This month's Clarity highlights a new graduate's perspective as she enters the dental hygiene profession. I first met the author during my graduate degree student teaching requirements at Waukesha County Technical College. Katie is an excellent student and clinician and is well deserving of this opportunity to share her experiences and how her education has shaped her vision of her chosen profession. This is one of my efforts to "Pay it Forward." I have been lucky in my career to know many influential people and exceptional clinicians who have provided opportunities and introduced me to new ideas and ways of thinking. For repayment, my mentors don't need me to help them, what our profession needs is for us to help others. Please welcome Katie Tucker into our profession.

My experiences in dental hygiene school taught me more in 2 years than I ever thought was possible. It taught me not only instrumentation skills and how to "scrape teeth," but also responsibility, commitment, teamwork, and that hard work pays off for those who persevere. Several of my mentors have remarked that students choose this profession because of the high pay and flexible working hours, but only some of us will consider dental hygiene a profession after our time in school is complete. As I graduate into the workforce, the lessons learned from my hard work and dedication have made me truly passionate about dentistry and helping others.

One thing I have realized is that dental hygienists wear more than one hat. This is not just a job where you scale and polish teeth. We are not only clinicians, but also educators, counselors, friends, and confidantes. Our patients want us to be good listeners and responsive to their needs. Every patient is an individual, and should be treated with individualized care and concern.

Another thing I have realized is that many hygienists are not aware of their additional responsibilities in caring for their patients, such as blood pressure and cancer screenings. I have come to realize that oral care is directly related to the overall care of the human body, and that we have a direct responsibility to meet every patient's need and not to compromise patient care in any way. Many patients see their dental hygienists on a more regular basis than their primary care physicians; therefore, we have more chances to detect hypertension as well as oral and other cancers that may otherwise go undiscovered.

The dental hygiene community may be small, but it is a tight-knit group of people. It provides the opportunity to meet other hygienists at conferences, volunteer events, and fundraising efforts. These hygienists understand how I feel and what I am going through because they have experienced the bonds created during dental hygiene education. Many are willing to reach out and help in any way possible.

During my first year of school, one of my fellow classmates, Ashley Zielinski, passed away in a tragic car accident. Since her unexpected death, my class has pulled together and stayed dedicated to keeping Ashley's memory alive indefinitely. We have established a memorial scholarship for Ashley that will be awarded each year to dental hygiene students entering their second year of school. In the past year, we have raised several thousand dollars to begin this scholarship, and have reached out to others in the dental hygiene community. The response was unbelievable. Hygienists and schools from all over Wisconsin offered to help and contribute. We started a fundraiser selling dental hygiene sweatshirts online, which resulted in hygienists across the country offering their help and concern. The online fundraiser has given me the opportunity to converse with other hygienists from across the country, one of whom I continue to write and ask for advice. Hygienists know the close bonds created during school; how you need each other for support because no one else seems to understand your emotional struggle.

Dental hygiene school taught me that patients come with different backgrounds, perceptions of dental treatment, and personalized needs for optimal care. Elderly patients usually need more appointment time to socialize and to learn the often difficult new oral hygiene techniques. Special needs patients have taught me to be a compassionate and gentle caregiver. Working with uncooperative children for the first time was a difficult but enlightening experience, which has taught me to be patient and firm. Some patients, such as those with advanced periodontitis, heavy calculus, or extreme sensitivity, can be more difficult and require more time and patience. I have learned to take the time to educate them on the cause of their diseases and how to maintain or prevent further disease progression.

I also learned and gained experience from my second-year case study patient, a young woman with no other access to dental care. Her oral hygiene had been neglected for many years, and she needed someone like me to reach out to her. I used the intraoral camera to show her images of heavy calculus, severe caries, and unhealthy gingival tissues. I showed her a sample of her plaque under a microscope so she could visualize the bacteria that were living in her mouth and contributing to her disease.

I counseled her on proper nutrition to provide the essential vitamins and minerals that were needed in her diet and on the benefit of decreasing her sugar intake and frequency to avoid future carious lesions. She complied with the weekly recall appointments needed to complete the procedures and used the recommended oral hygiene adjuncts and techniques, such as flossing and using an end-tufted brush on her partially erupted third molars. She also modified her diet as recommended and began occasionally chewing sugarless gum to disturb the plaque that was contributing, along with her habit of chewing on one side of her mouth, to the formation of occlusal calculus.

At the end of her treatment, she expressed her gratitude for my services and mentioned that she will be teaching the things she learned to her baby daughter. These types of patients and experiences make the dental hygiene profession rewarding for me.

During my time in school, I was a member of the Student American Dental Hygienists' Association (SADHA). SADHA membership gave me opportunities to educate the community about oral health by participating in community events and projects, such as AIDS and cancer benefit walks, health fairs, and presentations at local schools and children's groups. SADHA membership also provides complimentary subscriptions to dental hygiene magazines and journals, discounts on insurance programs including short-term medical insurance, and employment assistance.¹

I look forward to converting my SADHA membership to the American Dental Hygienists' Associ­ation (ADHA) because membership offers many benefits to practicing and recently graduated hygienists. In addition to the benefits I received as an SADHA member, ADHA members receive discounts on continuing education and access to a wealth of information on ADHA's Web site, www.adha.org.² Most importantly, ADHA members automatically become members of their state constituent and local component organizations.²

Being actively involved in my local component will give me the opportunity to have a voice in current legal issues for my state's hygienists, such as autonomy and the requirements of continuing education. By attending these groups' functions, I plan to develop new professional contacts and stay informed about the accomplishments of my new profession.²

My experience in dental hygiene school has taught me more than I ever would have imagined: The chance to make a difference in the lives of others, the chance to be all that I dreamed I could be, and the satisfaction of knowing that I can truly accomplish anything. These are the lessons I will take with me as I begin my fabulous new career in dental hygiene.

References
1. Student membership: the SADHA advantage. American Dental Hygienists' Association Web site. Available at: http: //www.adha.org/aboutadha/sadha.htm. Accessed Apr 27, 2006.

2. Membership privileges. American Dental Hygienists' Association Web site. Available at: www.adha.org/aboutadha/privileges.htm. Accessed Apr 27, 2006.