Amina Zaidi, RRDH

My Dental Hygiene Story

I believe oral healthcare should meet people where they are.

My journey as a dental hygienist has taken me far beyond the traditional dental office. It has taken me across different cities in Iraq, where I independently provided dental hygiene treatment to orphans and widows who had limited access to preventive oral healthcare.

I chose to use my professional skills in this way because I believe that everyone deserves to feel cared for and to have access to basic oral healthcare, regardless of their circumstances.

Working with orphans and widows in Iraq was an experience that deeply shaped me as a hygienist. I learned that providing care is about much more than the clinical treatment itself. It is about listening, building trust, showing compassion, and recognizing the person behind the patient. Sometimes, the most meaningful thing you can give someone is the feeling that their health matters and that someone took the time to care.

Those experiences stayed with me when I returned home to Canada.

They ultimately inspired me to create Serene Smiles, a mobile dental hygiene service built around the same belief: if barriers prevent people from coming to care, sometimes we need to bring care to them.

Through Serene Smiles, I have continued working to make oral healthcare more accessible by building relationships with community organizations, including Indigenous communities and organizations supporting young single mothers. My goal is to provide not only preventive dental hygiene care, but also oral health education and connections to resources that can help people and families care for their health.

Although the communities I have served are very different, the reason I do this work has remained the same.

Whether I am providing care to a widow or orphan in Iraq, bringing a mobile dental hygiene service into a community in Canada, or teaching a parent how to care for their child’s smile, I want every person to feel that their oral health matters.

I don’t believe you have to change the world for what you do to count.

Sometimes, you simply have to show up, use the skills you have, and put your hands to work for someone who needs them.

That is what Heart to Hands means to me.