Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Hello and welcome back to our Podversations from the exhibit hall floor here at ADHA. It's Saturday morning and I'm very excited to be joined by our guest this morning, Candice Swarthout, who just got done giving a presentation, which we'll talk a little bit about. But Candice, welcome to Hygiene Rising.
In-Person: Thank you, I'm glad to be here. So why don't we start by
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So why don't we start by just sharing with our listeners a little bit about you? Tell us about your journey in dental hygiene and what you're really passionate about and you know, then we'll get into why you're here today.
In-Person: Sure, sure. So I've been a hygienist. I'm celebrating my 30th year as a hygienist, which blows my mind because I don't know how time goes by that fast. So I graduated from Texas Women's University in 1997. And I practiced in private practice for a long time. And I got in that space where I think a lot of hygienists do where my body hurt. And so I started to feel feel a little bit of the burnout. I was making a transition out of dentistry into mental health. So I went back to school, I got my master's degree in counseling and development. I went through the process of getting my LPC, which is licensed professional counselor. So that's a 3,000 hours of internship. I did that, and during that process, I started working at a dental hygiene college part-time. Like just
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: to have a part-time job while I was in grad school. And guess what? I fell in love with it. So as I was graduating from grad school, I was offered a full-time position. And I really didn't think I wanted it because I had created this space in my mind where I was gonna have like this cute little lakeside. counseling practice and I was making this huge life transition right and so they offered me just one year of like try it for a year you'll be a temporary faculty if you love it stay if you don't just walk away no hard feelings so I'm starting my 13th year So I love it. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Wow.
In-Person: So I ended up back in dentistry full time. And then I've been able to just take them my mental health expertise. I have a little small private practice, so I do see some clients, not many, but I've been able to take that and combine it with dentistry and do some really cool things within the field of dentistry. But really my my passion not only is in with mental health, but also dental hygiene students. I'm in I'm just in love
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: with dental hygiene students. I love the process. love watching them on the first day all the way to the last and I get second year students and so they're already no they already are ready you know they're in this really
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: cool space and to watch them grow and to see their individual talents and what each of them bring to the table love it in fact just here this morning I've seen five of my grads recent
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: wow.
In-Person: grads and so it's it's a cool to I think in the position as a hygiene educator it's not like being like if I taught English great but then I'll probably never see my students again.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: But having that realization that they're about to be my colleagues. And I love that. So being able to build those friendships with them. Very cool. So you're still here in Texas? I am. So you're very local so it's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. I would love the best bridge with that one. Very cool. So you're still here in Texas? I am in the Dallas area. So you're very local to Fort Worth, so it it's not like you have to find all the cool and fun things to enjoy, but as a local, what should people check out when they're here that you love?
In-Person: I would do definitely the downtown area. Maybe if you can get over to Billy Bob's, it's a really cool place. It's a old honky tongu, did you go? Do you have a good time? Yeah, live music. Yeah. Did you dance? No. You did it? Yeah, it's fun though. Even if
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah. Was there yesterday. Yeah. Yeah, it was great. Live music. Yep, yep. Did you dance? No, not a dancer. Yeah.
In-Person: you don't dance, it's a great place to go. So yeah, definitely
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Billy Bob's. And then if you're in the stockyards, twice a day, I'm not sure the exact times, but they do a longhorn drive. So they bring
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: the longhorns down the street and then they go back at the end of the day. or four o'clock in the afternoon.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, it's very cool. We did see that. It was it was quite impressive. It was just the span of the h size of the horns is like I mean you see on T V but it's like wider than my arm span, like or my wingspan. But yeah. Very
In-Person: It's incredible, isn't it? Yes, yes. It's amazing.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: cool. So you're here speaking at the conference on a topic that you're really passionate about. So why don't you share
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: with our listeners a little bit about that?
In-Person: Yeah, so I spoke this morning about recognizing human trafficking within the dental setting.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And I started speaking on this probably five or six years ago, and just realizing that there is a huge number, 87% of survivors of human trafficking say that they went to a healthcare provider while they were being trafficked and nobody recognized it. And so we're missing it. And there is the statistics are about 30% of them said they were in a dental office. And so there are
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Wow.
In-Person: reasons. we're missing it or we don't want to get involved in it. And so that's really what the course is about is what are we looking for? And then if we identify it or think maybe this is what I'm looking at, then how do we approach it from that standpoint? Do I report it? Do I say something?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, so
In-Person: Do I give them resources? What do I do next?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. So for people that are listening that didn't have the opportunity to go to your course today, what are kind of some key things that hygienists and other dental professionals should be looking for?
In-Person: So one of the main things is a lot of times there will be an accompanying person with the victim and they will be in control of the appointment. So it might be even sometimes it's even a relative because the most common traffickers is family and romantic partners. Yes. It's it is overwhelmingly somebody the the victim knows. And so we might see it might be mom, aunt or uncle, husband, boyfriend. A lot of times the pimps are are quote boyfriends. And so it looks like it's there's a trauma bond, there's a relationship, so we might really not want to get involved in that, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Sure.
In-Person: But they'll have control over the appointment. We might see some tattoos, and they're branded tattoos. So things like a crown, a crown with initials on it, are generally the traffickers' initials with the crown on top, dollar signs, money bags, things that say things like daddy's girl, property of.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: they might have a really hard time making eye contact. So you see some things that could look like dental anxiety but I think when you put it all together you're seeing maybe they're really meek, they're what the eye contact is a big thing, they seem anxious to be there. If they're alone they could be really attached to their phone and almost like
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm.
In-Person: an over exaggerated anxiety about being away from it because they're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: they're they're communicating with somebody.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah. And what should dental professionals do? I mean what w what is the role? What c what how can dental hygienists and dental professionals help?
In-Person: There's a few things that we can do. So when I first started teaching this class, I missed it so bad, Matt. Like I was like, you know what, we're gonna do, we're gonna save everybody, right? We're gonna like, we're gonna pull up a chair, we're gonna say, how can I help you? But what I learned, and I learned it from survivors, is that they get treated really poorly within the healthcare environment because a lot of healthcare providers will identify the substance abuse because almost everyone is, it's a it's very high incidence of substance abuse, prostitution. And so that even in like the emergency room setting, they're going in for STDs, unwanted
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: pregnancies, things like that. And so they get stereotyped. And so what they've told me is that they just want to really be treated with dignity and respect and to be a person that has resources. So be that person that is respectful to them, make the eye contact, and find openings to be able to say, do you need a resource? And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: have it available in your office. And that's one of the important things is that as providers that we're taking the time to say, okay, what is even in my community? Is there a safe house? Is there a support resource? And then having that on hand is you do you have the human trafficking hotline available to say, hey, if you need something, I have this for you.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Can I make a call for you? Can I give you a piece of paper that they
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Great, great, great advice. So as we wrap up here, you have one other time where you're gonna be up in front of all of the attendees here tomorrow morning. So
In-Person: Yes, yeah, yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: share with everybody about that awesome opportunity that everybody here has an opportunity to participate in in the Crest Oral Bee Breakfast.
In-Person: Okay, can I tell you that my mind is blown that I'm even gonna get to do this? I'm so, so excited about it. yeah, so in the morning it'll be myself and Rice and Crystal Spring, and we'll each bring a little bit of something to the table. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'm gonna talk about, you know, have like 12 or 15 minutes, so it's a short amount of time. I'm gonna talk about what they didn't tell us about dental hygiene and go
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: into some of like the mental health things and maybe opportunities that we leave on the table or why we say no when we could have said yes. something and maybe leaving your one shot on the table and why we do that. Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I like that. I'm excited. So well, thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us. I'd love to get a little bit deeper into this topic of human trafficking maybe in the future. But it's great that our listeners have a little bit of a glimpse into some things you're passionate about and look forward to hearing you tomorrow morning at the Crest Breakfast. So thank you.
In-Person: Yeah, I'm excited. I'll see you there. Thank you.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Very excited for our next podversation with our friends from Crest Oral B. I'm really excited to be joined by Dalen Basora, who is the US professional oral health leader at Crest Oral B, and Andrea Johnson, who's been on our podcast before. And Andrea has a new title. She's the senior manager of scientific relations, and we'll talk a little bit about your new role. But welcome both of you to the podcast.
In-Person: Excited to be here.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So, Dalen, let's start with you and you're new to the ADHA Hygiene Rising podcast. So why don't you just share a little bit about yourself with our listeners and about your role and what you're excited about in dental hygiene worlds?
In-Person: Great, I think the right question is what am I not excited about? There's so much. So I've been enroll little over a year now, and Andrea and I were actually in another meeting right before this one, and I feel like every day I wake up and I say to myself, we do that with just a moment of pride and joy and excitement. You know, we serve 200,000 dental offices in the US physically in person with tens of thousands of those, and the great dialogue and conversation we get to have. Have with them to make our brands better, help them build trust with their patients. And just seeing that in action at conventions like this, and how deeply people care about the quality of the products and how we can help each other really get patients to go from good, care at home to great. And all the work that we do as an industry to make that happen consistently day in and day out is really inspiring. Most of my career has been spent on the retail side, and you know you You see the
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: See the
In-Person: marketing and the advertising and all those things are really important. But it all starts with trust. And so my whole job and our whole organization is really built around helping dental professionals build trust with their patients. And ideally, they're recommending our products to those patients, and if they're not, that means we're not doing our job yet. And so we're doing good, but we have a lot to do to continue to raise that standard. So really excited to be
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Excited.
In-Person: here and continue to build our partnership with ADHA in that journey.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Well welcome and it's great to have you here with us. And Andrea, welcome back. And Andrea, maybe you could talk a little bit about your new role at Crestoral B.
In-Person: Thank you, Matt. And again, thanks for letting us be here. We're always thrilled to be at the ADHA conference. So I recently took a new role starting September 1st. I'm actually going to be celebrating 25 years with Crest Oral B in January. It is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's amazing.
In-Person: amazing. I don't know how that can be, but I'm just 25 myself. So I mean I do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I was gonna say you s you must have started when you were eighteen, right?
In-Person: But my new role is one that I'm really passionate about is working more closely with our speakers and our key opinion leaders. helping really figure out a good strategy for them to present and to really share the science and to really enable a great partnership. Also working with our associations and looking for great ways to partner too. So I still work on the DSO side some where I help lead our advisory board and still we'll be covering our live CE events that we do on dental care. So I get to do lots of fun things which I enjoy and again being with people and sharing the science and just really looking at some new ways of doing business is I'm excited about. So thanks for asking. well congratulations. thank you. Thank you. Tell us and listeners
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. well congratulations, that's amazing. And tell us and listeners that are here at ADHA in Fort Worth what they should be excited about from Crest Oral B. What should people stop by the booth and learn about the latest and greatest? And of course make sure they attend tomorrow's Crest breakfast, which we'll talk about after that. But what's new and exciting at Crest Oral B?
In-Person: So Creston Orlby, we always had great and new exciting things. But what we're focusing on and what we really want to share with hygienists is the prevention side. Like we consider hygienist prevention specialists, and hygienists are key to providing the right home care tools for their patients. So at Crestoral Bee we have a full line of prevention products that patients need, that patients are easy to use, that patients like to use, and we combine them actually in systems. So we have systems for patients. Where they can actually get all the products they need and leave with what they need. And we we do it so that it's customized to patients' needs. If you have a patient that has implants, if you have a patient in ortho, if you have patients that have gingival concerns, we have everything they need customized in solutions. So come by our booth, we're at 305, learn about our products. We have great representatives there. We have evidence-based products, research-based, and we can share all that information and also give you some great samples. So and if you're interested in getting further information, with a teach and learn we can do all of that too. So 305, we'd love to see you. Awesome. And tomorrow morning, uh-huh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. And tomorrow morning is the crest Oral Bee Breakfast. We had Candice that you all heard from just a moment ago, who's gonna be up on stage. And she's very excited. I'm
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: very excited. It's always a great event. I got a great blue sport coat for you guys tomorrow that I packed for the breakfast. But tell everybody what you guys are excited about for breakfast tomorrow. well it's all other than be being up so early.
In-Person: It's always one of our favorite. Yeah, yes, you gotta get up early. But I promise you if you get up early, you're gonna be so happy you did. It's a great, fun event. And we try to always, you know, Dela knows like we want to empower hygienists, celebrate what hygienists do with providing also great education. So a few years ago we went to making it to an actual CE program. So I've got three powerful speakers that are gonna deliver a message on wellness and purpose. So I think
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: it's gonna be really nice. Nice. And then just really celebrating the great things Hydro and Lust do as prevention specialists, as healthcare providers. There's so much more to what we do. So just get up and come. You'll be so happy that you did. Get a great breakfast. Yes, it is. Yes. Yes,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And it's it's open to everybody this year, which is amazing. That's so exciting.
In-Person: so but be there early
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Dalen, maybe you could talk a little bit about the work that you all are doing around the standards and talk a little bit about what we should look forward to with that.
In-Person: This is a pivotal year for us as we think about Creston Oral B's history. Not only because Andrea gets to host the breakfast, I feel like I have to act like security around here. So many people are coming to see her, and that's awesome to see. I love it. I love the passion of the industry. But back to what I said earlier, it all starts with trust, and that starts with deep understanding of what patients need. And we're excited this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our continuing education program. And so there'll be some big, meaningful programs that we bring inclusive of the breakfast tomorrow, but ways to make it easier for hygienists to engage and continuing to step up their game. But also ways where And we start to bring things to life more in practices and make it easier for the standards to get activated. So we had some great discussions with the ADHA team this morning on ways that we can partner to go from awareness to activation. So not ready to share that yet, but it's going to be coming soon and we think it's pretty transformational. So really
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Sneak peek.
In-Person: excited about that body of evidence and how we can help make it easier for hygienists to bring those to life.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. So as we wrap up I wanna just ask one kind of maybe just a f maybe two fun questions, but the fun one I have a fun story with so I'm curious to get your take is what's the when you are talking to patients or friends or other dental professionals about the IO toothbrush, what do you share is like a great selling point, like something that's really cool about it? And then I'll tell you what mine is that I bet is not one that maybe you guys could put it in your marketing materials but
In-Person: We will, I'm taking a note.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'll take the easy answer, because Andrea's scientific mastery is much deeper than mine. But I think the easiest one and the most wow moment for most patients and was for me when I tried it is the pressure sensor. And that's the easy answer, but the harder
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: That's the easy answer.
In-Person: part of it is both telling you you're using too much or you're using too little. And what I realized was I was using too little. And that was
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm.
In-Person: for me a, I thought I was a good brusher, I get great dental reports, but I realized that about half the time I was using too little pressure. And it changed actually on where I was brushing. So in some places I was using too much, in some places I was using too little. So that red-green experience, right, really helps guide me and then actually improve my whole experience throughout my mouth. So it's not just the pressure sensor, it's the way that it tells you too little, too much. And you andro?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. And you, Andrea?
In-Person: well I agree with Dalen. I love the pressure sensor, but just to keep it very easy when I'm talking to people like It takes the technique out of brushing. If you're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: a bad brusher, if you scrub too hard, if you aren't paying attention to what you're doing, the IO is gonna give you the right technique. It's round for a reason, cleans tooth by tooth and conforms to the anatomy of the teeth. So you're gonna take all those sweaters off your teeth, you're gonna feel wonderful, have that clean, fresh feeling, you know, like you get when you go get your teeth cleaned by a dental
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: hygienist. So it's just an easy way to use. And what's so great about it too is when you put it in someone's mouth and they use it, they're more likely to continue using it because they love the way their mouth feels. So technique sensitive, it takes all of that work. It does the work for you. So I'll give you my
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So I'll give you mine. Mine as a parent or could be a grandparent. I know your new grandma, right?
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I have a twelve year old son. So he doesn't like that his dad is a dental hygienist and checks his teeth. So now I can say, Connor, go brush your teeth, and he can be upstairs and I can be on the app
In-Person: And I can be on the app.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: on the phone and say, Mm, what that wasn't two minutes. You missed this spot. So as a parent, it can
In-Person: I love that.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: be a good a good way to keep tabs, right? So it's a a good way to Give some freedom but make sure they're doing it correctly. So that's that's how I use it every now and then. So it's kinda fun.
In-Person: I love that. And Matt, we're we're kindred experienced. My son just turned fourteen and we've done a bunch of rush checking over the years. which is kinda gross, right checking is but now that we have the app,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's yeah.
In-Person: you're right. We we can secretly monitor. Yeah. So hopefully
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah.
In-Person: he's not listening. But we're kind of experience in that way. Yeah, I won't let him listen. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, I won't let listen. Well, thank you guys so much for spending a little bit of time with us and thank you for the continued partnership with the ADHA. Really excited about the breakfast tomorrow morning and just thanks again for being here.
In-Person: Thank you. Thank you, hygiene community.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: excited for our next conversation. annual occurrence. It's exciting to have
In-Person: I know.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: you back again. So we're joined by Amber Mendoza and she's with Heartland Dental and really excited to have you. So welcome back to our podcast.
In-Person: Yeah, great to see you again and thanks for having me. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So, Amber, tell our listeners a little bit about you. You've been on the podcast before, but for those that are maybe new listeners are hearing us for the first time, tell everybody a little bit about yourself.
In-Person: Yeah, absolutely. So Amber Mendoza, I've been in dentistry for ch about twenty years. a registered dental hygienist for sixteen of those. I don't know if I envisioned being the strategic leader for such a large organization and over hygiene, but I think what I you know when I was younger. But what I what I've learned along the way is I really am passionate and love clinical care and I love people and I love operations and so I get to spend my time bringing those things together. And so yeah I I am the director of hygiene operations at Heartland Dental and so I support thousands of hygienists over a large organization and I I think I spend most of my days asking questions like how do I make the hygienists' lives easier and better and how do we help them in their patient care goals and what they want for career growth. So it's a it's a pretty exciting
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So it's a it's a pretty exciting
In-Person: role and something I have a lot of fun doing. Awesome.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Well, tell everybody a little bit about Heartland Dental, for those that might not know.
In-Person: Yeah. So Heartland is a dental support organization and we support almost two thousand offices across our footprint across the United States, which is now over about six thousand hygienists. So we're really large large organization, but what what I'm really passionate about and what I really love is that each individual practice runs it like their own, right? We
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: take care of kind of the back end work and help to provide things that are really important to a hygienist, you know, like continuing education and and benefits and flexibility and those types of things that they're asking for but it's a really home feel private practice feel
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: with each individual office so it's a great organization and and yeah I've I've been there now almost 10 years.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Talk a little bit about what your daily life is like in your role.
In-Person: gosh, I think it it varies day to day. I I would say right now, Matt, a lot of my day is gosh, this is probably not just within Heartland, but as I talk to other, you know, colleagues and and people outside of our organization, we're all really focused on innovation. Would you say that's true?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And so a lot of things happening with with technology and AI and new products and you know preventative tools. And so there's a lot of time being spent there. And I think then we're, we're, as we are learning, we're I'm asking myself the questions like, okay, how do we though take all of that and simplify the hygienist world instead of it being adding on one extra thing? Because I in the 20
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: years, and you might agree with this, the time lengths of our appointments have not changed too much.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And so, yes, there's so much innovation and amazing things doing it, but how do we bring it to to the patient care level without it being overwhelming and and truly giving the value of all this innovation to our providers and then most importantly to our our patients.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: What's kind of a technology that you're most excited about? I mean, talking about innovation.
In-Person: You know, I I think I've mentioned this to you before. with AI is, I think, a a game changer when we when we think about diagnostics, right, in radiographs. that's really exciting. I think we've now kind of proven it's been around enough to sh to say it's not changing our autonomy or our clinical decisions. I would argue it's probably making it more important because we really have to lean into the patient education piece of of what we're seeing. It's it's helpful for us, but the patient
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: Don't care about the algorithm behind that technology, right? And so that's I think that's a really big one. I'm excited to learn and to integrate more of what we're seeing in AI. I know you and I had even an earlier conversation about AI on, but related to like clinical notes
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: and probing, right? Like all the things that if we get it really right, it's gonna help make our jobs
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: easier as hygienists. And so, like I said at the beginning, that's really what we're leaning into.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And how is I mean, change is hard, right? So like how
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: and you guys have so many offices and so many dental hygienists and how how much of a challenge is that for you guys to roll stuff out like that?
In-Person: Yeah, you know,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or are people excited about it?
In-Person: So I think that I think it's natural for us as hygienists to be inquisitive and curious and wanting to learn. I mean that's what this conference is all about. But there is the real world component of On Monday morning, my hy my other partner hygienist called out and I'm already 15 minutes behind with my patient. And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Exactly.
In-Person: hell, what do you mean I have to add these things in? And so we have to, I think we try to flip it on its head, Matt, to say when anything innovative comes out, we can't say, okay, how are we gonna get our hygienist to do this? That's not
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: the mindset that I want to lead with, that Heartland wants to lead with. It's asking the question of okay, how is this innovation going to look? in the hygiene chair on a Monday morning with a patient sitting there and then asking the really detailed questions and I'm talking about and you can ask my team I'm talking about where does this realistically fit and what
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: words are people going to say and what's the patient experience going to look like and ultimately how is this going to benefit the patient's oral health Or even change their behaviors personally, right, for them to change their oral health positively. And so I mean I guess to answer your question a little bit further, I think one of the biggest things that I've learned throughout my career is education alone is not enough, right? we can have the best training and the best buy-in and people like geared up and ready to go, but if we aren't realistic about the workflows and s the simplicity,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that you know, it's the stuff after the education that's really important.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, it's the implementation piece and it's the like how many times do you have to hear a message before you actually see change? I mean I y I experience that often in in my day to day job too. So so you guys have
In-Person: Absolutely. So you guys have
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: a great booth here on the exhibit floor and people will be listening to this will still have an opportunity to come by. So what would you encourage people to
In-Person: supposed to have an opportunity to come by so what would you encourage people to
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: come by and learn a little bit about at your booth or checkout? You guys have a cool booth.
In-Person: Thank you. Thank you. Grab a shirt. Those are always popular. I think anytime you hear about a DSO, and again, you and I have probably talked about this a couple of times in the past. You think corporate and that can have a you know a negative connotation and and just get to know us. We're real people. Our CEO always says you have to be nice to work at Heartland. And we're really passionate about just being nice to people. And so just come over, ask questions. no matter what, we're all hygiene providers and we want to get to know each other and I have something to learn from you,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: and I'm open to sharing anything as well. And you guys place place the hats by guys? Yes. my gosh. So yes, yesterday. Did you get one? I did not get one. my gosh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And you guys is is the hats by you guys, right? Yeah. So yes. I got over there at the end of the night last night and I was like, wow, this is pretty cool. Did you get one? I did not get I'm not a cowboy hat person.
In-Person: You would look good in a cowboy hat. You would. No, it yeah, it was a lot of fun. And it's still over there. So yeah, if you want to get a cowboy hat. Yes. Yes. It's pretty cool. I know, and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, it's pretty cool. They like brand the like brand your initials in it and it's pretty cool.
In-Person: she's so good at what she does. The ribbons, she like put the perfect colors together. They decorated some and people just grabbed some of those or you can decorate your own. A feather in your cap. Yeah, so for those that are here.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah. So for those that aren't here or haven't checked it out, go by the Heartland booth. There's a hat bar. You can pick out a hat and then you can pick out accessories and they'll brand
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: your initials into it. It's it's pretty cool. It's pretty impressive. So pretty very fitting for being in Texas, right?
In-Person: It is pretty cool. Thanks. Pretty very fitting for being in Texas. I mean the the Texas vibe here is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I've tried put I'm wearing boots today, I'm trying to to fit in. Yeah. We'll survive.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Your feet are gonna hurt later. Have you worn boots before? I have.
In-Person: I have. They're pretty short. No, no, no, no. my gosh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or okay, so you didn't buy just for the meeting. Okay.
In-Person: No, I've learned my lesson in the past for the conferences, especially ADHA, we have to go to every, you know, you gotta go and check out every piece
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, sure.
In-Person: of the exhibit hall and as many CEs as you can. So you gotta wear the comfy ones. You don't w wearing brand new ones. You can tell the people that have never been to a conference like this and they're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah. You can tell the people that have never been to a conference like this when they're walking through the exhibit floor and they're like in high heels, I'm like, Oof, you are gonna regret that later. Yeah. Yeah.
In-Person: I know, it's gonna hurt. Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Well, you know, it's it's exciting and then next year we'll be
In-Person: It's exciting and then next year we'll be
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: in your ga in your backyard again, right? In Arizona.
In-Person: I know, can you believe that? Can you believe that? Okay, so then that was the first time you and I really connected was in Arizona and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yes. Yes.
In-Person: my husband, for those who don't know me, is an expanded functions dental assistant. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: at the time Matt did a podcast with both of us and he
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: w had just gotten into dentistry. So he was just but yeah, he's we now live in Tennessee. you do? Yes, but I'm I'm in Arizona visiting all the time, so I will be there. I will be at the ADHA in Phoenix. Yep. I grew up in Arizona.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: you do. But I'm I'm in Arizona but I will be there. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm I grew up in Arizona, so it's always good to go back and connect with friends and family. So
In-Person: Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: we'll be there. So well thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us and thanks for the ongoing partnership that Heartland has with ADHA. You guys have a fun opportunity to stop by their booth and learn about Heartland and get a cool hat. I'm probably not gonna get one, but you could.
In-Person: Maybe. We'll convince. We'll convince Matt. Thank you so much for having me.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: All right, very excited for our next podversation with another familiar face. We're here with Aaron Haley Hits, who is a key opinion leader with Solventum. So Aaron, welcome to the Hygiene Rising Podversations. So what's new with you?
In-Person: Excited for our next conversation with another familiar face. We're here with Aaron Haley Hitts, who is a key opinion leader with Salventum. So Aaron, welcome to the Hygiene Rising Conversation. Thanks Matt. Thanks for having me back. So what's new with you?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: You are, you know, living your life, your time with the ADHA board of directors is now over. And what are you doing with all your free time?
In-Person: My free time has been spending it with family and I'm in full-time clinical practice, back at it, what I love every day and spending time at the gym. I can finally get back to that routine.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Good, good. So tell me a little bit about your role as a key opinion leader with Solventum and what is kind of new and exciting with them that we're here to talk about today.
In-Person: exciting with them that we're talk about today. Well I work with Saltventum in educating other colleagues of ours, dentists and hygienists alike, on their products and we talk a lot about fluoride. They're f their Clint Pro Clear is one of their products. They have other products that I talk about as well. But that seems to be the biggest the biggest conversation piece is fluoride, as you know. And you know I know that always that's can be a challenge.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. And you know, I know that always that's can be a challenge in how do you get patients to one understand the value of fluoride treatments in the office and how do we as dental hygienists convey the message of importance and the evidence behind that?
In-Person: Those are really good questions. But I think the important part to start with is understanding how we build trust with our patients. It isn't just about having the conversations of how their family is doing and going on vacations and all of those things. We need to spend a big chunk of our time talking about what we're really there to do. And part of that is assessing our patients and providing comprehensive care means that each person is an individual and has certain issues in their lives, either social. social determinants or health conditions or oral health conditions that's going to design their oral health care just for them and that would be comprehensive care. Right? Our standards of care were updated in 2025. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: we need to change how we're having those conversations. And part of those conversations is letting them know what we're doing. We're not just poking at their gum tissue and looking around at things with you know with our eyesight, what are we looking for, what are we assessing? And why are we assessing it? And part of that is our carrier's risk assessment. So part of my role in Solventum is talking about carrier's risk assessments. And we can get into the nitty-gritty of all the forms and all the questions, but it can really be done quickly when you're evaluating a medical history, talking to a patient, tell me what you're struggling with. Are you noticing dry mouth? Are you noticing anything that's changed? And once they start understanding that you're asking those questions to build a I guess you could call it a case, right? You're building a case study and then you go through that with them. Based on what I'm seeing, I would say, Matt, based on what I'm seeing, I would recommend that we do a fluoride treatment today. Right? And I have a visual in my pra in my practice in the room that looks like what I would call like an engine gauge, so that's got a needle, green, yellow, red, and it tells the patient exactly why they might be in the red or the yellow. What are the conditions? And I'm seeing this in your mouth. and it is the right thing to do to recommend fluoride when you're in those situations. It's not upselling, it's not it's not selling at all.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It's it's comprehensive care. And a lot of hygienists get caught up in that notion that I'm selling something. Yeah. And we're not. Yeah, I I I mean
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, I've I've I mean a as a patient in the chair I've heard
In-Person: I pretty
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: it you know, in a way where the provider is saying to me, Well, you know, would you like a would you like a fluoride treatment today? It's not something your insurance covers, but it's something that you could
In-Person: It's not something your insurance covers, but it's something that you
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: benefit from. That's probably not the way to use a you know, use the tools like a carries risk assessment and
In-Person: Use the you know, use the tools like the carries risk assessment and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: the evidence to actually not just even recommend but actually get patient acceptance. So can you maybe just talk a little bit about h some of the steps that you use, like how do you use the assessment and and what are the things you say to a patient to help them understand that this isn't just something that they're gonna have to pay for potentially,
In-Person: acceptance. So can you maybe just talk a little bit about some of the steps that you use, like how do you use the assessment and and what are the things you say to a patient to help them understand that this isn't just something that they're gonna have to do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: but it's really something that's very valuable.
In-Person: Right. It's really something that's very valuable. It is i it is exactly that. I'll use the example of a child. We don't automatically do a fluoride treatment on a child just because they're a child. Now some people would argue, yes, because a
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Correct. Yeah.
In-Person: child doesn't always have the best oral hygiene care. But that is still one of those we don't automatically do that. We don't automatically say, they had a cavity, so they get fluoride. Right? There are other factors to have in place. And so we need to look at all the disease factors, the risk factors that patient is struggling with. And then we need to consider all their previous treatments. You stack all those things together and what kind of investments have they already made? That's a big one for me, especially with the older population. I have a lot of patients with full mouth crowns, right? Three unit
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: bridges, and they might be in their 70s and 80s, and they want their teeth to chew with. Of life at that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: point. So fluoride might be a good indicator for them based on their health history. So what I say to them is when I put all of your risk factors together, your profile is telling me you would benefit from fluoride.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And then you can go into how fluoride works, especially if they have questions. And some patients do, if they're paying attention to anything that's been going on in the last two years about fluoride, they're gonna ask questions. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: understanding what fluoride is as a hygienist or a dentist is gonna be really important so that you can give unbiased opinion, that's my opinion, that it should be unbiased.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: W what are some of the trickier questions that a patient might ask and, you know, how do you answer those?
In-Person: Well, the trickier questions is when they say it's a chemical.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah.
In-Person: And I usually will say, well, in some forms it could be considered a chemical, but it's actually a natural mineral and it comes through the water table. And where I live, it does not come up through the water table as much as other parts of the country. So when I tell them that, then I said, then we have to add it in. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: as we move farther west in my state of Nebraska, there is fluoride. So then they have to monitor it a little bit differently. And once they understand that it's monitored, they'd want to do the best with for their health. It's a parent, they really do want to do the best for their children. and and I think just giving them the most information you can from a scientific perspective. I don't use scientific terms, I try to use layman terms, things they'll understand. about like how we prevent our cars from rusting, things like this. Then they start understanding what we're talking about. Because if you talk too far above their head, then they're just not gonna do it at all. Right? They might not even go
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah.
In-Person: out and buy Florida toothpaste then.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And you know, there's a lot of different carries risk assessment tools out there. Are there any
In-Person: And you know there's a lot of different carries risk assessment tools out there. Are there any
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: ones in particular that you lean on or that you you mentioned that you utilize something in your office? Is it something that's standardized or is something you kinda pulled together from different tools?
In-Person: Well, something that's standardized or something you kinda pulled together from We've kind of pulled together several tools, the cambra is where it started from. We pulled in a product that is is not a supplementum, not a product, but a tool from another company. Elevate has a great visual that we
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: have in every operatory and that's the one that patients just gravitate towards it. Now I've been in my practice six years and right away this is a patient I've seen for six years, like where where am I falling? Am I in green now? Am I in red still? Like where
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: am I at? You know, am I in yellow and And based on what I'm seeing and what you're telling me, you told me X, Y, and Z, I have dry mouth or I have this. I had two cavities in the last six months. You know, I had to do six crowns or whatever the case may be. You you will
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: benefit from a fluoride treatment. And so it's all in it in the pitch, right? So I think the best way to describe it, no matter what we're talking about, the words you use create your culture or your environment. So you have to stay positive. and not make it about me as a provider. And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: sometimes you just have to learn to be quiet.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Cause I I have even found this with myself. If I really feel strongly this patient should have fluoride, you can't verbally vomit all the information onto them.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It's over you're overselling, overdoing it. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: tell them what you found. I'd recommend a fluoride treatment. This is h this is how we do it. This is how long it takes. And with Solventum's product, it's fifteen minutes of time you need to wait to eat or drink. Yeah. And then you're quiet. Yeah. So as we kinda start to wrap up.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Super quiet. Yeah. So a as we kinda start to wrap up, talk to me a little bit about last year, I think it was last year at this meeting, we had a conversation and talked a little bit about Salventum's new varnish product. Can you just tell me a little bit about why you like that product and maybe for listeners that aren't familiar with it a little bit about it?
In-Person: Sure. I like it for one because it's water-based, so it's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: clear, you can't feel it on your teeth, so you don't get the fuzzy or the gritty feeling that other varnishes will present. With that, it's a faster uptake. So that's why it is a lower percentage, it's 2.5%, because it's a faster uptake and the tooth is going to take it in that much faster. The reason why other varnish products, if we're going to use that word, is because it's a thicker product and it has
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: to be at 5,000 parts per million. get through the rosin to get into the tooth and it takes over an hour for that to happen. And so I have better acceptance with this product over other products because patients can't feel it. It
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: tastes good. The un unflavored it doesn't taste, the unflavored, right.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or doesn't taste. There's one, right? Yeah.
In-Person: And that one has been a game changer in my pedo appointments because I
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: interesting.
In-Person: don't I don't I'm to the point now where I don't even mess around with flavors.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Especially if they're like three, you know, they're little, they don't even know what a watermelon is. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'm like, we're gonna paint some vitamins on your teeth. And they don't like it because it's watermelon, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or then they don't like it because of the flavor, right?
In-Person: And so I just you know, here it is, paint it on and we're done and they're just like, that's unflavored. Yeah, that's what that means. Yeah, my the office that my son goes to switch to using that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, my the office that my son goes to switched to using that product and the lack of, you know, fuzziness feeling is something he always hated about the other product that was being used. And they
In-Person: And they
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: he had the watermelon flavor and liked it, but he appreciated that it didn't feel thick or fuzzy or, you know, different way they describe it.
In-Person: Yes, that's the that's the biggest selling selling point. I don't like to use that word, I don't know why I keep saying it, but the biggest benefit in patient acceptance is that right there, because now I have patients that are like, Well, I we did fluoride last time, it helped with my sensitivity, I wanna do it today, but only if it's not the fuzzy stuff.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Absolutely, that's all we're using now. I mean that's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: we have six hygienists in the practice I'm in and that's all we're using. And it
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's great.
In-Person: it's it's been a game changer. Almost every patient in my chair says yes. And even the ones that don't have insurance coverage. And and I really want to touch on this just real fast. We can't dictate care based on somebody's insurance coverage. And I and I know that's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I know, I know.
In-Person: hard, it's really hard, but we don't want to let them determine the care for our patients.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And that's where we gotta come right back to our risk assessments. And it's the same for, you know, soft tissue evaluations, it's the same for hard tissue evaluations, the periodontal assessments. We have to go back to the data. It's always the data
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that drives our recommendation. And you might have somebody that says no because they simply cannot afford it. Now,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I I do have a little secret to that though, because we come to these meetings, I get a lot of samples.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. I get a lot of sequence. Yep.
In-Person: And yes, it might not be Clin Pro Clear, but it's a fluoride varnish. And if that patient is in a situation that doesn't allow them to come up with the money to pay for that fluoride treatment, then I
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: have the ability to do that fluoride treatment at no charge. That's on that's my choice to use
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, that's great. That's my choice. Yeah.
In-Person: a s use that sample product and I tell them that's what it is, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I happen to be in a meeting and I, you know, one of the reps gave me samples.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: You're still gonna get the benefit. of the fluoride and I don't have to charge you for it. And and my employer's okay with that. He's like, it's your time, you choose to do that. I'm like, well,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that's that's just an idea. It's a great way to support that. And quite frankly, it's probably a great way to get really good feedback from the patient to say this is a new product I'm trying out. What are you
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, that's a great way to support that and quite frankly it's probably a great way to get really good feedback from the patient to say, This is a new product that I'm trying out. What do you think of it, right?
In-Person: Yep, that's one way to do it. Tell me we've we've we've done that. Like what do you like that flavor? No, okay, that's out.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Do you like this? No, that's out. Right? no, that one wasn't bad. We get
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: then they feel like they're like contributing to the practice and the development of the practice.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And one thing I hear from patients a lot is, or really like coming in here because every time I come in, there's something new. There's new technology.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: You guys are innovating. You're you're I this is why I send all my friends and family here. And that says something to the community. So that's that's one definite value to doing that. But I I s I do also have this happen in our office where the doctor will do a fluoride treatment after they place a crown and won't charge for it. They bunt they just in their mind they're bundling it as part of their care. We seeded a crown
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: it's part of the care.
In-Person: and they tell them, you're you might be sensitive. I don't want you to be sensitive because we put a new crown on, so I'm gonna put a fluoride treatment on. I'm not going to charge you for this. it And and you know, if you want these in the future, let the hygienist know. And that is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: a huge thing that it's a value and it's that trust thing again that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: we're talking about. Because all the patients come back in my chair and they'll say, doctor did a fluoride treatment when I had that crowd on.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And he did it and he didn't charge me for it. Can you tell me how much that costs if I would do
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that today? Right? And then we look at benefits, we talk about the costs. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah.
In-Person: again, it always comes back to the carriers risk assessment. And I don't know that all of us are using those across the country and I think it's really important that we start as hygienists.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It creates value for us as a profession. You and I have been on the advocacy side of it. If you don't have that type of value then we're going to be devalued that much faster. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yep. Yep.
In-Person: these products are really built for patients but they're also built for us to succeed as clinicians. So there's lots of sides to it.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah. Well, I really appreciate you sharing these tips with our listeners today. Any other parting words about using Carrie's risk assessment or, you know, engaging patients and, you know, adopting and accepting the right care that's needed for them?
In-Person: Sure. Well, I think the best way for me to say it is fluoride varnish is one tool in our toolbox. We have lots of tools out there. The real skill is knowing when, why, and how to use our tools and being able to explain that to our patient in the way that builds trust. It's always gotta come back to down to trust and it's the right thing to do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Right? If you're not recommending it based on their care their risk assessments. Then I I I wonder what are we talking about in the appointment? Again, we're right back to talking about vacations and there's nothing wrong with talking about that, but
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. There's nothing wrong with talking about that.
In-Person: I talk about that from the door to the chair after that is done and it's all work.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, it's a value add, right? Of you being a healthcare professional and then getting your time to be able to educate them on the things that are valuable to them. So yeah.
In-Person: Yes. Right. And always remember insurance determines reimbursement. It does not determine clinical need. The
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yep.
In-Person: clinical need comes from the risk assessments.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And then finding a product that can support you in delivering it is really important. And Clint Pro Clear is by far my favorite. I would not be working with Solventum is if it wasn't,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: and be very clear about that. I don't work with very many companies, but I do like them. So that's one of my favorites. The taste is un it's undescribable.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I come from Nebraska. Nebraska's where Kool-Aid came from. I don't know if anybody
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay, I didn't know that.
In-Person: knows a little trivia. And when I get out the watermelon, I'm like, it smells like Kool Aid.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Ha ha ha.
In-Person: And then kids are like, what's Kool-Aid? So now I'm like dating myself because not everybody's drinking Kool-Aid. But the parents get a kick out of it because they're like, yeah, I remember Kool-Aid. Well Aaron, I appreciate you sharing your insight and knowledge about this important topic of the Yeah, sure. Yeah, I appreciate
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's funny. Interesting. Well, Aaron, I appreciate you sharing your insight and knowledge about this important topic with our listeners and thanks for spending a little bit time with us.
In-Person: it. Just remember, don't start with the product, start with the patient.
In-Person: Thank you, I'm glad to be here. So why don't we start by
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So why don't we start by just sharing with our listeners a little bit about you? Tell us about your journey in dental hygiene and what you're really passionate about and you know, then we'll get into why you're here today.
In-Person: Sure, sure. So I've been a hygienist. I'm celebrating my 30th year as a hygienist, which blows my mind because I don't know how time goes by that fast. So I graduated from Texas Women's University in 1997. And I practiced in private practice for a long time. And I got in that space where I think a lot of hygienists do where my body hurt. And so I started to feel feel a little bit of the burnout. I was making a transition out of dentistry into mental health. So I went back to school, I got my master's degree in counseling and development. I went through the process of getting my LPC, which is licensed professional counselor. So that's a 3,000 hours of internship. I did that, and during that process, I started working at a dental hygiene college part-time. Like just
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: to have a part-time job while I was in grad school. And guess what? I fell in love with it. So as I was graduating from grad school, I was offered a full-time position. And I really didn't think I wanted it because I had created this space in my mind where I was gonna have like this cute little lakeside. counseling practice and I was making this huge life transition right and so they offered me just one year of like try it for a year you'll be a temporary faculty if you love it stay if you don't just walk away no hard feelings so I'm starting my 13th year So I love it. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Wow.
In-Person: So I ended up back in dentistry full time. And then I've been able to just take them my mental health expertise. I have a little small private practice, so I do see some clients, not many, but I've been able to take that and combine it with dentistry and do some really cool things within the field of dentistry. But really my my passion not only is in with mental health, but also dental hygiene students. I'm in I'm just in love
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: with dental hygiene students. I love the process. love watching them on the first day all the way to the last and I get second year students and so they're already no they already are ready you know they're in this really
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: cool space and to watch them grow and to see their individual talents and what each of them bring to the table love it in fact just here this morning I've seen five of my grads recent
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: wow.
In-Person: grads and so it's it's a cool to I think in the position as a hygiene educator it's not like being like if I taught English great but then I'll probably never see my students again.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: But having that realization that they're about to be my colleagues. And I love that. So being able to build those friendships with them. Very cool. So you're still here in Texas? I am. So you're very local so it's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. I would love the best bridge with that one. Very cool. So you're still here in Texas? I am in the Dallas area. So you're very local to Fort Worth, so it it's not like you have to find all the cool and fun things to enjoy, but as a local, what should people check out when they're here that you love?
In-Person: I would do definitely the downtown area. Maybe if you can get over to Billy Bob's, it's a really cool place. It's a old honky tongu, did you go? Do you have a good time? Yeah, live music. Yeah. Did you dance? No. You did it? Yeah, it's fun though. Even if
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah. Was there yesterday. Yeah. Yeah, it was great. Live music. Yep, yep. Did you dance? No, not a dancer. Yeah.
In-Person: you don't dance, it's a great place to go. So yeah, definitely
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Billy Bob's. And then if you're in the stockyards, twice a day, I'm not sure the exact times, but they do a longhorn drive. So they bring
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: the longhorns down the street and then they go back at the end of the day. or four o'clock in the afternoon.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, it's very cool. We did see that. It was it was quite impressive. It was just the span of the h size of the horns is like I mean you see on T V but it's like wider than my arm span, like or my wingspan. But yeah. Very
In-Person: It's incredible, isn't it? Yes, yes. It's amazing.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: cool. So you're here speaking at the conference on a topic that you're really passionate about. So why don't you share
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: with our listeners a little bit about that?
In-Person: Yeah, so I spoke this morning about recognizing human trafficking within the dental setting.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And I started speaking on this probably five or six years ago, and just realizing that there is a huge number, 87% of survivors of human trafficking say that they went to a healthcare provider while they were being trafficked and nobody recognized it. And so we're missing it. And there is the statistics are about 30% of them said they were in a dental office. And so there are
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Wow.
In-Person: reasons. we're missing it or we don't want to get involved in it. And so that's really what the course is about is what are we looking for? And then if we identify it or think maybe this is what I'm looking at, then how do we approach it from that standpoint? Do I report it? Do I say something?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, so
In-Person: Do I give them resources? What do I do next?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. So for people that are listening that didn't have the opportunity to go to your course today, what are kind of some key things that hygienists and other dental professionals should be looking for?
In-Person: So one of the main things is a lot of times there will be an accompanying person with the victim and they will be in control of the appointment. So it might be even sometimes it's even a relative because the most common traffickers is family and romantic partners. Yes. It's it is overwhelmingly somebody the the victim knows. And so we might see it might be mom, aunt or uncle, husband, boyfriend. A lot of times the pimps are are quote boyfriends. And so it looks like it's there's a trauma bond, there's a relationship, so we might really not want to get involved in that, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Sure.
In-Person: But they'll have control over the appointment. We might see some tattoos, and they're branded tattoos. So things like a crown, a crown with initials on it, are generally the traffickers' initials with the crown on top, dollar signs, money bags, things that say things like daddy's girl, property of.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: they might have a really hard time making eye contact. So you see some things that could look like dental anxiety but I think when you put it all together you're seeing maybe they're really meek, they're what the eye contact is a big thing, they seem anxious to be there. If they're alone they could be really attached to their phone and almost like
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm.
In-Person: an over exaggerated anxiety about being away from it because they're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: they're they're communicating with somebody.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah. And what should dental professionals do? I mean what w what is the role? What c what how can dental hygienists and dental professionals help?
In-Person: There's a few things that we can do. So when I first started teaching this class, I missed it so bad, Matt. Like I was like, you know what, we're gonna do, we're gonna save everybody, right? We're gonna like, we're gonna pull up a chair, we're gonna say, how can I help you? But what I learned, and I learned it from survivors, is that they get treated really poorly within the healthcare environment because a lot of healthcare providers will identify the substance abuse because almost everyone is, it's a it's very high incidence of substance abuse, prostitution. And so that even in like the emergency room setting, they're going in for STDs, unwanted
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: pregnancies, things like that. And so they get stereotyped. And so what they've told me is that they just want to really be treated with dignity and respect and to be a person that has resources. So be that person that is respectful to them, make the eye contact, and find openings to be able to say, do you need a resource? And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: have it available in your office. And that's one of the important things is that as providers that we're taking the time to say, okay, what is even in my community? Is there a safe house? Is there a support resource? And then having that on hand is you do you have the human trafficking hotline available to say, hey, if you need something, I have this for you.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Can I make a call for you? Can I give you a piece of paper that they
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Great, great, great advice. So as we wrap up here, you have one other time where you're gonna be up in front of all of the attendees here tomorrow morning. So
In-Person: Yes, yeah, yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: share with everybody about that awesome opportunity that everybody here has an opportunity to participate in in the Crest Oral Bee Breakfast.
In-Person: Okay, can I tell you that my mind is blown that I'm even gonna get to do this? I'm so, so excited about it. yeah, so in the morning it'll be myself and Rice and Crystal Spring, and we'll each bring a little bit of something to the table. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'm gonna talk about, you know, have like 12 or 15 minutes, so it's a short amount of time. I'm gonna talk about what they didn't tell us about dental hygiene and go
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: into some of like the mental health things and maybe opportunities that we leave on the table or why we say no when we could have said yes. something and maybe leaving your one shot on the table and why we do that. Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I like that. I'm excited. So well, thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us. I'd love to get a little bit deeper into this topic of human trafficking maybe in the future. But it's great that our listeners have a little bit of a glimpse into some things you're passionate about and look forward to hearing you tomorrow morning at the Crest Breakfast. So thank you.
In-Person: Yeah, I'm excited. I'll see you there. Thank you.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Very excited for our next podversation with our friends from Crest Oral B. I'm really excited to be joined by Dalen Basora, who is the US professional oral health leader at Crest Oral B, and Andrea Johnson, who's been on our podcast before. And Andrea has a new title. She's the senior manager of scientific relations, and we'll talk a little bit about your new role. But welcome both of you to the podcast.
In-Person: Excited to be here.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So, Dalen, let's start with you and you're new to the ADHA Hygiene Rising podcast. So why don't you just share a little bit about yourself with our listeners and about your role and what you're excited about in dental hygiene worlds?
In-Person: Great, I think the right question is what am I not excited about? There's so much. So I've been enroll little over a year now, and Andrea and I were actually in another meeting right before this one, and I feel like every day I wake up and I say to myself, we do that with just a moment of pride and joy and excitement. You know, we serve 200,000 dental offices in the US physically in person with tens of thousands of those, and the great dialogue and conversation we get to have. Have with them to make our brands better, help them build trust with their patients. And just seeing that in action at conventions like this, and how deeply people care about the quality of the products and how we can help each other really get patients to go from good, care at home to great. And all the work that we do as an industry to make that happen consistently day in and day out is really inspiring. Most of my career has been spent on the retail side, and you know you You see the
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: See the
In-Person: marketing and the advertising and all those things are really important. But it all starts with trust. And so my whole job and our whole organization is really built around helping dental professionals build trust with their patients. And ideally, they're recommending our products to those patients, and if they're not, that means we're not doing our job yet. And so we're doing good, but we have a lot to do to continue to raise that standard. So really excited to be
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Excited.
In-Person: here and continue to build our partnership with ADHA in that journey.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Well welcome and it's great to have you here with us. And Andrea, welcome back. And Andrea, maybe you could talk a little bit about your new role at Crestoral B.
In-Person: Thank you, Matt. And again, thanks for letting us be here. We're always thrilled to be at the ADHA conference. So I recently took a new role starting September 1st. I'm actually going to be celebrating 25 years with Crest Oral B in January. It is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's amazing.
In-Person: amazing. I don't know how that can be, but I'm just 25 myself. So I mean I do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I was gonna say you s you must have started when you were eighteen, right?
In-Person: But my new role is one that I'm really passionate about is working more closely with our speakers and our key opinion leaders. helping really figure out a good strategy for them to present and to really share the science and to really enable a great partnership. Also working with our associations and looking for great ways to partner too. So I still work on the DSO side some where I help lead our advisory board and still we'll be covering our live CE events that we do on dental care. So I get to do lots of fun things which I enjoy and again being with people and sharing the science and just really looking at some new ways of doing business is I'm excited about. So thanks for asking. well congratulations. thank you. Thank you. Tell us and listeners
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. well congratulations, that's amazing. And tell us and listeners that are here at ADHA in Fort Worth what they should be excited about from Crest Oral B. What should people stop by the booth and learn about the latest and greatest? And of course make sure they attend tomorrow's Crest breakfast, which we'll talk about after that. But what's new and exciting at Crest Oral B?
In-Person: So Creston Orlby, we always had great and new exciting things. But what we're focusing on and what we really want to share with hygienists is the prevention side. Like we consider hygienist prevention specialists, and hygienists are key to providing the right home care tools for their patients. So at Crestoral Bee we have a full line of prevention products that patients need, that patients are easy to use, that patients like to use, and we combine them actually in systems. So we have systems for patients. Where they can actually get all the products they need and leave with what they need. And we we do it so that it's customized to patients' needs. If you have a patient that has implants, if you have a patient in ortho, if you have patients that have gingival concerns, we have everything they need customized in solutions. So come by our booth, we're at 305, learn about our products. We have great representatives there. We have evidence-based products, research-based, and we can share all that information and also give you some great samples. So and if you're interested in getting further information, with a teach and learn we can do all of that too. So 305, we'd love to see you. Awesome. And tomorrow morning, uh-huh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. And tomorrow morning is the crest Oral Bee Breakfast. We had Candice that you all heard from just a moment ago, who's gonna be up on stage. And she's very excited. I'm
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: very excited. It's always a great event. I got a great blue sport coat for you guys tomorrow that I packed for the breakfast. But tell everybody what you guys are excited about for breakfast tomorrow. well it's all other than be being up so early.
In-Person: It's always one of our favorite. Yeah, yes, you gotta get up early. But I promise you if you get up early, you're gonna be so happy you did. It's a great, fun event. And we try to always, you know, Dela knows like we want to empower hygienists, celebrate what hygienists do with providing also great education. So a few years ago we went to making it to an actual CE program. So I've got three powerful speakers that are gonna deliver a message on wellness and purpose. So I think
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: it's gonna be really nice. Nice. And then just really celebrating the great things Hydro and Lust do as prevention specialists, as healthcare providers. There's so much more to what we do. So just get up and come. You'll be so happy that you did. Get a great breakfast. Yes, it is. Yes. Yes,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And it's it's open to everybody this year, which is amazing. That's so exciting.
In-Person: so but be there early
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Dalen, maybe you could talk a little bit about the work that you all are doing around the standards and talk a little bit about what we should look forward to with that.
In-Person: This is a pivotal year for us as we think about Creston Oral B's history. Not only because Andrea gets to host the breakfast, I feel like I have to act like security around here. So many people are coming to see her, and that's awesome to see. I love it. I love the passion of the industry. But back to what I said earlier, it all starts with trust, and that starts with deep understanding of what patients need. And we're excited this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our continuing education program. And so there'll be some big, meaningful programs that we bring inclusive of the breakfast tomorrow, but ways to make it easier for hygienists to engage and continuing to step up their game. But also ways where And we start to bring things to life more in practices and make it easier for the standards to get activated. So we had some great discussions with the ADHA team this morning on ways that we can partner to go from awareness to activation. So not ready to share that yet, but it's going to be coming soon and we think it's pretty transformational. So really
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Sneak peek.
In-Person: excited about that body of evidence and how we can help make it easier for hygienists to bring those to life.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. So as we wrap up I wanna just ask one kind of maybe just a f maybe two fun questions, but the fun one I have a fun story with so I'm curious to get your take is what's the when you are talking to patients or friends or other dental professionals about the IO toothbrush, what do you share is like a great selling point, like something that's really cool about it? And then I'll tell you what mine is that I bet is not one that maybe you guys could put it in your marketing materials but
In-Person: We will, I'm taking a note.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'll take the easy answer, because Andrea's scientific mastery is much deeper than mine. But I think the easiest one and the most wow moment for most patients and was for me when I tried it is the pressure sensor. And that's the easy answer, but the harder
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: That's the easy answer.
In-Person: part of it is both telling you you're using too much or you're using too little. And what I realized was I was using too little. And that was
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm.
In-Person: for me a, I thought I was a good brusher, I get great dental reports, but I realized that about half the time I was using too little pressure. And it changed actually on where I was brushing. So in some places I was using too much, in some places I was using too little. So that red-green experience, right, really helps guide me and then actually improve my whole experience throughout my mouth. So it's not just the pressure sensor, it's the way that it tells you too little, too much. And you andro?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. And you, Andrea?
In-Person: well I agree with Dalen. I love the pressure sensor, but just to keep it very easy when I'm talking to people like It takes the technique out of brushing. If you're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: a bad brusher, if you scrub too hard, if you aren't paying attention to what you're doing, the IO is gonna give you the right technique. It's round for a reason, cleans tooth by tooth and conforms to the anatomy of the teeth. So you're gonna take all those sweaters off your teeth, you're gonna feel wonderful, have that clean, fresh feeling, you know, like you get when you go get your teeth cleaned by a dental
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: hygienist. So it's just an easy way to use. And what's so great about it too is when you put it in someone's mouth and they use it, they're more likely to continue using it because they love the way their mouth feels. So technique sensitive, it takes all of that work. It does the work for you. So I'll give you my
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So I'll give you mine. Mine as a parent or could be a grandparent. I know your new grandma, right?
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I have a twelve year old son. So he doesn't like that his dad is a dental hygienist and checks his teeth. So now I can say, Connor, go brush your teeth, and he can be upstairs and I can be on the app
In-Person: And I can be on the app.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: on the phone and say, Mm, what that wasn't two minutes. You missed this spot. So as a parent, it can
In-Person: I love that.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: be a good a good way to keep tabs, right? So it's a a good way to Give some freedom but make sure they're doing it correctly. So that's that's how I use it every now and then. So it's kinda fun.
In-Person: I love that. And Matt, we're we're kindred experienced. My son just turned fourteen and we've done a bunch of rush checking over the years. which is kinda gross, right checking is but now that we have the app,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's yeah.
In-Person: you're right. We we can secretly monitor. Yeah. So hopefully
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah.
In-Person: he's not listening. But we're kind of experience in that way. Yeah, I won't let him listen. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, I won't let listen. Well, thank you guys so much for spending a little bit of time with us and thank you for the continued partnership with the ADHA. Really excited about the breakfast tomorrow morning and just thanks again for being here.
In-Person: Thank you. Thank you, hygiene community.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: excited for our next conversation. annual occurrence. It's exciting to have
In-Person: I know.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: you back again. So we're joined by Amber Mendoza and she's with Heartland Dental and really excited to have you. So welcome back to our podcast.
In-Person: Yeah, great to see you again and thanks for having me. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So, Amber, tell our listeners a little bit about you. You've been on the podcast before, but for those that are maybe new listeners are hearing us for the first time, tell everybody a little bit about yourself.
In-Person: Yeah, absolutely. So Amber Mendoza, I've been in dentistry for ch about twenty years. a registered dental hygienist for sixteen of those. I don't know if I envisioned being the strategic leader for such a large organization and over hygiene, but I think what I you know when I was younger. But what I what I've learned along the way is I really am passionate and love clinical care and I love people and I love operations and so I get to spend my time bringing those things together. And so yeah I I am the director of hygiene operations at Heartland Dental and so I support thousands of hygienists over a large organization and I I think I spend most of my days asking questions like how do I make the hygienists' lives easier and better and how do we help them in their patient care goals and what they want for career growth. So it's a it's a pretty exciting
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: So it's a it's a pretty exciting
In-Person: role and something I have a lot of fun doing. Awesome.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Well, tell everybody a little bit about Heartland Dental, for those that might not know.
In-Person: Yeah. So Heartland is a dental support organization and we support almost two thousand offices across our footprint across the United States, which is now over about six thousand hygienists. So we're really large large organization, but what what I'm really passionate about and what I really love is that each individual practice runs it like their own, right? We
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: take care of kind of the back end work and help to provide things that are really important to a hygienist, you know, like continuing education and and benefits and flexibility and those types of things that they're asking for but it's a really home feel private practice feel
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: with each individual office so it's a great organization and and yeah I've I've been there now almost 10 years.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Awesome. Talk a little bit about what your daily life is like in your role.
In-Person: gosh, I think it it varies day to day. I I would say right now, Matt, a lot of my day is gosh, this is probably not just within Heartland, but as I talk to other, you know, colleagues and and people outside of our organization, we're all really focused on innovation. Would you say that's true?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And so a lot of things happening with with technology and AI and new products and you know preventative tools. And so there's a lot of time being spent there. And I think then we're, we're, as we are learning, we're I'm asking myself the questions like, okay, how do we though take all of that and simplify the hygienist world instead of it being adding on one extra thing? Because I in the 20
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: years, and you might agree with this, the time lengths of our appointments have not changed too much.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And so, yes, there's so much innovation and amazing things doing it, but how do we bring it to to the patient care level without it being overwhelming and and truly giving the value of all this innovation to our providers and then most importantly to our our patients.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: What's kind of a technology that you're most excited about? I mean, talking about innovation.
In-Person: You know, I I think I've mentioned this to you before. with AI is, I think, a a game changer when we when we think about diagnostics, right, in radiographs. that's really exciting. I think we've now kind of proven it's been around enough to sh to say it's not changing our autonomy or our clinical decisions. I would argue it's probably making it more important because we really have to lean into the patient education piece of of what we're seeing. It's it's helpful for us, but the patient
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: Don't care about the algorithm behind that technology, right? And so that's I think that's a really big one. I'm excited to learn and to integrate more of what we're seeing in AI. I know you and I had even an earlier conversation about AI on, but related to like clinical notes
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: and probing, right? Like all the things that if we get it really right, it's gonna help make our jobs
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: easier as hygienists. And so, like I said at the beginning, that's really what we're leaning into.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And how is I mean, change is hard, right? So like how
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: and you guys have so many offices and so many dental hygienists and how how much of a challenge is that for you guys to roll stuff out like that?
In-Person: Yeah, you know,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or are people excited about it?
In-Person: So I think that I think it's natural for us as hygienists to be inquisitive and curious and wanting to learn. I mean that's what this conference is all about. But there is the real world component of On Monday morning, my hy my other partner hygienist called out and I'm already 15 minutes behind with my patient. And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Exactly.
In-Person: hell, what do you mean I have to add these things in? And so we have to, I think we try to flip it on its head, Matt, to say when anything innovative comes out, we can't say, okay, how are we gonna get our hygienist to do this? That's not
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: the mindset that I want to lead with, that Heartland wants to lead with. It's asking the question of okay, how is this innovation going to look? in the hygiene chair on a Monday morning with a patient sitting there and then asking the really detailed questions and I'm talking about and you can ask my team I'm talking about where does this realistically fit and what
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: words are people going to say and what's the patient experience going to look like and ultimately how is this going to benefit the patient's oral health Or even change their behaviors personally, right, for them to change their oral health positively. And so I mean I guess to answer your question a little bit further, I think one of the biggest things that I've learned throughout my career is education alone is not enough, right? we can have the best training and the best buy-in and people like geared up and ready to go, but if we aren't realistic about the workflows and s the simplicity,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that you know, it's the stuff after the education that's really important.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, it's the implementation piece and it's the like how many times do you have to hear a message before you actually see change? I mean I y I experience that often in in my day to day job too. So so you guys have
In-Person: Absolutely. So you guys have
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: a great booth here on the exhibit floor and people will be listening to this will still have an opportunity to come by. So what would you encourage people to
In-Person: supposed to have an opportunity to come by so what would you encourage people to
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: come by and learn a little bit about at your booth or checkout? You guys have a cool booth.
In-Person: Thank you. Thank you. Grab a shirt. Those are always popular. I think anytime you hear about a DSO, and again, you and I have probably talked about this a couple of times in the past. You think corporate and that can have a you know a negative connotation and and just get to know us. We're real people. Our CEO always says you have to be nice to work at Heartland. And we're really passionate about just being nice to people. And so just come over, ask questions. no matter what, we're all hygiene providers and we want to get to know each other and I have something to learn from you,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: and I'm open to sharing anything as well. And you guys place place the hats by guys? Yes. my gosh. So yes, yesterday. Did you get one? I did not get one. my gosh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And you guys is is the hats by you guys, right? Yeah. So yes. I got over there at the end of the night last night and I was like, wow, this is pretty cool. Did you get one? I did not get I'm not a cowboy hat person.
In-Person: You would look good in a cowboy hat. You would. No, it yeah, it was a lot of fun. And it's still over there. So yeah, if you want to get a cowboy hat. Yes. Yes. It's pretty cool. I know, and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, it's pretty cool. They like brand the like brand your initials in it and it's pretty cool.
In-Person: she's so good at what she does. The ribbons, she like put the perfect colors together. They decorated some and people just grabbed some of those or you can decorate your own. A feather in your cap. Yeah, so for those that are here.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah. So for those that aren't here or haven't checked it out, go by the Heartland booth. There's a hat bar. You can pick out a hat and then you can pick out accessories and they'll brand
In-Person: Yes.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: your initials into it. It's it's pretty cool. It's pretty impressive. So pretty very fitting for being in Texas, right?
In-Person: It is pretty cool. Thanks. Pretty very fitting for being in Texas. I mean the the Texas vibe here is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I've tried put I'm wearing boots today, I'm trying to to fit in. Yeah. We'll survive.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Your feet are gonna hurt later. Have you worn boots before? I have.
In-Person: I have. They're pretty short. No, no, no, no. my gosh.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or okay, so you didn't buy just for the meeting. Okay.
In-Person: No, I've learned my lesson in the past for the conferences, especially ADHA, we have to go to every, you know, you gotta go and check out every piece
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, sure.
In-Person: of the exhibit hall and as many CEs as you can. So you gotta wear the comfy ones. You don't w wearing brand new ones. You can tell the people that have never been to a conference like this and they're
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah. You can tell the people that have never been to a conference like this when they're walking through the exhibit floor and they're like in high heels, I'm like, Oof, you are gonna regret that later. Yeah. Yeah.
In-Person: I know, it's gonna hurt. Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Well, you know, it's it's exciting and then next year we'll be
In-Person: It's exciting and then next year we'll be
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: in your ga in your backyard again, right? In Arizona.
In-Person: I know, can you believe that? Can you believe that? Okay, so then that was the first time you and I really connected was in Arizona and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yes. Yes.
In-Person: my husband, for those who don't know me, is an expanded functions dental assistant. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: at the time Matt did a podcast with both of us and he
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: w had just gotten into dentistry. So he was just but yeah, he's we now live in Tennessee. you do? Yes, but I'm I'm in Arizona visiting all the time, so I will be there. I will be at the ADHA in Phoenix. Yep. I grew up in Arizona.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: you do. But I'm I'm in Arizona but I will be there. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm I grew up in Arizona, so it's always good to go back and connect with friends and family. So
In-Person: Yeah. Yeah.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: we'll be there. So well thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us and thanks for the ongoing partnership that Heartland has with ADHA. You guys have a fun opportunity to stop by their booth and learn about Heartland and get a cool hat. I'm probably not gonna get one, but you could.
In-Person: Maybe. We'll convince. We'll convince Matt. Thank you so much for having me.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: All right, very excited for our next podversation with another familiar face. We're here with Aaron Haley Hits, who is a key opinion leader with Solventum. So Aaron, welcome to the Hygiene Rising Podversations. So what's new with you?
In-Person: Excited for our next conversation with another familiar face. We're here with Aaron Haley Hitts, who is a key opinion leader with Salventum. So Aaron, welcome to the Hygiene Rising Conversation. Thanks Matt. Thanks for having me back. So what's new with you?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: You are, you know, living your life, your time with the ADHA board of directors is now over. And what are you doing with all your free time?
In-Person: My free time has been spending it with family and I'm in full-time clinical practice, back at it, what I love every day and spending time at the gym. I can finally get back to that routine.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Good, good. So tell me a little bit about your role as a key opinion leader with Solventum and what is kind of new and exciting with them that we're here to talk about today.
In-Person: exciting with them that we're talk about today. Well I work with Saltventum in educating other colleagues of ours, dentists and hygienists alike, on their products and we talk a lot about fluoride. They're f their Clint Pro Clear is one of their products. They have other products that I talk about as well. But that seems to be the biggest the biggest conversation piece is fluoride, as you know. And you know I know that always that's can be a challenge.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. And you know, I know that always that's can be a challenge in how do you get patients to one understand the value of fluoride treatments in the office and how do we as dental hygienists convey the message of importance and the evidence behind that?
In-Person: Those are really good questions. But I think the important part to start with is understanding how we build trust with our patients. It isn't just about having the conversations of how their family is doing and going on vacations and all of those things. We need to spend a big chunk of our time talking about what we're really there to do. And part of that is assessing our patients and providing comprehensive care means that each person is an individual and has certain issues in their lives, either social. social determinants or health conditions or oral health conditions that's going to design their oral health care just for them and that would be comprehensive care. Right? Our standards of care were updated in 2025. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: we need to change how we're having those conversations. And part of those conversations is letting them know what we're doing. We're not just poking at their gum tissue and looking around at things with you know with our eyesight, what are we looking for, what are we assessing? And why are we assessing it? And part of that is our carrier's risk assessment. So part of my role in Solventum is talking about carrier's risk assessments. And we can get into the nitty-gritty of all the forms and all the questions, but it can really be done quickly when you're evaluating a medical history, talking to a patient, tell me what you're struggling with. Are you noticing dry mouth? Are you noticing anything that's changed? And once they start understanding that you're asking those questions to build a I guess you could call it a case, right? You're building a case study and then you go through that with them. Based on what I'm seeing, I would say, Matt, based on what I'm seeing, I would recommend that we do a fluoride treatment today. Right? And I have a visual in my pra in my practice in the room that looks like what I would call like an engine gauge, so that's got a needle, green, yellow, red, and it tells the patient exactly why they might be in the red or the yellow. What are the conditions? And I'm seeing this in your mouth. and it is the right thing to do to recommend fluoride when you're in those situations. It's not upselling, it's not it's not selling at all.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It's it's comprehensive care. And a lot of hygienists get caught up in that notion that I'm selling something. Yeah. And we're not. Yeah, I I I mean
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, I've I've I mean a as a patient in the chair I've heard
In-Person: I pretty
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: it you know, in a way where the provider is saying to me, Well, you know, would you like a would you like a fluoride treatment today? It's not something your insurance covers, but it's something that you could
In-Person: It's not something your insurance covers, but it's something that you
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: benefit from. That's probably not the way to use a you know, use the tools like a carries risk assessment and
In-Person: Use the you know, use the tools like the carries risk assessment and
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: the evidence to actually not just even recommend but actually get patient acceptance. So can you maybe just talk a little bit about h some of the steps that you use, like how do you use the assessment and and what are the things you say to a patient to help them understand that this isn't just something that they're gonna have to pay for potentially,
In-Person: acceptance. So can you maybe just talk a little bit about some of the steps that you use, like how do you use the assessment and and what are the things you say to a patient to help them understand that this isn't just something that they're gonna have to do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: but it's really something that's very valuable.
In-Person: Right. It's really something that's very valuable. It is i it is exactly that. I'll use the example of a child. We don't automatically do a fluoride treatment on a child just because they're a child. Now some people would argue, yes, because a
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Correct. Yeah.
In-Person: child doesn't always have the best oral hygiene care. But that is still one of those we don't automatically do that. We don't automatically say, they had a cavity, so they get fluoride. Right? There are other factors to have in place. And so we need to look at all the disease factors, the risk factors that patient is struggling with. And then we need to consider all their previous treatments. You stack all those things together and what kind of investments have they already made? That's a big one for me, especially with the older population. I have a lot of patients with full mouth crowns, right? Three unit
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: bridges, and they might be in their 70s and 80s, and they want their teeth to chew with. Of life at that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: point. So fluoride might be a good indicator for them based on their health history. So what I say to them is when I put all of your risk factors together, your profile is telling me you would benefit from fluoride.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And then you can go into how fluoride works, especially if they have questions. And some patients do, if they're paying attention to anything that's been going on in the last two years about fluoride, they're gonna ask questions. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: understanding what fluoride is as a hygienist or a dentist is gonna be really important so that you can give unbiased opinion, that's my opinion, that it should be unbiased.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: W what are some of the trickier questions that a patient might ask and, you know, how do you answer those?
In-Person: Well, the trickier questions is when they say it's a chemical.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: yeah.
In-Person: And I usually will say, well, in some forms it could be considered a chemical, but it's actually a natural mineral and it comes through the water table. And where I live, it does not come up through the water table as much as other parts of the country. So when I tell them that, then I said, then we have to add it in. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: as we move farther west in my state of Nebraska, there is fluoride. So then they have to monitor it a little bit differently. And once they understand that it's monitored, they'd want to do the best with for their health. It's a parent, they really do want to do the best for their children. and and I think just giving them the most information you can from a scientific perspective. I don't use scientific terms, I try to use layman terms, things they'll understand. about like how we prevent our cars from rusting, things like this. Then they start understanding what we're talking about. Because if you talk too far above their head, then they're just not gonna do it at all. Right? They might not even go
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah.
In-Person: out and buy Florida toothpaste then.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: And you know, there's a lot of different carries risk assessment tools out there. Are there any
In-Person: And you know there's a lot of different carries risk assessment tools out there. Are there any
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: ones in particular that you lean on or that you you mentioned that you utilize something in your office? Is it something that's standardized or is something you kinda pulled together from different tools?
In-Person: Well, something that's standardized or something you kinda pulled together from We've kind of pulled together several tools, the cambra is where it started from. We pulled in a product that is is not a supplementum, not a product, but a tool from another company. Elevate has a great visual that we
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: have in every operatory and that's the one that patients just gravitate towards it. Now I've been in my practice six years and right away this is a patient I've seen for six years, like where where am I falling? Am I in green now? Am I in red still? Like where
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Mm-hmm.
In-Person: am I at? You know, am I in yellow and And based on what I'm seeing and what you're telling me, you told me X, Y, and Z, I have dry mouth or I have this. I had two cavities in the last six months. You know, I had to do six crowns or whatever the case may be. You you will
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: benefit from a fluoride treatment. And so it's all in it in the pitch, right? So I think the best way to describe it, no matter what we're talking about, the words you use create your culture or your environment. So you have to stay positive. and not make it about me as a provider. And
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: sometimes you just have to learn to be quiet.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Cause I I have even found this with myself. If I really feel strongly this patient should have fluoride, you can't verbally vomit all the information onto them.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It's over you're overselling, overdoing it. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: tell them what you found. I'd recommend a fluoride treatment. This is h this is how we do it. This is how long it takes. And with Solventum's product, it's fifteen minutes of time you need to wait to eat or drink. Yeah. And then you're quiet. Yeah. So as we kinda start to wrap up.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Super quiet. Yeah. So a as we kinda start to wrap up, talk to me a little bit about last year, I think it was last year at this meeting, we had a conversation and talked a little bit about Salventum's new varnish product. Can you just tell me a little bit about why you like that product and maybe for listeners that aren't familiar with it a little bit about it?
In-Person: Sure. I like it for one because it's water-based, so it's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: clear, you can't feel it on your teeth, so you don't get the fuzzy or the gritty feeling that other varnishes will present. With that, it's a faster uptake. So that's why it is a lower percentage, it's 2.5%, because it's a faster uptake and the tooth is going to take it in that much faster. The reason why other varnish products, if we're going to use that word, is because it's a thicker product and it has
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: to be at 5,000 parts per million. get through the rosin to get into the tooth and it takes over an hour for that to happen. And so I have better acceptance with this product over other products because patients can't feel it. It
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: tastes good. The un unflavored it doesn't taste, the unflavored, right.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or doesn't taste. There's one, right? Yeah.
In-Person: And that one has been a game changer in my pedo appointments because I
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: interesting.
In-Person: don't I don't I'm to the point now where I don't even mess around with flavors.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Especially if they're like three, you know, they're little, they don't even know what a watermelon is. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I'm like, we're gonna paint some vitamins on your teeth. And they don't like it because it's watermelon, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Or then they don't like it because of the flavor, right?
In-Person: And so I just you know, here it is, paint it on and we're done and they're just like, that's unflavored. Yeah, that's what that means. Yeah, my the office that my son goes to switch to using that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, my the office that my son goes to switched to using that product and the lack of, you know, fuzziness feeling is something he always hated about the other product that was being used. And they
In-Person: And they
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: he had the watermelon flavor and liked it, but he appreciated that it didn't feel thick or fuzzy or, you know, different way they describe it.
In-Person: Yes, that's the that's the biggest selling selling point. I don't like to use that word, I don't know why I keep saying it, but the biggest benefit in patient acceptance is that right there, because now I have patients that are like, Well, I we did fluoride last time, it helped with my sensitivity, I wanna do it today, but only if it's not the fuzzy stuff.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Absolutely, that's all we're using now. I mean that's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: we have six hygienists in the practice I'm in and that's all we're using. And it
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: It's great.
In-Person: it's it's been a game changer. Almost every patient in my chair says yes. And even the ones that don't have insurance coverage. And and I really want to touch on this just real fast. We can't dictate care based on somebody's insurance coverage. And I and I know that's
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: I know, I know.
In-Person: hard, it's really hard, but we don't want to let them determine the care for our patients.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And that's where we gotta come right back to our risk assessments. And it's the same for, you know, soft tissue evaluations, it's the same for hard tissue evaluations, the periodontal assessments. We have to go back to the data. It's always the data
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that drives our recommendation. And you might have somebody that says no because they simply cannot afford it. Now,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I I do have a little secret to that though, because we come to these meetings, I get a lot of samples.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. I get a lot of sequence. Yep.
In-Person: And yes, it might not be Clin Pro Clear, but it's a fluoride varnish. And if that patient is in a situation that doesn't allow them to come up with the money to pay for that fluoride treatment, then I
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: have the ability to do that fluoride treatment at no charge. That's on that's my choice to use
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, that's great. That's my choice. Yeah.
In-Person: a s use that sample product and I tell them that's what it is, right?
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I happen to be in a meeting and I, you know, one of the reps gave me samples.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: You're still gonna get the benefit. of the fluoride and I don't have to charge you for it. And and my employer's okay with that. He's like, it's your time, you choose to do that. I'm like, well,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that's that's just an idea. It's a great way to support that. And quite frankly, it's probably a great way to get really good feedback from the patient to say this is a new product I'm trying out. What are you
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, that's a great way to support that and quite frankly it's probably a great way to get really good feedback from the patient to say, This is a new product that I'm trying out. What do you think of it, right?
In-Person: Yep, that's one way to do it. Tell me we've we've we've done that. Like what do you like that flavor? No, okay, that's out.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Do you like this? No, that's out. Right? no, that one wasn't bad. We get
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: then they feel like they're like contributing to the practice and the development of the practice.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And one thing I hear from patients a lot is, or really like coming in here because every time I come in, there's something new. There's new technology.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay.
In-Person: You guys are innovating. You're you're I this is why I send all my friends and family here. And that says something to the community. So that's that's one definite value to doing that. But I I s I do also have this happen in our office where the doctor will do a fluoride treatment after they place a crown and won't charge for it. They bunt they just in their mind they're bundling it as part of their care. We seeded a crown
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: it's part of the care.
In-Person: and they tell them, you're you might be sensitive. I don't want you to be sensitive because we put a new crown on, so I'm gonna put a fluoride treatment on. I'm not going to charge you for this. it And and you know, if you want these in the future, let the hygienist know. And that is
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: a huge thing that it's a value and it's that trust thing again that
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: we're talking about. Because all the patients come back in my chair and they'll say, doctor did a fluoride treatment when I had that crowd on.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And he did it and he didn't charge me for it. Can you tell me how much that costs if I would do
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: that today? Right? And then we look at benefits, we talk about the costs. But
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah.
In-Person: again, it always comes back to the carriers risk assessment. And I don't know that all of us are using those across the country and I think it's really important that we start as hygienists.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: It creates value for us as a profession. You and I have been on the advocacy side of it. If you don't have that type of value then we're going to be devalued that much faster. So
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yep. Yep.
In-Person: these products are really built for patients but they're also built for us to succeed as clinicians. So there's lots of sides to it.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah, yeah. Well, I really appreciate you sharing these tips with our listeners today. Any other parting words about using Carrie's risk assessment or, you know, engaging patients and, you know, adopting and accepting the right care that's needed for them?
In-Person: Sure. Well, I think the best way for me to say it is fluoride varnish is one tool in our toolbox. We have lots of tools out there. The real skill is knowing when, why, and how to use our tools and being able to explain that to our patient in the way that builds trust. It's always gotta come back to down to trust and it's the right thing to do.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: Right? If you're not recommending it based on their care their risk assessments. Then I I I wonder what are we talking about in the appointment? Again, we're right back to talking about vacations and there's nothing wrong with talking about that, but
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. There's nothing wrong with talking about that.
In-Person: I talk about that from the door to the chair after that is done and it's all work.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah, it's a value add, right? Of you being a healthcare professional and then getting your time to be able to educate them on the things that are valuable to them. So yeah.
In-Person: Yes. Right. And always remember insurance determines reimbursement. It does not determine clinical need. The
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yep.
In-Person: clinical need comes from the risk assessments.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: And then finding a product that can support you in delivering it is really important. And Clint Pro Clear is by far my favorite. I would not be working with Solventum is if it wasn't,
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: and be very clear about that. I don't work with very many companies, but I do like them. So that's one of my favorites. The taste is un it's undescribable.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah.
In-Person: I come from Nebraska. Nebraska's where Kool-Aid came from. I don't know if anybody
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Okay, I didn't know that.
In-Person: knows a little trivia. And when I get out the watermelon, I'm like, it smells like Kool Aid.
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Ha ha ha.
In-Person: And then kids are like, what's Kool-Aid? So now I'm like dating myself because not everybody's drinking Kool-Aid. But the parents get a kick out of it because they're like, yeah, I remember Kool-Aid. Well Aaron, I appreciate you sharing your insight and knowledge about this important topic of the Yeah, sure. Yeah, I appreciate
Hygiene Rising - Podversations: Yeah. Yeah. Right. That's funny. Interesting. Well, Aaron, I appreciate you sharing your insight and knowledge about this important topic with our listeners and thanks for spending a little bit time with us.
In-Person: it. Just remember, don't start with the product, start with the patient.
