Registered Dental Hygienist

22 JUNE 2017 | RDHMAG.COM ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, AND A BASKET OF VEGETABLES

benefits of being active with my local dental hygiene component. I serve as a board member and have the opportunity to plan the direction of our association. Hygienists are often isolated in their little part of the office, having minimal communication with the rest of the team, let alone another hygienist. As a new hygienist, it is essential to discuss cases with other hygienists. It doesn’t take long to realize that what you learned in school was just an introduction to the practice of dental hygiene.

Hopefully you are continuing to
learn as I have. In my sixties, I still
have so much more to learn! I enjoy
going to RDH Under One Roof and
the ADHA Annual Session annually,
in addition to other conferences. I
would become very bored with den-
tal hygiene, if I wasn’t learning about
new products, technology, and
meeting professional colleagues to
talk “shop.”
Many authors and even my
mother warned me that you
She encouraged me to
work harder when I was unhappy
with a low grade I got on a quiz the
first semester. Later she would
mentor me as I became a mother
myself. As an educator, I was intro-
duced to many mothers of my stu-
dents. I received numerous thank
you notes from mothers for caring
for their daughters while away from
home for the first time and being a
good role model. It is another heart-
warming moment of teaching. I
encourage you to read “ 10 Things
You Learn From Being Raised By A
Strong Mother” on Thought
Catalog.

Whether you were a male hygiene student or female, I hope you had a strong mother that pushed, guided, and loved you through your stressful times and served as your first role model. Pick up the phone to thank her.

FINDING A MENTOR

Nearly every business book I have read recommends two things for success: mentoring and networking.

This is precisely why I enjoy the
a different direction. I admired my
aunts and grandmothers who
taught me about gardening, food
preservation, sewing, laundry, kind-
ness, manners, work ethic, and so
many more skills that would
carry me through my life. They
were my first role models and
mentors.

My parents and mentors were admired by everyone in the neighborhood, as they were the youth directors in our church. In addition, my dad coached baseball teams for my younger brothers and taught all the neighborhood children and his grandchildren various sports.

My mother was the mom
of the neighborhood, as she
fed hungry friends of my brothers
and always had a good listening ear.

She didn’t hesitate to chastise them if they needed it for bad behavior. She always had something good to eat in her kitchen. As an adult, even if I wasn’t hungry, I always found that I couldn’t pass up my mom’s kitchen. The kitchen is where we entered my parent’s home and it always had aromas of fresh brewed coffee, roast beef, baked goods, or homemade soup. I remember her befriending a young neighbor who moved in next door with two small children. Once again, I was destined to model my parents as my first role models.

WHEREABOUTS
OF MENTORS

Role models and mentors are es-
sential as we progress in our chosen
career path. Remember when you
first graduated from your dental
hygiene program? You were excited
and yet nervous at the same time.
You experienced self-doubt as you
explored working in your profession
wondering if you could manage it
all in a much shorter time than you
had in school. How did you cope
with these emotions? Several of you
found mentors in
your office or with-
in your local den-
tal hygiene com-
ponent and
eventually assumed leadership
positions. You were mentored and
became the mentee to new
graduates.

Others relied on their dental hygiene classmates, alumni, or even faculty advisors. I was fortunate to have worked for a dentist and his wife in my senior year in high school. Without their great guidance and mentoring, I would not have chosen dental hygiene as a career. They planted the seed and I am forever grateful.

As I write this article, it is the International Women’s Day celebration. I listened to an interview with Tory Burch, Founder of the Tory Burch Foundation and a very successful entrepreneur. She stated, “I realized early on that if I wasn’t out of my comfort zone, I wasn’t thinking big enough.” She went on to say how important mentors were to her in pushing her beyond her comfort zone. I assume that many of you were out of your comfort zone on that first day of employment as a dental hygienist.