Hayley

One of the things I love most about being a dental hygienist is taking someone who says, “I hate the dentist,” and eventually hearing them say, “I actually look forward to coming here.” I have always been a people person, and I have learned that my favorite part of dental hygiene is not simply caring for someone’s teeth—it is caring for the person sitting in my chair. I have had patients walk into my operatory angry, anxious, embarrassed, or carrying years of dental trauma. One patient in particular came in visibly upset and clearly did not want to be there. I simply treated him like a person. We talked, laughed, and found something to connect over. By the end of the appointment, he apologized for how he had acted when he arrived and told me that my personality and the way I interacted with him had pulled him out of a difficult place. He later emailed our office to thank us and said that he actually looked forward to coming back. That patient still lights up when I walk into the room. Those are the moments that make me love dental hygiene. I do not believe in judging my patients. I want to understand them. If something isn’t working, I want to figure out why. I love thinking outside the box, finding solutions that fit the individual, and making people feel comfortable enough to ask questions they may have been afraid to ask somewhere else. I have also learned that our impact can extend far beyond the mouth. I once noticed that a longtime patient looked unusually yellow compared with his normal appearance. I encouraged him to see his physician, and he later contacted our office to thank me. He had been hospitalized for more than a week with liver failure and was told that delaying care could have been fatal. I will never forget that phone call. It reminded me how much trust we build with patients when we see them regularly and truly pay attention to them. But my perspective on dental hygiene changed most profoundly during a three-day dental clinic in Kenya. I treated a patient who had never seen a dentist or physician, had lived with dental pain for more than ten years, and did not even know what a toothbrush was. We could barely communicate verbally. After we treated their pain and cared for their teeth, they took my hands in theirs and expressed their gratitude. We didn’t speak the same language, but in that moment, we didn’t need to. What felt routine to me was life-changing to them. That experience opened my eyes to how powerful something as simple as access to oral healthcare can be. It made me want to continue learning, teaching, serving communities with limited access to care, and experiencing dentistry from perspectives different from my own. And yes, I genuinely love teeth. I love the challenge of a difficult cleaning, the satisfaction of a transformation, the before-and-afters, and helping someone feel confident in their smile again. But more than anything, I love the human connection. I love turning fear into trust, embarrassment into confidence, and “I hate the dentist” into “I can’t imagine seeing anyone else.”

That is what makes me love dental hygiene: knowing that something I do every day can make someone feel healthier, safer, more confident, and genuinely cared for. Hayley Zulkowsky, RDH BSDH CDHC