What I Learned From Taking Clinical Boards Years After Graduating
Earlier this year, my husband David was looking for a new job. He’s in marketing, and was interviewing all over the states. After he was considering a job in New York, I had a little panic attack about moving and not being able to practice because of my boards credentials. So, I decided to sign up to take the CDCS board exam 8 years after graduating hygiene school. And I’m not going to lie, I was nervous. I feel comfortable with my scaling abilities, but the paperwork, having a qualified patient and organizing everything made it a little overwhelming. Here are a few things I learned with this experience:
1. Read the Candidate Guide multiple times. I know that seems so simple, but read it! Three or four times even. It tells you everything you need to know, like patient arrival time, paperwork needed, and instrument requirements. Knowing all this before the exam definitely helped decrease stress on the day of since I knew exactly what was expected.
2. Know the grading scale. Every exam grades differently. Some have an assessment aspect, some have higher point values for calculus errors, some take points of for time. Know exactly what you’re going to be graded on for your specific test so you aren’t worried about something day of that won’t effect your overall score.
3. Come prepared. If you can, bring an extra set of scalers. Most schools will have extra instruments that you can loan. If you’re planning on this, bring a sharpening stone since you never know how sharp they will be. It does take time away from your exam if you drop an instrument, so ask before the exam starts to have some close to you just in case something happens.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The floor monitor and site employees are there to help! They can answer your questions about anything from paperwork to patient requirements. This isn’t the first time someone has asked them a question and, honestly, you’ll probably never see them again, so ask away!
5. Ask your colleagues. Before my exam, I didn’t know anyone who had taken CDCS before. That definitely made me nervous since I didn’t have anyone guiding me through the process. I was able to reach out on some of my local dental hygiene groups, and so many people responded with support. I had hygienists who took the test within the last year go over my selection, walk me through the check in and check out process, answered some paperwork questions I had. Another reason why I love dental hygiene- we are all in this together!
6. Use all the time if you need it. In practice, we never get 2 hours to complete one quadrant of periodontal debridement. However, using the full 2 hours was so helpful! I was able to take my time, explore tooth by tooth, and chat with my patient about post op instructions and home care. Letting myself take the entire time made it less stressful.
If you’re thinking of taking clinical boards long after graduation, you can do it! It will definitely be a little stressful, but you will push yourself and grow in a new way. Hygienists are smart and resilient and you are no different. Good luck!
If you have questions about clinical boards, please email us! We’d love to help. hygieneedge@gmail.com
Did you take boards years after hygiene school? What was your experience? What did you learn?
Start Early to Save for Retirement
Thank you to James Jolley for great retirement information for hygienists!
It’s never too early to start saving for retirement. The sooner you can start saving for retirement the longer your hard earned money has the ability to compound. Even if it’s as little as $50/month you could see the rewards pay off in retirement.
To demonstrate how your money can compound over time here is a hypothetical story of two hygienists named Georgia and Sienna. These two friends are recent college graduates who are both working for practices that do not offer a retirement plan for their dental professionals. They both decide that they will need to add to their retirements on their own but choose to at different times in their life. For this scenario they will both earn a consistent 5% on their investments. They will be putting their money into a tax-advantaged account such as a Traditional or Roth IRA.
Georgia’s story
Georgia has always believed that you should “pay yourself first” and to save at least 10% of her earnings. Georgia is 23, employed, and has decided to open an IRA and to start contributing. Georgia is planning to invest $5,500 a year in this IRA for the next 10 years (for a total of $55,000). After that time, Georgia will not make any further contributions to her IRA.
Sienna’s Story
Sienna, on the other hand plans to wait until the age of 45 to begin savings for her retirement. She plans to add $5,500 each year until she reaches the age of 65. The total investment over the 21 years equates to a $115,500 investment.
Both are now 65 and ready to retire. So which one is more ready for retirement? Sienna’s $115,500 IRA is now worth $206,278. Georgia’s $55,000 IRA has a value of $363,418 a difference of $157,140 and that is investing $60,000 less than Sienna!!!
Time and the power of tax-deferred compounding proved to be a benefit for Georgia. Traditional and Roth IRA’s are great tools to start putting money away for retirement. As a refresher, Traditional IRA’s are not taxed until you begin taking distributions. Roth IRA provide tax-free distribution as long as the account has been opened more than five years and the owner is over 59 ½. By investing your earnings in a Roth or Traditional IRA it allows you to potentially accumulate retirement savings faster than a general account where taxes would be charged annually on earnings.
No matter your age, I’d suggest to start putting money aside as soon as you can into a tax-advantaged account. As I have shown in this scenario, the time value of money is an important aspect in reaching your retirement goals.
James Jolley is a Financial Advisor for Wells Fargo Advisors in Salt Lake City, Utah providing retirement planning for medical professionals. He can be reached at 800.662.3733 or by email at james.jolley@wellsfargoadvisors.com.
Wells Fargo Advisors is not a tax or legal advisor.
Traditional IRA distributions are taxed as ordinary income. Qualified Roth IRA distributions are not subject to state and local taxation in most states. Qualified Roth IRA distributions are also federally tax-free provided a Roth account has been open for at least five years and the owner has reached age 59 ½ or meet other requirements. Both may be subject to a 10% Federal tax penalty if distributions are taken prior to age 59½.
The opinions expressed here reflect the judgment of the author as of the date of the report and are subject to change without notice. The material has been prepared or is distributed solely for information purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. Additional information is available upon request.
CAR-0617-05553
How To Find Patients In Dental Hygiene School Student Essay Winner
Congrats to Ashley Stroupe, the winner of our student essay contest, for writing the amazing article below on how to find patients in dental hygiene school. She wins a national boards study program from StudentRDH.com, being published here on Hygiene Edge and $100. Also, she and ALL of those who submitted an article receive our, "Tips To Passing Clinical Boards," book because we love you!
Congrats to Ashley Stroupe, the winner of our student essay contest, for writing the amazing article below on how to find patients in dental hygiene school. She wins a national boards study program from StudentRDH.com, being published here on Hygiene Edge and $100. Also, she and ALL of those who submitted an article receive our, "Tips To Passing Clinical Boards," book because we love you!
How to Find Patients for Dental Hygiene Students By Ashley Stroupe
Finding my own patients is at the top of the list for dental hygiene school stress. Here are my tips, tricks, and advice for fellow stressed-out dental hygiene students struggling to recruit patients.
Family and Friends
Start with the people you know best…your family and friends. They are willing to help you out for school and you are comfortable with them (which gives you one less thing to worry about during the appointment).
Obviously, family and friends can’t always be patients. Some of the reasons being:
Your family lives in a different state
You have recently moved and don’t know many people yet
The people you know work jobs during the week
You need very specific criteria for a patient such as a certain calculus level, pediatric patient, or a patient with a faulty amalgam restoration
When you are faced with one or more of those situations, or have simply exhausted your “family and friend bank”, don’t worry—there are many other ways to find patients.
Social Media
This has not always been an option, so now that it is—take advantage! Social media is one of the best ways to find patients, however, it is important to know how to use it.
Facebook- write an informative post with a photo. Share, share, share! Facebook is an easy way to get the word out to many people at once, but it is also saturated with posts of all variations. To ensure your post is being seen; be sure to re-post it frequently, share it, and encourage your friends to share it for you.
Instagram- post an eye-catching photo, meme, or funny picture and include a caption with how to get more information on being your patient.
Twitter- all you need is a straight-forward, simple tweet. Then just add a link to another social media forum you have posted on, a website, or contact information to find out more about being one of your patients.
Pinterest- create a Pinterest account and fill it with boards about dental hygiene school, funny dental hygiene pictures and jokes, quotes, ideas, tips, etc.
YouTube- make a short, informative video about what services are provided in your school’s clinic. A great idea is to create a video simply walking from the front entrance/waiting room area to your operatory/unit and showing them the chair they would be sitting in while explaining the things that would be included in their appointment.
The appointments at my school cost $35, are three hours, and take more than one appointment. Many people have a difficult time understanding the difference between the services provided at a school clinic and a “regular dental hygiene appointment” that only takes about an hour. Explain in your video the appointment will include: going over medical and dental history, taking vitals, dental charting, perio charting, X-rays, an extraoral exam inspecting facial muscles, lymph nodes, and TMJ, an intraoral exam, an oral cancer screening, patient education and nutritional counseling, the “regular cleaning” prophylaxis they might be used to including scaling, polishing and flossing, or possibly a “deeper cleaning” also known as scaling and root planing which includes local anesthetic if needed, fluoride treatment, sealants if needed, and an exam by the licensed dentist we have in the clinic. Also mention in your video that this is a learning facility and the instructors must check behind students, which also adds in time, however, the patient can have a piece of mind knowing they have had the most thorough dental hygiene appointment of their life. After potential patients see the different services and care they will receive, they will be more understanding about why $35 is a great deal, and why it takes more than one appointment.
Nextdoor- This has been one of the best ways to find patients because it targets people in a specific geographic location. Nextdoor is a free, private social network for your neighborhood. It is a way for people located in your specific community to share news about local events, lost and found pets, crime and weather alerts, etc. It has a classifieds section for people to find, sell, and give away items. Post a listing that says, “Need Dental Cleaning? No insurance necessary!” This helps grab the attention of many people and you can provide more details about what the cleaning involves or how to get more information. Other users can reply to your listing or send you a direct message. You can also choose to have email alerts sent to you when someone is interested in your listing.
Create a unique #Hashtag that you can use to link all your posts from different social media forums together. Some examples are: #SmilewithAshley or #AshleysHygienePatients. You can also include your hashtag on your business card or a flyer. Use other hashtags such as #Hygiene, #Dentalcleaning, #NeedPatients in your posts so that your information can be found by users searching for specific theme or content.
Business Cards & Flyers
One of the best things you can do to find patients is create your own business cards. I ordered mine on Vistaprint. You can get 500 business cards starting at just $9.99. Put your name, dental hygiene student, phone number, email, school’s clinic phone number and address and any other details you would like. Flyers can have the same information or be more detailed about what the cleaning includes and you can staple your card to a flyer. Flyers should be bright to catch attention. You can post them around and hand them out to people.
Keep cards with you- Keep some in your car, purse, or backpack because you never know when you might need one. I was glad to have a few on me when I met an Uber driver that had recently moved to Charlotte. I told him I was back in school to be a dental hygienist and he and his wife needed an affordable cleaning.
Trade business cards- Trade your card with others who are in an industry looking for patients, clients, or customers. This could be your hair stylist, a photographer, or a personal trainer.
Give cards to current patients- I created a line on my cards to write in the date and time of a patient’s next appointment. I also gave them a handful to give to people they know.
Get around town- Go to places nearby your school clinic. Bus stops, restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, small businesses, churches, by community mailboxes in apartment/condo complex, etc. Leave your business cards or a flyer. Elementary, middle, and high schools are great if you are looking for a pediatric patient and if you have clinic in the summer (while they are out of school). Retirement communities are a good place to go because the people living there do not have to work during the week.
Restaurant employees- Many people who work in restaurants do not have dental insurance. They also typically have not been to the dentist in a while because of this, which can be good for meeting criteria of patients with certain calculus levels or periodontal requirements. Many employees work nights, enabling them to make it to appointments during the day.
Local grocery stores- Ask the manager if you can set up a table out front of the store. You can have a sign that reads, “Affordable Dental Cleaning with No Insurance”. Pass out cards and flyers and have a sign-up sheet to get the contact information of people interested in being a patient and contact them immediately without having to wait for them to call you. You can also ask the store manager if it would be okay for you to post a flyer in the toothpaste/toothbrush aisle for customers to see when they shop.
Dental office- People who work in dental offices can most likely relate to being in school for something dental-related at one point in their life and may have had to look for patients of their own. Go by local dental offices and ask to speak to the office manager or dentist. The dental office I did my observation hours at was fantastic about helping students. While I was there observing, a new patient came in with no insurance. She needed a few fillings, which the dentist would do for her, but she also needed scaling and root planing, and he told her about the school clinic which could save her a lot of money.
Non-profit Dental Clinic- If there are any opportunities to volunteer at clinics in your area, it is an opportunity to provide patient education and get potential patients. I volunteered at the North Carolina Missions of Mercy clinic in Charlotte, where people waited in line for free fillings, extractions, partials, etc. I provided some patient education and talked about the importance of regular hygiene appointments as people checked into the clinic. Many people are just simply unaware that there are schools with hygiene clinics and affordable cleanings that don’t require insurance.
Apartment complex- Go to the leasing/front office of local apartment complexes and leave some of your business cards. You can even create a small bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” note along with your card and/or flyer.
School campus- Walk around campus passing out flyers and cards because many students do not have dental insurance and usually have some time available during the week to be a patient. Post some flyers in the library and hand out your card at school festivals and events. Give some of your cards to teachers you have already had to pass out to their new classes of students. It is a great idea to give some cards to teachers of prerequisite subjects of the dental hygiene program, such as anatomy and physiology. It is a good idea for students who are trying to get into the dental hygiene program to be a patient so they can see what they would be doing as a student clinician.
Wear your scrubs- Although I did not do this on purpose, it worked! I went to the mall in my scrubs and employees working in some stores asked where I worked, which opened the conversation to being a dental hygiene student and giving out some of my cards.
Primary care physician- Give some of your cards to your doctor to give to other patients. I had a patient who told me it was her doctor who was telling her she needed to get to the dentist. This is becoming more common, especially with the links between periodontal disease and systemic health.
Local Orthodontic Offices- Sometimes Orthodontists see young patients that can benefit from more dental cleanings than insurance covers per year. Go by the office and ask the orthodontist to give your card to the parents of young patients that need extra cleanings.
Safety
One of my instructors recommended to get a Google Voice number so that people do not have your personal cell phone number. Google Voice allows you to call a patient from your cell phone and it will not provide your actual number on a caller ID. When patients call your Google Voice number from your business card it rings through your mobile phone. I also created an email address specifically for dental hygiene patients. In addition to strangers not having my personal email, I was able to check that email address and have only emails about people wanting to be patients or confirming appointments already scheduled.
Thank you to everyone who entered! Keep an eye out for next year for our next student essay contest.
Dental Toys for the Young and Old
Unfortunately, these cute Nevi Scalers can't be purchased. Hu Friedy does do regular giveaways from them on their social media accounts and they give them out at events like RDH Under One Roof. If you order Hu Friedy instruments, ask your rep about them and they could maybe find a way for you to get your own.
2. Lilac Paper Company Tooth Fairy Plush
This cute little plush is perfect for gifts with little ones. On the back, it has a little pocket to place primary teeth for the Tooth Fairy to find. They only a few days days left on their Kickstarter, so if you want your own, go check it out and support today! They have lots of other great gift ideas on their website as well.
I mean, how can you NOT want an amazing giant toothbrush plush? One of my personal favorites, as well as my daughters.
With giveaways like tooth sunglasses, a tooth fairy tiara, and a tooth shaped stress ball, any dental profession would want one of each for themselves as well as their kids, nieces, nephews, neighbors, etc. Is it bad to order this set for Halloween to give to trick or treaters?
So cute wisdom tooth that isn't super "cutesy" like a lot of dental products. They also have other amazing organs which would be perfect for friends or patients going through other medical procedures.
August Hygiene Round Up
Have you seen this Kickstarter by two dental hygienists for the cutest tooth plush? Click the link to pledge and support both hygiene in Thailand and to help our dental friends grow their business dreams.
A new review was published this month on silver diamine fluoride and how it works in older adults.
A new way to apply varnish was announced this month.
Is this the end to coffee stains?
We bet you have patients that use this.
Our favorite lab jacket, especially in the summer.
Our favorite CPR video. Watch it after having a difficult patient and it will definitely make you feel better.
What did you love this month in the dental hygiene world?
Giveaway Time: Win a CordEze
Wow! I am in love with the new product called CordEze. It holds the ultrasonic/piezo cord tight to your wrist reducing fatigue. It was created by a hygienist, and it even comes in an autoclavable version. We have it featured on our recent video about where to place your power-driven cord while scaling. Drop a comment below on how you hold your cord below to enter to win your very own CordEze. Winner will be annouced here on Hygiene Edge next week!
**The video above is not sponsored. The give away was donated by CordEze because they love dental hygienists too!!!
Dental Hygienist Spotlight
Name: Rebecca Comstedt
Graduation: I graduated from Missouri Southern State University in 2006.
What are you doing now?
I am currently working 4 days per week for a general DDS. There are three hygienists in the practice, and the DDS is looking to hire an associate in the near future. I am passionate about patient education, presenting a simple (yet accurate) message to the patients, and creating a system/process to improve oral health. I want to change the oral health conversation and improve oral health understanding. We are seeing periodontal disease in younger ages (just as we are seeing more chronic systemic disease in younger ages); if we can change the condition of the mouth, we can change the condition of the body. This happens when we address Biofilm, Bacteria and the Body. When it comes to addressing the body, nutrition is the foundation, so we need to be informed on basic nutrition (I've come to love the Juice Plus supplement, and the research they have on improving gingival health). RDH Companion is a resource that provides the RDH with patient education materials that connects oral/systemic health, and offers a variety of methods to improve the biofilm, bacteria and body. We also seek to present this information in a language the patient can understand and appreciate.
Any advice for dental hygiene students?
You are entering a field that is on the cusp of great change. The medical community can no longer ignore how the bacteria in our mouth relates to the body; as a hygienist, you are on the front line of teaching the patient how to kill the bugs and heal the seal! Connect with your ADHA association to stay in the know and in relationship with other RDH's, be confident in your education (you are more that a teeth scraper!!), and take care of your body!
If you have an amazing hyginenist you'd love highlighted, email us their info @ hygieneedge@gmail.com.
Reduce Your "Shaking" During Injections
Do you remember your first time giving an injection? I do. I went first in my school group, and somehow stabbed through the glove of my non-dominant hand before I even got to the mouth. Now as an instructor I see many students struggle with shaking during dental injections. I understand that there are a lot of nerves running through you during school and on your clinical exams. You want to look confident when you are administering local anesthesia, so shaking is not acceptable. Sing a little song, take deep breaths, shake it out before picking up that syringe, and then check out our latest video on some tips for stabilizing your injection.
Suction Backflow
Eww, just thinking of the possibility of the yuck that goes down the suction coming back into my patients mouth gives me the grossy's. Research has show that it happens about 21% of the time. No one has reportedly gotten sick yet from it but there are ways to prevent if from happening. Check out our latest video below.
Video Not sponsored by the Safe-Flo Adapter
Resources: http://www.safe-flo.com/product_details_2.htm
http://www.rdhmag.com/articles/print/volume-31/issue-4/columns/saliva-ejectors-and-risk.html