¶ … dental hygienist ? I still remember everything about her: the way she smiled, the easy way she chatted as she worked, the toothbrushes and good advice she never failed to impart before I left. I was privileged to have had an exceptional dental hygienist while I was growing up. Susana was always nice and personable, professional and knowledgeable, and helped me to develop the good dental hygiene habits I have today. She made my trips to the dentist fun, and is one of the chief reasons that I decided to pursue this profession which I only associated with her most of the time I was in primary and secondary school.

Susana helped to steer my career decision towards the path of a dental hygienist in many ways. Early on, when she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I impetuously told her I wanted her job. As I got older, she would remind me of my career aspirations and ask me how they were going. Although I always had a natural proclivity for math and science, she was one of the first person to tell me how important a mastery of these subjects were to the dental profession, particularly various facets of anatomy. With her guidance and that of my high school counselor, I was able to determine the proper classes to take to help prepare me for a postsecondary program in dental hygiene.

I am proud to say that I have earned very good grades in those classes and in my others, as a look at my transcript indicates....

Furthermore, I am aware of the realistic expectations of the daily work of a hygienist due to my time spent with Susana, who was kind enough to detail her schedule and the pleasant and not so pleasant aspects of dental hygiene work. I believe that I am prepared to provide a sterling example to other patients about the virtues of dental hygiene. As a dental hygienist, I believe that I am tasked to be as amicable, diligent, and as accomplished in my profession as my initial 'teacher' in this profession was, so I can inspire others to do the same.
It is a little known fact, but most issues related to dental hygiene are preventable. Many people are ignorant to the simple measures that they can take to ensure that they have proper dental hygiene, healthy gums, and strong teeth. They simply believe that if they brush their teeth daily, that all of the potential complications they can have within their mouths will simply disappear.

As someone studying dental hygiene, however, I realize these facts and have taken it upon myself to help people change these misconceptions -- one patient at a time. My primary motivation for wanting to become a dental hygienist is to help people prevent dental maladies, and therefore increase their overall health in this area of the body. I realized that there was more to simply brushing one's teeth to prevent dental malfunctions quite some time ago. My own personal dental hygienist explained that I…