Hygienist Highlight: Yvonne Posey, RDH

The Kwikly team has thousands of amazing professionals around the country. It’s always a privilege to connect personally and share their story with the rest of the Kwikly community. As we celebrate Dental Hygiene Week, we’re shining a spotlight on one of our dedicated Dental Hygienists, Yvonne Posey. Here’s a glimpse into her unique journey:

How long have you been a hygienist and what drew you to the profession?‍

I graduated from dental hygiene school 26 years ago. I was in social work previous to becoming a dental hygienist and the state I lived and worked in changed the way the human services I provided got funded. Essentially, we lost most of our grant funding when that happened and 80 case workers across my state were laid off, including me. I was suddenly out of a job and scared for my future. We had a young family that depended on both of our incomes. I took my sad self to my local college to research a career change and potential opportunities for retraining. I found dental hygiene in the library of that institution. I read everything I could find there about dental hygiene, and I was so excited by what I found! It was awesome to learn that I could help people access a type of health care that could have a tangible impact on them for the long run. Sometimes, my social service work never led to a significant or long lasting change for my clients and that was discouraging at times. So losing my job actually ended up being a blessing in disguise for me.

What is your favorite aspect about your job as a dental hygienist?‍

Changing people’s perception about dental care. My dental chair (or the one the clinic I am supporting is letting me borrow – LOL) is a judgment free zone that is a place of empowerment for every patient that sits in it and trusts me to care for them. It is my hope that they leave feeling understood, validated, AND educated as to how to care for themselves the 360+ days of the year they aren’t in a dental chair. I also hope that every visit they have after that is easier and less stressful. Currently as a temporary dental professional with Kwikly, I love that I get to help practices meet their staffing needs and do so in the most positive way possible. I am so proud to show up for my profession and increase its value in the eyes of the practice leaders that allow me to come in and care for their team and their patients.

Tell us about your personal interests or hobbies outside of work!

1. I love to save beautiful old furniture from smelly barns, dark basements, or dusty garages. I hate seeing lovely pieces rot or end up in landfills. Refinishing furniture gives me the opportunity to lose myself in a creative activity and I have something pretty to show for it after. The only problem is I can’t keep everything. Fortunately, other people also like pretty old furniture and I am always able to sell the pieces that I can’t keep.

2. Travel leaves me feeling refreshed and gives me a new perspective. I haven’t visited Asia yet though. The language barrier frightens me.

3. I volunteer about 50 hours per month with an international group supporting French speakers from around the world who have moved to the state of Minnesota. 29 countries have French as an official language. My French language proficiency has a long way to go, but it is a beautiful language to learn and the people who speak it are beautiful too.

What is something you wished people understood about hygiene or dentistry?‍

Sadly, we have developed an adversarial relationship all too often in dentistry. It’s the “front against the back” or the “staff against leadership”. But collaboration always leads to a better outcome. Most of the time this “us vs them” attitude comes from a place of fear. Fear of loss, fear of change, fear of not being valued. But, in reality humans by our nature – all have the same fears. Acknowledging what we have in common and working together on the solutions can relieve so much of the stress we experience in our work lives. Applying these concepts can also spill over to our non-work lives.

Any additional fun facts about you?‍

I love babies, cats and the outdoors, especially water sports (including frozen water) like water skiing, wakeboarding, paddle boarding and ice skating. I teach CE courses on wellness in health care and working successfully with high maintenance patients (and co-workers). You can find me lurking on Instagram @dentalfearfix.rdh or dentalfearfix.com.

Are you a dental professional or office that would like to be featured? Submit your nomination here.