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December 2007 | MH Minority report How men are making their mark on the dental hygiene profession.
by Thais Carter One percent. It’s a statistic so seemingly insignificant, that it almost begs to be overlooked. It is quite notable then, that many of the men who make up 1% of the dental hygiene profession embrace their career in such a way that you cannot help but take notice.
While small in numbers, male dental hygienists are avid advocates for the profession, carving out new paths in clinical practice, public health, education, and innovation. Once brushed off as anomalies or “pre-dentists,” today’s men in dental hygiene are committed to preventive care, total body health, and building relationships with patients—just like their female counterparts. According to the 2005-2006 Survey of Allied Dental Education, conducted by the American Dental Association, the number of males enrolled in dental hygiene is 403 out of a total of 13,938. That means that as these students graduate, the 1% will climb to almost 3% and, while that is still nowhere near gender parity, it speaks to the fact that change is happening.
A good barometer for just the type of impact 3% can have is this: Male nurses. It wasn’t that long ago that a male nurse was an oddity at hospitals. Today, however, most people wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if Joe, RN, came in to take their blood pressure. Is this because men now equal women in the nursing profession? No. According to American Nurses Association reports from 2006, men only make up 6% of nurses in the U.S. That just goes to show that it doesn’t take an influx to make an impression, and our six profilees are doing just that. In the suburbs of Milwaukee, working in a private practice where patients had good teeth and good insurance, Matt Crespin started to think that there had to be more he could do with his skill set and desire. That set in motion a chain of events that led him to Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin, where he now works as the oral health project manager. While his job looks quite different from day to day—writing grants, meeting with legislators, visiting state sealant programs, etc.—he feels that his work with under served children, helping them get access to the care they need, is exactly what he’d hoped to be doing with his dental hygiene degree. “I’ve been able to take my clinical knowledge and expand it,” he says. “I’m not doing clinical dental hygiene anymore, but I touch a greater number of people and am having a positive impact.” One of three men in his hygiene class of 20 at Marquette University, Mr. Crespin hopes that the numbers of men in the profession will continue to grow, but he is unsure if the current benefits structure at most dental practices allows men to do the work they love while making ends meet for their families. “My position now, though,” he counters, “has opened my eyes to just how many opportunities there are, both in public health and the private sector.” Mr. Crespin suggests that hygienists, both male and female, should regularly look beyond the surface of their profession to assess what they’re really doing. “We fall into the ‘cleaning teeth’ trap only when we allow ourselves to be that person,” he explains. “Working for the Alliance has given me the opportunity to bring people together to help address an overwhelming problem in the state and across the country, and was an opportunity I’m glad I took.”
| Tom McGivern’s dental hygiene career began with his military career, serving in Vietnam. Believing that he’d survived horrific things there for a reason, he used his dental hygiene skills to impact the lives of the under served.
Following his stint in private practice, Mr. McGivern worked with handicapped persons and special needs patients in two different settings. It was his experience with HIV/AIDS patients, however, that really transformed him as a person and healthcare provider.
“I don’t believe that dental hygienists should ‘pick’ their patients,” Mr.  McGivern says emphatically. “If one person’s care can be denied, who will stop someone from denying me care one day?” With this foundational belief, he threw himself into the work at the Spellman Dental Clinic—dedicated to treating patients with HIV/AIDS—despite the fact that many of his friends became afraid to even touch him. “Our mission was not just to treat patients, but to treat them as humanely as possible. They were already stigmatized, and we believed that they shouldn’t be stigmatized at the dental office,” he explains.
While he experienced hiring discrimination in private practice, Mr. McGivern believes that hygiene has served him well, opening up a variety of doors—including lecturing around the world, serving as a dental hygiene adjunct professor, and consulting for dental corporations. “This profession has helped me and others to step out of the traditional roles,” he says. “You can do whatever you dream of doing.” | In a family where both his father and his brother pursued dentistry, Peter Gangi never felt the pull to play to type and become a dentist himself. Originally pursuing a degree in education, Mr. Gangi began to have doubts as to whether a teacher’s salary could support a family. “My dad suggested I try dental hygiene. He said I could practice for him while I was teaching,” Mr. Gangi explains. “I tried it and I loved it. When I found out that hygienists often make more than educators, I made it my full-time job.” Mr. Gangi now works with his brother in the practice that once belonged to his father. Many of the patients there have a family legacy with the office that goes back as far as 50 years. “These people have seen me grow up,” he says, “so everyday I get to work with people I care about. That keeps me motivated.” Other than sometimes being mistaken for a dentist, Mr. Gangi feels that he’s encountered few challenges as a man in the profession. “I’m always in the top 1%,” he jokes. His trademark humor aside, Mr. Gangi takes his career seriously. He is committed to his patients’ oral and overall health, as well as advancing the profession as a clinical educator and through his involvement in the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Association—he’s a past president—and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA). In spite of the frenetic pace balancing work and family entails, Mr. Gangi still makes time for his first love—teaching—sharing his knowledge with patients and his experience with peers. “Stay educated, strive to be better every day and most importantly,” he stresses, “have fun!” |
Andy Codding, RDH
Andy Codding knew he’d stand out in a dental hygiene class, “but I also knew that once I started working that half of my patients would be men and I would still get to talk about sports, ultimate cage fighting and other ‘guy’ stuff,” he says with a laugh. For him, dental hygiene didn’t stand out as inherently female but rather, inherently relational. “I wanted a career where I could have more patient interaction and develop long term relationships,” he says. Mr. Codding also operates a national board prep service (www.andyfuturerdh.com) and an online store for dental clothing (www.dentaltease.com). “I’d often dreamed about going to dental school because I’d dreamed of owning my own business,” he says. “However, I’ve been able to do that with my site and clothing company,” allowing him to stay in the profession he loves. “Prevention is more powerful than restoration and the impact you can have on a life is something I cherish.” Through his site, Mr. Codding interacts with hundreds of men considering dental hygiene—all eager for advice. “Some male dentists just want a pretty face to sit there and ‘clean teeth,’’ he says. “Others feel threatened by having another guy in the office. But it doesn’t matter, because those aren’t the jobs I’d want anyway. For me, the biggest gender barrier is that some women can’t open up to me about certain health issues. For this reason, I think it’s important to distinguish ourselves as healthcare providers, building trust and respect so that gender isn’t an issue.” | Harold Henson, RDH, MEd After completing his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Houston, there was only one thing Harold Henson was sure of: The lab wasn’t for him. In search of something more “people oriented,” Mr. Henson was inspired by his own dental hygienist. After shadowing her, he knew that dental hygiene was the right choice. Guided by a constellation of mentors, Mr. Henson soon found himself called down an alternative path within dental hygiene: education. Volunteering as a teacher at his alma mater, he made the decision to go back to school for his master’s and then accepted a full-time position at the school. Today, he is working on his PhD, continuing to elevate his own level of knowledge so that he can help impact the next generation of hygienists. In addition to teaching a Clinic Seminar, he directs courses in Dental Materials, and an online course called Trends and Issues in Dental Hygiene. His favorite, however, is a course on practice management. “I love trying to get the students to see what life is like outside the ivory tower,” he says. “I remind them that this is a transition.” It is that kind of advice that Mr. Henson hopes to one day offer as a dean or director of professional development, continuing to mentor others. In the meantime, he remains especially committed to his local and state professional components as well as ADHA. “If men see more role models within the profession, then I think we’ll see more of them applying to dental hygiene programs,” he says. “As professionals, we’re equal, but men can bring a different perspective that is valuable.” | David Carroll, RDH, BSM
Originally a periodontal maintenance therapist in the U.S. Navy, David Carroll was selected from hundreds of applicants to attend a post-graduate Air Force training program and become a preventive dentistry specialist. “That’s what got me hooked on prevention,” Mr. Carroll says. Once he was out of the service, he entered dental hygiene school in Wausau, Wisconsin.
After graduation, Mr. Carroll practiced with Dr. Ed Canton, a dentist dedicated to the treatment and control of periodontal disease and periodontal maintenance before it was “en vogue.” He sent Mr. Carroll for further training through the International Dental Health Foundation, where he studied techniques in monitored modulated therapeutics for the treatment and control of periodontal disease. “My interests were always in preventing oral disease, not fixing it after it was broken,” he says. Mr. Carroll later graduated from Cardinal Stritch University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business. He also served two terms on the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining board.
Practicing what he loved with a doctor he respected, Mr. Carroll began to notice certain niches in the dental market left unfilled by major manufacturers, specifically: infant and toddler dental health. Out of that came one of many inventions, the first being the Safety Toothbrush, and from that one product, Mr. Carroll built Preventive Dental Specialties. “Our logo is a triangle, representing the mountain I’ve had to climb to get this going,” he says. “It’s been a struggle at times, wonderful at times, and a struggle again, but that’s just business.” Today, his product line also includes options for the elderly—another overlooked market—providing toothbrushes that account for limited dexterity as well as toothbrushes for caregivers. All of Preventive Dental Specialties’ products are produced here in the U.S., “as an American, I would not run a business any other way,” he says.
For Mr. Carroll, perseverance is a lifelong practice, whether it be succeeding as a minority in the profession or bringing a product to market. “People have good ideas,” he says, “but it’s only an idea until you engage.” | C. Austin Risbeck, RDH Originally a dental assistant for the U.S. Army, Austin Risbeck is now on the front lines of promoting the importance of the oral-systemic link and educating fellow dental hygienists about the role they can play in bringing patients to better oral and overall health. His organization, Dental Hygienists Against Heart Disease (www.preventionspecialist.com), is a coalition of oral health advocates who are committed to enhancing the public’s knowledge and awareness of oral health and its relation to systemic health. “I believe that dental hygienists are underutilized in promoting effective total health and disease prevention measures,” Mr. Risbeck explains. “We are in a position to act in raising awareness and understanding of oral health so that people can make informed decisions to contribute towards total health.” Known for his ability to bring people together, Mr. Risbeck also is starting a national Nutrition Task Force comprised of dental hygienists, registered dietitians and others, in the hopes of increasing the number of hygienists in the country who provide diet screening, dietary guidance, and referrals as part of comprehensive dental hygiene care. Also active in the ADHA, Mr. Risbeck has been instrumental in the association’s Smoking Cessation Initiative, specifically the Ask.Advise.Refer. program. Through all these things, “it is my goal to elevate the role of the dental hygienist in the eyes of the public by informing them of our education and our role in healthcare,” he says. “We need to provide the relevant and reliable information necessary to help our patients make the right behavioral changes.” | David Barnes, RDH No one expected David Barnes to be an innovator in the dental hygiene community, least of all David Barnes. When a back injury prevented him from continuing his career in construction, friends in the medical community suggested hygiene, and at age 38 he found himself embarking on an unlikely, but rewarding second career. “It’s like having a second lease on life,” he explains. “Most people don’t get that opportunity, or they’re not able to choose something as exciting as dental hygiene, where you get to work with people and see their lives change because of your help.” He jokingly refers to being introduced as the “token male” by his classmates, but remembers the program director being especially supportive. “I asked her how she felt about mid-life males in dental hygiene and her answer was, ‘We love it!’ They would lose a lot of the younger men to other professions or dentistry, but in people my age—both men and women—they see someone making a commitment for life.” Mr. Barne’s love of the profession manifests itself in meeting needs, both personal and practical. When one patient, a regional director for the Head Start program, needed to meet health code standards for toothbrushes at the program’s multi-use sites, Mr. Barnes spent a year searching for a solution. Finding none, he created one himself: The Sani-Storage. When he realized that bruxism was impacting patients, many of whom could not get insurance to cover the expense of a suitable mouth guard for treatment or could not get the right fit from OTC guards, “I made it my mission to try and fill that void and provide something for them,” he says. Not looking to reinvent the wheel, Mr. Barnes found a mouth guard manufacturer in Canada and placed a large enough order that he was able to request modifications made to his specifications. He developed a kit with multiple sizes of the boil-and-bite guards, hoping that would solve the problems regarding fit. Patients loved them. He now sells both locally and around the world on eBay and Amazon.com. At age 56, 16 years after graduating from hygiene school, Mr. Barnes is still working three 7-hour days in two different practices performing clinical hygiene. He is deeply committed to both patient and community education, especially regarding bruxism. | While we’re discussing men in the profession, it just makes sense
to bring up Australian band, Men at Work. But, just as the men featured
here are putting their spin on dental hygiene, we thought we’d offer a new take on their hit songs. Women at Work features 10 tracks—including “Down Under”
and “Who Can It Be Now?”— covered by beautiful female voices.
Check it out at www.amazon.com.
 This edition of Women and Men at Work provides a comprehensive look at the role gender plays in work environments. Look for updated stats, timely cartoons, a renewed focus on reasons for variability in inequality across workplaces, and much more. For details or to order your own copy, go to www.amazon.com.
Photos:Michael Voltattorni, Callie Lipkin |
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