Samantha Cosgrove RDH

What makes me love dental hygiene after 25 years is that the profession never stands still—and neither have I. When I started my career, clinical practice looked entirely different: we didn’t wear loupes, airway health wasn’t part of the conversation, and I had to return to school later just to earn my anesthesia permit. I quickly realized that lifelong learning wasn’t optional, it was the key to keeping my passion alive. Because I embraced that evolution, I’ve had patients return to my chair specifically to thank me for identifying life-altering airway issues that others had missed.

Today, I use my experience to mentor new hygienists and to serve an area where many adults have never seen a dentist in their lives. My greatest successes are built on celebrating the little wins with terrified patients. I will never forget one patient who was so deeply traumatized by past dental experiences that she couldn’t even make eye contact with me during her first visit. By simply listening and pacing our progress visit by visit, we moved forward together. Today, she is a loyal three-month recare patient who walks into our office smiling. It’s those breakthroughs, alongside the numerous patients who have followed me to different practices over the decades, that remind me why I love what I do. Twenty-five years in, my clinical knowledge has expanded and our industry has evolved, but my heart remains exactly where it started, completely dedicated to changing lives.