trust, create value, and strengthen case acceptance. Tia S. Meyer, RDH, is a clinical hygienist and the Clinical Director for a 11...