In Exploring Dental Hygiene, Finding the Hidden Rewards, the author has acknowledged and augments the fact that dentistry is a business and that the dental hygienist is its most valuable asset.
The book leads the reader into charted and uncharted waters, emphasizing at each step of the way that meaningful hygiene is not just a job, but an exciting rewarding career of which the astute hygienist is a master of many tasks. It is filled with tips, forms, graphic aids and strategies for accomplishing and excelling at these numerous tasks.
The book begins with a self-identity journey reflecting philosophies, goals and visions for personal, professional and financial success. It then travels as a resource guide towards self fulfillment, tips for a happy work environment, creative initiatives encouraging patients to be proactive and schedule necessary treatment and refer others to the practice. In addition, it sets a plan of action for developing communication skills, strategies for monitoring patients, recare reactivation, tracking hygiene production.
Exploring Dental Hygiene, Finding the Hidden Rewards, is segmented into eleven interrelated parts, the first ten of which provide the nuts and bolts and underpinning of successful dental hygiene, successful teamwork and successful business practices. The final section is a template for creating a Dental Hygiene Office Manual.
... Susan’s book reflects a multifaceted
connection to dental
hygiene and the dental profession.
An RDHEF by training,
she is also a dynamic mentor,
lecturer,motivational speaker,
and philanthropist. Her passion
for her profession and her enthusiasm
for continual personal
and professional growth are
contagious. In other words,
she gets it—and she has the
skill and charisma to make
others get it too!"
Cindy McKane-Wagester, RDH, MBA
Author & Consultant
McKane & Associates
“I can’t imagine anyone who
could not learn from your twenty
six years of success in hygiene.
I have always held that it is easier
to copy genius than it is to create
mediocrity! My hope is that every
hygienist will take the time to
copy your genius in order to get
our same results...”
Steven J. Anderson,
Founder and President
Total Patient Services Institute
Crown Council of Dentistry
Meet The Author:
Susan Garcia Clark
Susan Garcia Clark, RDHEF, is a native New Yorker. Upon receiving an Associate Degree in Humanities and becoming certified as a dental assistant from Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, she began working as a dental assistant in general practice. After five years of dental employment, she returned to college receiving her Associate Degree in Dental Hygiene from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1981. She received her Extended Functions License from Loma Linda University in California, in 1982, making her eligible to administer local anesthesia, nitrous oxide and perform periodontal soft tissue curettage. Susan has been an active licensed hygienist in California for the past 26 years.
She is a member of the American Dental Hygienist's Association, The Crown Council of Dentistry and an active participant with several charitable organizations such as Smiles for Life, Team Mates for Kids and Kidsafe International. She lectures at local dental study club meetings, and is a mentor to students during high school career week.
Numerous dental professionals who have heard her motivational speeches have encouraged Susan to write “Exploring Dental Hygiene, Finding the Hidden Rewards.” Her dedication to her profession and her enthusiasm for dentistry is contagious. Her personal, professional and financial successes have encouraged her to continue educating and helping others to reach the level of excellence she strives to achieve.