“I had been a dental assistant in an endodontic group for six years, but I wanted to become a hygienist to be able to educate patients. I want to be able to help people and inform them of diseases and how to improve their oral hygiene. What attracts me most about this profession is how important it is to educate patients, to inform them of everything that can happen and how oral health affects their whole body.
“What's interesting to me in classes is the precision of radiology, and how you can change things in an X-ray that can affect the whole ballgame. The instruction is great: the books give you the info, and then when you're practicing on Dexter (the mannequin) you get hands-on experience of how things need to be done correctly.
“Dental hygiene is my dream career. I want to help communities in Alaska, where I’m from. Most of the villages there don't have dentists or dental care, and I’d like to go back in the summers and do educational activities with kids and adults.”