Asking for a Friend: Can dental hygiene coaching save my career?
Good news: the career of a dental hygienist doesn't need to be rinse, autoclave, and repeat. After all, that selected cycle invites career-killing burnout. Early on, I decided that I could prevent burnout by keeping to myself. My network scope was a meager bubble, limited to the office I worked in, the city where I lived, and the associations and accompanying components that I sometimes mingled with. It wasn't until the first hygiene convention I attended that I became aware of the expansivity of hygiene. Social media superstars and dental hygiene coaches—what was all of this? It was like stepping through the looking glass of a dental hygiene universe. Embracing what initially confused and even intimated me allowed me to combat burnout and build meaningfully on my career.
What does burnout look like?
Burnout in the field can look like exhaustion, dread, inability to cope or losing patience, passion, and tolerance. Research suggests that more than 30% of dental hygienists are experiencing burnout and plan to retire in the next five years.1 A recent report claims that, on average, dental hygienists only spend seven years in the profession. Repetitive, nonergonomic-friendly motions induce physical pain while absorbing people's stress, anxiety, expectations, and even abuse has an immense mental toll. Hygienists are packing up their loupes for good and what’s worse, commiseration culture accelerates this.
Beating burnout: Isolation doesn't work
I knew a lot of unhappy hygienists and hoped I could avoid burnout by not becoming too invested in my work after reading research-based evidence that negative thoughts and feelings toward the career perpetuate burnout.2,3 It's as if I wanted to protect myself by not getting too involved in a career that I feared I might leave, as if, at any moment, a colleague could say something that would lift the veil, and I’d be done. This idea wasn’t far-fetched from the evidence that supports the theory of career attrition due to negative personalities and lack of perceived support from one’s professional community, and how positivity can promote resiliency and longevity in careers in the health field challenged by burnout.4 There is power in community. A positive outlook is essential in increasing resiliency, maintaining motivation, and overall better role performance. Bonus: as with a negative outlook, a positive one is contagious and great for your peers.
What does coaching look like?
Five years in and isolated, I signed up for hygiene coaching with little clue as to what it was, only believing in the benefit of support from positive influences in the field. In this experience, the hygiene coaches were a duo I met in person and connected with. Their mission aims to help hygienists beat burnout through design of an eight-week program divided between online assignments and weekly group calls. The accessible content was as plentiful and uplifting as the encouragement from the coaches themselves. With open minds and dedication, we grew from the tools and support acquired each week, learning things like how to build a brand and how to communicate with our leaders successfully. My group participated in activities such as identifying our CliftonStrengths, which gave us a deeper understanding of why we do what we do and how we connect with others. There is much research on the benefits of mentorship in mediating stressors and facilitating career longevity in success for dental hygiene students and new graduates, but why would we stop there? L’Diamante coaching, based in Massachusetts, shares, “Mentorship isn’t just for new grads; it’s the key to long-term fulfillment and success in this profession. Many of our clients come to us feeling stuck, questioning their future in dentistry, and leave with a renewed sense of purpose, confidence, and career success.”
My biggest takeaways from coaching
I enjoyed the time designated to organize thoughts and identify pain points contributing to burnout and the tools to create a plan for betterment. Most impressively for me, I returned to dreaming big, remembering that manifestation is powerful, and no goal is too far-fetched. Members went on to speak, write, start or expand businesses, leave the operatory, or find a balance between clinical time and alternative avenues with support through coaching. We find accountability through our formed friendships and enjoy expanding our networks to mutual like-minded and successful hygienists. Suddenly, there’s gusto to surpass the seven-year itch. Is coaching the calamine lotion for burnout?
Before you go, phone a friend
If negative feelings encroach on your ability to foresee longevity in your career, consider coaching. Sometimes, it's just a matter of swapping out negative for positive influences. Recognize that you’re an essential member of the dental hygiene community and can foster abundant energy outside of your operatory. The commitment to a coaching program isn’t further draining or exhausting, but exciting and encouraging, beautifully exploring all the options complimenting rinse, autoclave, and repeat.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Clinical Insights newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles and subscribe.
References
- Economic outlook and emerging issues in dentistry. Insights from data from January 2022. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. 2022. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/jan2022_hpi_economic_outlook_dentistry_slides.pdf
- Schonfeld IS, Bianchi R. Burnout and depression: two entities or one? J Clin Psychol. 2015;72(1):22–37. doi:10.1002/jclp.22229
- Bercasio LV, Rowe DJ, Yansane A-I. Factors associated with burnout among dental hygienists in California. J Dent Hyg. 2020;94(6):40-48.
- Treglown L, Zivkov K, Zarola A, Furnham A. Intention to quit and the role of dark personality and perceived organizational support: a moderation and mediation model. PloS One. 2018;13(3):e0195155. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195155
