MY DREAM BUSINESS.

I’ve been a dental hygienist for almost 14 years. Right out of dental hygiene school I accepted a 6 month contract with Northern Public Health Authority. We did a lot of rural and remote work, especially on First Nations Reservations. The communities we worked in had extremely limited (if any) access to health care and dental clinics.

Working in these communities inspired me to do more for them.

For all of Northern BC, there were only two dental hygienists. This blew me away and I wanted to change it.

Not only were there too many people to see in each of these communities for only two hygienists, we ran out of budget and people who wanted their teeth cleaned weren’t able to. There were also communication barriers that stopped people from receiving dental hygiene services (no way to confirm, or reschedule missed, appointments, for example.)

I thought, there has to be a way to fix this so that no one is denied this basic health care service.

It was really sad to see all the children whose teeth were breaking off even before they erupt out of the mouth, and so many people in pain from preventable tooth abscesses, knowing they didn’t have access to regular dental care.

After this first contract I continued to work all over British Columbia, travelling around and seeing both mainstream communities and remote areas where people were not able to learn about oral hygiene or receive preventative treatment.

When I worked in mainstream communities, I felt like I didn’t fit in. I wasn’t as passionate about working in areas where people had daily access to professional oral hygiene services. I couldn’t stop thinking about the people in Canada and other parts of the world who wouldn’t get to have their teeth cleaned - ever.

Although I felt lost in my early years as a dental hygienist, I am really grateful for all of the experiences because they eventually pointed me towards the business I have today as an independent mobile dental hygienist.