Pioneer, trailblazer, one part risk taker, 3 parts crazy. The independent dental hygienist is a new breed in a profession with a more than 100 year old history and we are growing. This evolution has been years in the making with visionary “suffragettes” along the way who have nudged this change along to its now almost unstoppable advancement. This new way of living the profession moves far beyond our “floss or die” roots into unique and innovative practice settings and practitioner attitudes that have the potential to reach a greater number of patients in a more powerful way than the profession has ever known before. There has never been a more exciting time to be a hygienist!

The inspiration for this blog comes on the heels of a recent get together of like minded independent hygienists that I am not soon to forget. This coming together is not the norm. Many of us are so busy juggling our many hats of clinician, administrator, billing clerk, media and marketing specialist and don’t forget possible spouse or parent that such meetings are more often just fanciful notions. Should we find the time for annual CE regional meetings or conferences, there is usually no organized meeting of independent practitioners per say.

Don’t get me wrong, I would never go back to life before independence, but the price of this independence is often less camaraderie and support found in the other practice settings we originally started our careers in; be that education, public health or traditional clinic work. This recent meeting though has put new air in my sails or more precisely, filled my balloon with new helium. In fact, this meeting of minds has gotten my brain working so fast that sleep has eluded me these past couple of nights. As my husband can attest, this is NOT normal for me; I may even be in the running for the fastest person to reach REM in the world.

It was fascinating discussing what was working and what hadn’t worked for these other independent hygiene practices. To hear the struggles and successes of other like minded clinicians made me want to come home and never give up. I confess that I have fielded phone calls and emails from hygienists over the years who were looking for advice in starting up their own practices and I never really felt I had the time to spare but really, if this advance in our profession is going to flourish, we need to support those who want to take up this torch. It is better for our profession and most certainly better for our patients, many of whom have not been able to access traditional dental care.

So I look forward to getting to know you out there and I hope that my sharing will help others to find success not only with their hygiene practice but also fulfillment in this unique and rewarding way of life.