Are you preparing to start dental hygiene school soon? If so, this is the perfect episode for you! Marie Richey, a current dental hygiene educator, joins me on this episode to give insider tips and tricks for incoming and current students. Listen to her perspective as a professor to have a clear understanding of what dental hygiene school will look like and be ready to go on your first day! Timestamps: (00:00) Marie’s RDH Origin Story (04:03) Working as a Travel Dental Hygienist (11:51) Marie’s ...
Jul 16, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 91
Two years ago, Dental Hygiene Basics was founded to provide educational tools to aspiring dental hygienists and help students transition into DH programs. Today, the mission remains the same, with the addition of awarding scholarships to dental hygiene students! I'm proud of the trajectory of DHB thus far and hope to continue supporting Future RDHs. Feedback for DHB is always appreciated, so please never hesitate to reach out with your questions or comments! 🔹 Listen & Subscribe: The Dental...
Jul 09, 2025•8 min•Season 1Ep. 90
Starting dental hygiene school soon? You've come to the right place! Anistinn joins me on this episode to share her RDH journey so far. She's currently in an accelerated dental hygiene program and is on track to graduate in October. She's staying busy building a social media platform, tutoring other dental hygiene students, and studying for boards. If you're starting your dental hygiene journey, you'll love this episode! Timestamps: (00:00) Anistinn’s RDH Origin Story (09:55) Accelerated Dental ...
Jul 02, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 89
Maggie Moodie started her dental hygiene career early, getting into a DH program at the early age of 18! Her career has taken her through various working environments from temping, working in public health, and now being an educator. As an educator of 5 years, she's cultivated ways to help dental hygiene students have better understanding of their curriculum. Game-based learning is something she hopes to implement in dental hygiene programs as an efficient and modernized learning method. She's s...
Jun 25, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 88
Shelley Brown joins me on this episode to share her dental hygiene journey from struggling to get accepted into a program to now, being an educator in Utah and practicing as a public health hygienist! She's done so much for the dental hygiene community and continues to expand her functions to propel this career forward. Find all of her latest educational material on her website www.shelley.dental. Timestamps: (01:40) Shelley’s RDH Origin Story (11:23) Struggling to Get Accepted into Dental Hygie...
Jun 18, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 87
My favorite RDH origin stories are the ones of people who didn't originally plan to become dental hygienists and somehow fell into it and end up loving this career. That was the case for Wafaa, @the_hijabi_hygienist, an influencer hygienist practicing clinically for 9 years now. She faced challenges in her pre-req classes as a pre-med student, and just so happened to be getting orthodontic treatment at the university she was attending when she realized dentistry piqued her interest. She convenie...
Jun 11, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 86
Dental hygiene programs require students to be up to date on all their vaccines and submit their records prior to starting school. This episode focuses on what vaccines your dental hygiene program will most likely require and where you can go to access your records. It's so important to start this process early in your application process to avoid delays in starting dental hygiene school or being denied entirely! Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:22) Vaccines Needed for Dental Hygiene School (03:57)...
Jun 04, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 85
Ever wondered how to provide dental hygiene care to patients with cancer? Jill is a dental hygienist who recognized the limited course material she was given in school when caring for cancer patients and sought to learn more. Her passion stems from seeing her mom's oral health suffer after her breast cancer diagnosis. Jill founded Side Effect Support, an online resource for both dental professionals and patients wanting to learn more about managing oral care with cancer. Our conversation today c...
May 28, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Future RDHs who have been listening to my podcast for a while know I am a huge advocate for scholarships and encourage all students to apply to as many as possible. But I also want to shed light on scholarship scams and how students can avoid them. Listen now to learn some of the red flags you can look out for when applying to scholarships. Timestamps: (00:00) Applying to Scholarships (02:33) Scams in Scholarships (05:43) Using Your Passions in Scholarship Applications 🔹 Listen & Subscribe:...
May 21, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 83
The transition from dental hygiene school and working in a dental practice may sound overwhelming. If this sounds like something you're experiencing, you're in the right place! In this episode, I talk about all the things I wish someone had told me when entering the dental field as a new grad. You'll find advice on interviewing, when to leave an office, personal finances, clinical advice, and more! Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:17) Questions to Ask in Dental Hygiene Job Interviews (03:34) When t...
May 14, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 82
Future RDH's, finals week is just around the corner and the stress is probably starting to kick in. Trust me, I've been there before, and I get that it can be overwhelming so I've put together my best tips for students to follow so they can be successful on their finals. They're simple and easy to implement, so make sure you tune in to get motivated and in your best headspace. Best of luck on finals!! Timestamps: (00:00) Starting Strong In Dental Hygiene School (02:39) What to Focus on for Final...
May 07, 2025•10 min•Season 1Ep. 81
This episode is the second and final part of my interview with Makya Smith, the first student to receive the Dental Hygiene Basics Scholarship! In this episode, you'll get to learn how Makya lost access to her full-ride scholarship halfway through dental hygiene school and still managed to graduate with zero debt! I love her perspective on receiving scholarships because it allows her to be more committed to her education. We are honored to support her in her dental hygiene journey and hope this ...
Apr 30, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Congratulations to Makya for being the first Dental Hygiene Basics Scholarship recipient!! We're celebrating with two episodes dedicated to sharing her story and showcasing her dedication to helping others. Before dental hygiene school, Makya spent three years volunteering with YWAM Medical Ships as a dental clinic manager, helping to provide dental services to underserved communities in Papua New Guinea. She talks about how excited she is to graduate from hygiene school so she can apply her ski...
Apr 23, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Brittany Cox, a dental hygienist for 10 years, joins me on this episode to talk about her career. She graduated DH school at the age of 19 while raising a toddler and working full-time! As if that wasn't impressive enough, she recently graduated with a Master of Arts in oral health promotion and has become a key leader in implementing sustainability in the dental field. Her drive to continue learning to provide the best care for her patients is inspiring and her story is one that all future RDH'...
Apr 16, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Building foundational knowledge is key to being successful in school, especially in dental hygiene school, where all the topics overlap with each other. I've dedicated this episode to explaining why it's important and tips on implementing this into your study routine. As a former educator at several dental hygiene programs and tutor for the DH national board exam, I've seen a pattern in students of those who succeed and those who fail and struggle in the classroom. Students who perform well tend...
Apr 09, 2025•17 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Heather DeJonge joins me on this episode to share her journey in dental hygiene and how she's become known as The Relaxed Hygienist! Her self-proclaimed title is earned through years of working on herself and regaining her mental and physical health to achieve a more relaxed lifestyle. We cover all topics relating to burnout, stress, and the long-term effects of neglecting your health. She has some amazing stress management tips that I personally think everyone could benefit from! Find her on Yo...
Apr 02, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 76
In this episode, you can hear all about Jazmine's amazing dental hygiene career and how she founded a dental hygiene-independent practice in the state of New Mexico! She's been a practicing RDH for ten years, with experience as an educator and recently took over a dental business development company, Dental HyGenius. Jazmine has found many outlets in this profession that I'm excited to share with you all. I love sharing the different ways you can use your RDH license and truly believe every dent...
Mar 26, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 75
This episode features Angy, a travel RDH who is a learning and development manager with Cloud Dentistry, the online staffing platform! She shares her arduous but inspiring journey to becoming a dental hygienist. As a DACA recipient, she had to navigate paying for school out of pocket and taking the national boards without U.S. citizenship. Angy also worked 40-hour work weeks throughout her two years in dental hygiene school. Working night shifts and then being at school from 8-5 right after dese...
Mar 19, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Marisa Kibiersza, known as the financial hygienist on Instagram, joins me on this episode to share her experience of becoming a dental hygienist with a passion for personal finance. We delved into the topic of finance as a dental hygiene student as well as post-licensing to hopefully educate future RDHs on a topic that is not commonly explored in our profession. She shares how she got a bachelor of science in biology with the intentional plan of becoming a physical therapist. After some unexpect...
Mar 12, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Some dental hygiene programs require applicants to take a TEAS test, an exam commonly used for nursing school applications. My goal with this episode was to help guide students who aren't sure where to get started when preparing for this exam. There are several tips and resources in this episode so make sure you give it a listen! Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE ! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Faceboo...
Mar 11, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 72
My guest speaker on this episode, Daisy, shares her amazing story of becoming a dental hygienist. She practices hygiene in the state of Washington, working part-time so she can focus on her brand and marketing. Daisy and I shared a great conversation about finances and how she covered school costs; spoiler- she was the recipient of 10 scholarships! Her story is especially inspiring as she is a first-generation college student raised in a single-parent household. Future RDH's, you don't want to m...
Mar 05, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 71
This episode might win for the best RDH Origin Story on the podcast. Amber D'Andrea joined me to talk about how she ended up in dental hygiene despite originally wanting to become an RN- it's a crazy story that I'm excited for you to hear! She also shares the experience she had in the dental hygiene program at the College of DuPage in Illinois, which allowed her to obtain a bachelor's degree by completing one extra year of schooling. She later earned her MBA and now works with the dental network...
Feb 26, 2025•25 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Jose has recently graduated from dental hygiene school at NYU's associate's program and plans to continue his education by getting a bachelor's in health promotion and education. He talks about how his major in arts helped him appreciate the field of dentistry when he worked as an orthodontics dental assistant. This clinical experience helped him stand out on his application since his GPA wasn't as high as he hoped. Despite not getting accepted into a program on his first try, Jose made the most...
Feb 19, 2025•44 min•Season 1Ep. 69
It's no secret what working in dentistry can do to your body long term... but a topic that isn't talked about enough is noise fatigue. This episode focuses on how noise fatigue is common in the dental office and how it affects both our ear health as well as our mental health. Do you want to know the simple solution to this? Give this episode a listen right now! Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE ! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagr...
Feb 12, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 68
In today's episode, Maryam shares her personal struggles to get through dental hygiene school including the struggles of English not being her first language and how that affected her application. She got into hygiene school on the 4th try and has loved the career since! She's doing amazing things in this profession by writing articles and being a trainer on innovative technology. I found her story so motivational and I think you will too! Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE ! T...
Feb 05, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Matthew @the_guygienist joins me on this episode to talk about his experience as a senior in dental hygiene school. It's amazing how many connections he's made so far within the dental community before even graduating! Matthew is attending an accelerated 2-year program that includes some pre-requisite courses and, although the breaks between semesters are minimal, he still finds time to work part-time as a dental assistant, apply for scholarships, and attend dental conferences like RDH Under One...
Jan 29, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Register for "A Night with Teacher Tina" on January 28th at 7:00 pm CT HERE !! I love sharing stories of dental hygienists who have carved out a new path in this profession for themselves. Carl Demadema, CEO of Dente Media, shares his amazing story of attending oral hygiene school in South Africa where he was assigned a school project assignment and ended up founding Dente Magazine! This really unique story is a great one and he also offers some invaluable advice for dental hygiene students. Sub...
Jan 22, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 65
This BONUS episode features Teacher Tina, a dental hygiene educator, published author, speaker, and educator. She wears many hats but also has an incredible wealth of knowledge on local anesthetics in dentistry. Teacher Tina is a great resource for both dental hygiene students and registered dental hygienists looking to get certified in local anesthetic- which is why we are partnering together for A Night with Teacher Tina! This event includes three giveaways and a presentation by Teacher Tina a...
Jan 16, 2025•38 min
Register for "A Night with Teacher Tina" on January 28th at 7:00 pm CT HERE !! Do you ever feel like you’re not living in the moment? It’s probably because you need to “Do Less.” And doing less isn’t what you think it is- I'm not telling you to quit everything you’re doing or do the bare minimum. It simply comes down to living in the moment you are in presently, allowing yourself to enjoy the now instead of worrying about what happened 5 minutes prior or whatever task you have ahead of you. The ...
Jan 15, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Register for "A Night with Teacher Tina" on January 28th at 7:00 pm CT HERE !! Maryam is an RDH in Canada who currently works as an instructor for dental assisting students while also creating her very own dental hygiene practice! This episode is great for all the future AND current RDHs because we cover so many good topics, including different working environments available for dental hygienists, bachelor's completion programs, and paying for schooling. I learned a few things from Maryam and I ...
Jan 08, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 63
