Providing patient education to my dental patients is very rewarding. Bringing a smile back to my patients face after restoring fractured teeth feels like winning the lottery. And now that I’m a dental hygiene student learning about periodontal disease and how to prevent and manage the disease makes me more excited to educate my patients about preventative dentistry! Restorative dentistry as a dental assistant is one world that I’ve been involved in for over 6 years. Now I’m pursuing my bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene to achieve my goal of receiving a bachelor’s degree. I want to be more of an independent worker and leader. I’ll be able to accomplish these skills throughout my program and carry them out during my career as a dental hygienist. Volunteering for the community during events such as Give Kids a Smile day, Free Dentistry Day, and Team Smiles is extremely heart warming. It’s instances such as these that are eye opening to myself and the community that there are many families without dental insurance. There are a wide age range of individuals that are in high need of dental care and patient education. Patients can’t prevent something if they had not been properly taught about the subject. To them it might seem minute and silly, but oral health if not taken seriously can cause systemic health issues. It is important to take care of your whole body and to start by taking care of your mouth! When people are properly taught this without feeling belittled and judged, but informed and cared about. That’s when there will be a change in dentistry and the way patient and provider care is given.

When people think of healthcare, they usually think of a hospital. My experience In healthcare started in nursing homes, expanded into working in hospitals in registration then further expanded into the dental field. My path took a turn due to burn out at an early age. Dental healthcare is just as important as any other healthcare as it’s systemic and the bacteria starts in your mouth and travels through your body. What I’m doing now as a mother to three young children ages 5, 6, and 9 is pursuing the next step in my education. I’m in the beginning of my bachelors of dental hygiene program! It’s not easy working full time and taking care of my family. But I’m not in a place where I can discontinue working due to bills and daycare and tuition at this time. I feel like it does set a good example for my children that “mom can do anything, at any age, no matter what!” That’s important to me. The dental field will always be in demand whether patients have teeth or not and at any age. I have the choice of general offices or specialty, I can keep my dental assistant license as I’m currently a dental assistant and also work as a dental hygienist. The opportunities are endless for me to be able to financially support my family. The opportunities are endless to help my community as well being that I will have dual licensure. I will have the choice to work and help the community in fixing their teeth and bringing their smile back and helping patients with their oral hygiene. Oral hygiene is important because it can help reduce the risk of oral cancers, and prevents systemic health issues such as heart disease, stroke according to (Mayo Clinic, 2024). Raising a family during this time has been especially tough as I have a step daughter and my husband has a now nearly 7 year long custody battle that won’t quit! The stress and financial burden is exhausting. I’m pushing through and doing as much as I as I can on my own do support our family because I have the ability to further my education. Balancing kids needs and my own, my husband’s, and school time for homework is draining. But the reward is worth the bit of exhaustion I’ll experience over the next few years. The smiles on my kids faces when they know mom is reaching goals and dreams also makes it worth it! References: Mayo Clinic. (2024, March 14). Oral health: A window to your overall health. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/dental/art-20047475

My name is Dominique Diaz Kotzer and I am the only person in my family to go to college and finish college with a degree. I want to do it again! My family strongly believes that being proud of my accomplishments is self- centered and negative. I do not have help or resources to fully help myself get through my bachelors of dental hygiene alone. I'm ambitious and have three little girls at home that cheer me on through it all. They are 4, 6, and 9 years old and are super excited for their mom to reach her dreams and goals. I have a support team of my husband, my kids, and my mother. My mom is proud of my accomplishments and would help me reach my financial goals but she is sick. My mom was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2024 and she needs a kidney and will be starting dialysis soon. I've been working two jobs to help support my family and try to help my mom as much as I can too. This is difficult when I have daycare, regular bills and trying to save for college tuition. I will not have enough financial aid to finish my bachelor of dental hygiene program, I will need to seek other resources. I am ambitious and not too proud to ask for help when I need it. I will continue to work as a dental assistant and utilize my free time and weekend to fill in as a "temp dental assistant" as much as possible to save money to reach my dreams and have my dream career. Anything is possible when you work and pray hard enough! Being able to achieve my goals does not only benefit myself, I will be able to show my kids that anything is possible when you put in the effort. Speaking of effort, that's my daughters favorite word. Her third grade teacher always tells her students to put in "full effort" and her class is thriving. They love to learn and are starting to talk about their own goals too. It's very important not only the younger generations we are molding to become great individuals. But, it is also important to show everyone around us that it's not too late to start over. It's not too late to push for the life we deserve. Everyone deserves to have the ability to live their best life! I'm fortunate to have a job, but I want a career. I want to be a respected individual in dentistry. I will graduate with a white coat ceremony and make everyone proud! I will be the best dental provider anyone could ask for because our overall health does start in the oral cavity. One day soon I will be able to help save and change lives! Dominique Diaz Kotzer, LDA