Megan Koller, BSDH, RDH

Dear Heart to Hands Selection Committee, 

I fell in love with dental hygiene working in the Pocatello, Idaho, free public health clinic, which served low- to no-income patients, and many who did not speak English. Although the patients and I had a language barrier, we communicated enough to ensure they understood what we were doing and that they would be taken care of. When one patient whispered, “gracias” with the biggest smile I’d ever seen, I knew something beautiful was happening. I was on Medicaid for all four years of college, and as an underserved patient myself, I never felt prouder to help others in a similar situation. These experiences fueled my unapologetic passion after graduating in 2023. 

Treating each patient as an individual, rather than a procedure code, is the core of everything I do in the dental hygiene profession. I truly believe that if more dental professionals begin to see patients for who they are—rather than how much their insurance deems them as “worthy”—dentistry would finally feel like the calling it’s supposed to be. 

This year, I realized I needed to pursue my passion for creating content and decided to begin making videos on TikTok and Instagram. My content has always aimed to inspire students, educate patients, and teach dental professionals how to be as efficient, effective, and informative as possible during our patient interactions. 

One of my favorite things to promote online and in the operatory is that oral hygiene is not one-size-fits-all. I am extremely passionate about finding accessible options for patients to achieve their oral hygiene goals and not to give up when things are difficult. I aim to find various tools that help patients not feel helpless when they struggle with technique, especially. One of the things I tell my patients who struggle is, “My goal is to find a way we can brush (or floss) that is accessible to you, and something we can add into your routine that you will use.” 

Some call me controversial when I speak about topics like Oral Preventive Assistant legislation, offices that fail to give the standard of care, and the poor working conditions many hygienists face. Yet, I call it love. I believe that if no one speaks up for our patients and for each other, nothing will change. These issues can be “sensitive”, but the silence hurting patients and hygienists who have no platform is louder. That’s the silence I refuse to keep.

My long-term goal as a dental hygienist is to spark conversations that merge dental hygiene with other healthcare fields, such as nursing, medicine, and occupational therapy. Every discipline has something to teach and something to learn. The more providers truly understand the mouth-body connection, the stronger and more integrated our entire healthcare system becomes.

Every year, I volunteer to teach oral-cancer screenings and the mouth-body connection to the Idaho State University’s physician assistant students. These are some of my favorite conversations to have because I see the students become curious, and their faces light up when something clicks into place. I always think about the patients that these students will treat one day: the cancer caught earlier, the abuse recognized sooner, the diabetes managed better—all because I showed them something new. That ripple effect is exactly why I keep coming back and why every single minute I give feels worth it.

I love dental hygiene because it allows me to share my passion for science, education, and empathy with patients who will benefit from it for the rest of their lives. Thank you for your consideration for the Hearts to Hands Award 2025. It would be the greatest honor of my career to earn this award and continue to prove that hearts and hands make the biggest difference in dentistry.

Megan Koller, BSDH, RDH