Fuel the Fire: 8 ways to help reignite your passion for dental hygiene by Nadine Russell

I’ve worked in the dental field for close to 20 years now, 11 of them as a registered dental hygienist. Some days I feel like the time has gone by so quickly, and on others my shift just can’t be over fast enough.

It’s easy to become complacent in our chosen profession—many believe it’s repetitive and task-oriented. Many others, like myself, still love being hygienists. So many of our colleagues are on a quest for greener pastures and believe that they can find it outside of clinical hygiene and away from patient care. As someone who’s been on both sides of that fence, I can tell you that happiness in your career won’t change just by your leaving the operatory.

We all know the daily challenges in hygiene: insurance dictation, noncompliance, miserable employers and annoying co-workers. Many of these are universal problems—you’ll have challenges in every job you ever have, but just in a different setting. We may have little to no control over them, but we can control our mindsets and how we handle our adversities.

So if you’ve lost your dental hygiene passion, how can you reignite it? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Become a lifelong learner
I’m a committed lifelong learner! To be honest, if I could, I’d be a career student. I love to learn. Thinking “outside the box” has offered me many opportunities for growth within my career, but that isn’t luck—it’s learning and educating myself beyond my dental hygiene diploma.

We need to stimulate our brains to think beyond the day-to-day to create the opportunity for self-growth. Learning doesn’t have to be technically related or the acquisition of a new skill set. It doesn’t even have to be within the scope of dental hygiene. As long as it offers personal growth and development, it will enhance your career. Education and learning are never a waste of any time or money invested.

2. Stay current in the field
Attend conferences and dental hygiene meetings, network with others, and be an active participant in your chosen profession. We all have our continuing education requirements, but many still do the same old thing over and over again. Make a goal to learn and implement something new into your dental hygiene practice every year.

3. Try some new instruments
We’re creatures of habit—we tend to like the same way of doing things, using the same instruments and having the same routines. It becomes repetitive. The next time you order instruments, add one that you’ve never tried into one of your hygiene kits. (I wouldn’t recommend ordering more than one, just in case you don’t like it.) Trying a new instrument can be just enough to make you change up your routine to enhance your patient care.

4. Master the intraoral camera
I’m amazed that so many practices don’t use intraoral cameras. Once you’ve incorporated it into your daily routine, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it. The camera creates an opportunity for communication with your patients, who can now clearly see what you’ve been explaining.

I take “before” and “after” pictures of the lower lingual anteriors on all my patients, so they’re able to understand and truly fathom the abundance of deposits they’ve accumulated. When educating on periodontal disease, I show patients areas of deeper pocketing, so they have a greater understanding of what their probing depths are. (Additionally, the intraoral camera is a great tool for illumination. You’ll be surprised what it helps you see!)

5. Know and track your contributions
Many of us have no idea what we contribute to our practices every day. I suggest daily monitoring and ongoing tracking of your production, so you’ll have a greater understanding of what you bring to your dental practice. Tracking this will also benefit you when talking to your employers about wage increases and benefits.

6. Determine a work-life balance
I agree, this can be tricky. I used to work a lot. I absolutely was happy with what I was earning, but I spent so much of it on convenience items and eating out, and astronomical amounts in childcare. Then, the unimaginable happened: My youngest daughter became very ill. I decided to leave my job and my earnings dropped substantially over the ensuing years, but now I couldn’t be happier.

I make a hot breakfast for my children every morning before taking them to school. I earn about 60 percent of what I used to, but somehow I have more money at the end of the month. I reprioritized to find solutions that fit my life, instead of fitting my life around my job.

7. Get your exercise
“I don’t have time.” This is the most common excuse everyone uses—we hear it every day when patients tell us they’re “so busy” they can’t even floss their teeth. We all know it’s not true, and the same thing applies to your excuse not to exercise. Make the time: The benefits will improve the quality of your life in every way—the natural endorphins that are released with regular exercise will help reduce symptoms of depression and make you feel great. You’ll help alleviate work-related ailments through stretching and strengthening your muscles, and the cardiovascular benefits will help ensure a healthier life.

No matter what your fitness level is, there is always something you can do. Even if you go for a simple walk on your lunch break, you’ll greatly benefit from it.

8. Practice gratitude
I’m so grateful that I have the ability to go to work each and every day. I’m grateful that I’ve chosen a career in which I’m compensated adequately and can provide for my family. I’m grateful that I work in an industry that is constantly evolving, and there’s always something new to learn to stimulate my brain. I’m also grateful that I have options to take many different career paths within the scope of dental hygiene. The opportunities are there; I just have to work toward them. Only I can do that—it can’t be done for me—and with that success comes a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Nadine Russell is an experienced practice management consultant, published author and international speaker. Russell’s 19-year dental career includes chairside assisting, clinical dental hygiene, and administrative and treatment coordination positions. Her clinical experiences focus on working with individuals with special needs, those with dental anxiety and the medically compromised. Having a true passion for sharing her knowledge motivates Russell to stimulate meaningful discussions with her peers. She works with dental offices to help provide business management solutions and dental hygiene coaching, and she