Dental hygiene is a timeless career for a mother. As a 41-year-old mother of two children – Erin, 9, and Matthew, 2 – I decided on a career in dental hygiene due to the flexibility it affords. In addition, I love helping people.

Harper College offers a two-year program that I will be graduating from in spring 2007. I have been funding my own education. Harper's program is full time, plus, but I love the challenge. My favorite courses so far have been Pathology and Oral Management of Special Needs Populations.

My favorite part of the program to date is the opportunity to see my education at work. I had a patient last semester that actually cried with joy when I finished his prophylaxis. It is those kind of moments that make me love this career.

The only thing that I can honestly say I dislike so far is the hours of classroom time. Sometimes we arrive at 7 in the morning and are here until 7 at night. However, these hours are necessary and part of the commitment to the program. Once the program is completed, these hours will not be an issue.

Hands on is incredible for learning. We not only utilize dentex models for practice, but also each other. In addition, we have highly trained instructors and dentists in our clinic to oversee all of our learning while working with our clinic patients. Harper really does an incredible job of teaching students through hands-on experience.

Factors to consider when selecting a dental hygiene school should include the school's credentials (as they pertain to National Boards), the length of time the program has existed and the school's reputation in the dental community. Harper has a fantastic reputation with a very intense curriculum; we learn in two years here what many other schools cover in four years.

Dental hygiene students should expect an intense curriculum, and rightfully so. We work with people, therefore we absolutely must know what we are doing and how to provide the very best health care available. Often, systemic disease manifests itself in the oral cavity first. Dental Hygienists must be able to recognize many signs and symptoms of disease as they present in the oral cavity in order to best serve our patients. Thus, to say this program is easy would be wrong, however I've always thought the most rewarding things in life are those that we must really work at to achieve.

SADHA is a fantastic resource. I am historian in our class, and find it very rewarding to view the progression of myself and my peers. Networking and continuing education is very important with this career choice; SAHDA provides everything one needs to stay on top of things.

Dental hygiene as a career choice has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I am so thrilled to come to school every day and love the fact that I already have job offers on the table. I thought dental hygiene would be a perfect choice for me because I can incorporate my career with my two other loves: Erin and Matthew. I love my children more than anything in the world because they are what I have done the very best job with in my lifetime.

Dental hygiene allows me to help other people and gives me personal satisfaction. In addition, when my children are grown, I can still be active as a hygienist or perhaps teach at a dental hygiene school.

I have a specific goal in mind. I would like to work for Great Lakes Naval Academy north of Chicago, coupled with a private practice that works with special needs patients.

Working with my first patient was thrilling. I was actually very nervous prior to the arrival of my first patient; I wanted to provide the very best care I could, but at that time I was still a first year student. With my patient in the chair and my instructors all around me, my apprehension quickly dissipated and it was a fantastic experience.

I have been marketing myself. I often contact practices that I would like to work at and have submitted a letter to the United States Navy. I am very much a people person, and often stop to talk to people I just meet. As a result of my interaction with people in my lifetime, I have a very large network of people who encourage and support me.

The dental field is growing rapidly. I would say that we as hygienists must stay informed. The population in this country is aging and as a result, systemic disease is presenting itself. We must be able to manage our patients during the later decades of life. In previous years, many patients simply presented with dentures, or partials. Many people today are retaining their dentition and would like to keep it that way. Consequently, we need to be able to address the older patient efficiently.

No, but you do have to be passionate about helping people.

If you have a dream, chase it! The only regret I have about dental hygiene is that I didn't do this 20 years ago.