Hygiene Hero, Nida

         I conducted my health professional interview with Nida Shajee, a dental hygienist. I had the honor of meeting and working along side her this summer at Allure Dental in Herndon, VA. She graduated from Old Dominion University with a BSDH and is an RDH (Registered Dental Hygienist), which is her license to practice from the Board of Dentistry. Nida did not start on a good note when it came to dental offices. As a child she had poor experiences when it came to dental care. As a matter of fact, her trauma is what led her to explore this field. Her goal is to not repeat the experience she endured growing up.

        She had always known that she wanted to obtain a B.A. and wanted to pursue a doctoral degree. Originaly, Nida’s aim was to be a dentist; however, things don’t always follow a straight path. In high school she took a dental assisting course in Chantilly Academy. It was that teacher, Ms. Howe, that motivated her to pursue that career path. All in all, it was mainly mentorship that led her to the career that she is in right now. As a dental hygienist, her role typically revolves around patient care, preventative care, active periodontal treatments, diagnostic, and a few administrative tasks like scheduling patients and referring them to other practices.

        Nida was able to list more than just one rewarding aspect of the job. First is being able to enable patients to regain control of their own health. Going off that, she finds it rewarding when the patients come back and there is visible improvement and that she was able to motivate them to get to that point. Though there are rewarding aspects of the job, Nida encountered a few surprises at the beginning of her career before getting to where she is now. She was surprised when she first started working in a real dental office because at school they only touch on the surface of a dental hygienists duty. The school’s goal is to teach about cleanings and calculus removal. Yet when she arrived to an office setting, she quickly noticd that each appointment’s needs vary. Nida was not aware of how deep categories of cleanings go. Nida finds that communicating treatment needs is the most challenging part of her career. This is because patients don’t realize that oral health is linked to the rest of the body. Therefore, if a patient is not taking proper care of their oral hygiene, it can lead to other issues within the human body. When asking Nida what advice she had to give, she pointed out something different that I have not been told before. Nida pointed out that the majority of the youth is going into healthcare because of the salary. She stated that a healthcare career has a big physical and mental demand. Therefore, if you are not doing it to help others, it won’t be rewarding no matter how much money you make.