WEBVTT 00:00:26.619 --> 00:00:30.079 You're listening to Health Lifelines, a podcast 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.039 brought to you by The Lifeguard Approach, your 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.640 trusted source for insights, solutions, and training 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.259 that empower you to become a lifeguard for your 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:42.320 patient's health and well -being. All right. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.719 Good afternoon, everyone. This is not a mistake. 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:49.039 It is me, Rebecca St. James. I am here as the 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.520 guest host of Chris Duvall's podcast, The Health 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.369 Lifeline Podcast. And I am hosting today because 00:00:56.369 --> 00:01:00.829 our guest is the one and only Chris Duvall. Hey 00:01:00.829 --> 00:01:04.290 there. Good morning, or it's good afternoon, 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:07.290 I guess, where you are. That's true. It is. It 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:12.049 is. It is. So thanks for letting me be your guest 00:01:12.049 --> 00:01:15.430 host today. It's truly an honor. And I'm excited 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:20.069 to talk about the last 25 years of growth in 00:01:20.069 --> 00:01:24.219 your hygiene career. because it is unique, it 00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:27.819 is exceptional. And in my opinion, it's really 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:30.840 what we should be striving for. So if you're 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:32.680 ready, let's just jump right in and let's talk 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:35.540 about it. All right. Let's go. Let's do it. Let's 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:38.219 go. All right. So when you look back at the last 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:42.379 25 years, what did being a hygienist mean to 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:47.000 you and what does it mean to you now? Well, when 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.670 I look back at the beginning of those 25 years, 00:01:50.950 --> 00:01:54.090 it was just about doing my job right as a hygienist, 00:01:54.189 --> 00:01:57.709 you know, cleaning teeth and educating patients 00:01:57.709 --> 00:02:05.150 and that changed. Particularly it changed because 00:02:05.150 --> 00:02:09.090 I had quit my job because I was severely burned 00:02:09.090 --> 00:02:12.189 out. but I had to go back to work and I decided 00:02:12.189 --> 00:02:16.050 to position myself with someone that had a very 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:18.849 different view of patient care. And his name 00:02:18.849 --> 00:02:22.110 is Dr. Brian McKay. He was in Seattle where I 00:02:22.110 --> 00:02:27.270 was. And so I decided my goal was I'm gonna position 00:02:27.270 --> 00:02:30.110 myself with him and get a job as his hygienist. 00:02:30.729 --> 00:02:34.430 And so what happened in the first week of working 00:02:34.430 --> 00:02:38.289 there literally changed the course of my life. 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:43.129 And it changed the course of our patients lives 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:48.729 because he took me to lunch and he said, this 00:02:48.729 --> 00:02:51.430 isn't what he said, but this is what I heard. 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:55.270 You know, okay. Right. I heard him say to me, 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:59.000 I want you to paint a much larger canvas of who 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:03.080 you could be for our patients. Okay. And I'll 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:07.860 give you continuing education, the technology 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:11.419 that you need, and a personal coach. Let's see 00:03:11.419 --> 00:03:15.500 what you can do. And that set me off on a course 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:19.599 because I love a challenge. I believe that he 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.719 believed in my potential of what I could do. 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:30.960 Right. So after that time, my position as a hygienist 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.620 meant to me that it all became about saving lives 00:03:36.620 --> 00:03:41.360 and advocating for wellness, teaching patients 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.379 how to save their own lives, how to advocate 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:48.759 for themselves, how to speak up and ask for help. 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:54.000 that process literally changed the trajectory 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.120 of patients' lives through very intentional, 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.139 compassionate care that I was able to provide 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:06.340 for them. And for anyone that hasn't heard it, 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.919 Dr. McKay, you did a podcast episode with him, 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.580 and we'll include that in the meeting notes so 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.779 people can hear that. Yeah, I'd encourage you 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:24.290 to listen to it because um it literally that 00:04:24.290 --> 00:04:28.209 philosophy of care of how he wanted patients 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:32.829 treated is what spurred the growth in me and 00:04:32.829 --> 00:04:35.629 one thing I want you to know is you don't have 00:04:35.629 --> 00:04:38.850 to have a doctor that gives you that challenge 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:43.389 that helps you spur that growth in your own career. 00:04:43.709 --> 00:04:47.250 You can do it yourself and sometime I'd like 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:50.339 to have a Discussion about that about how you 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:54.579 can do that. So yeah, we should do that So, okay. 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.519 So dr. McKay comes through and he lays the groundwork 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.100 Just to kind of spur you on and opens the door 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:02.259 and says this is you know, imagine what it could 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:05.800 be So now you're within that bubble. Was there 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:09.720 a moment or a patient that caused you? You know 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.839 within that world to suddenly shift from Traditional 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:15.420 hygiene as we know it to becoming what you are 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:19.819 now, which is an architect of change Well, there 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:23.360 was one particular moment, but it was when I 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.980 was on hygiene school and I remembered it. And 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:31.079 I had lost sight of the big picture of that moment, 00:05:32.019 --> 00:05:36.839 but I had, well, one of my first patients in 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:39.199 hygiene school was my husband's grandfather. 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:43.100 And I found out what, well, I found what turned 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:46.769 out to be oral cancer on him. And at that moment, 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:49.189 everything changed for me as far as doing an 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:53.149 oral cancer screening. I knew I had the responsibility 00:05:53.149 --> 00:05:57.269 to do more because I knew that every person that 00:05:57.269 --> 00:06:01.110 sat in my chair has someone that loves them as 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:06.430 much as I loved Gary's grandfather. And so I 00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:10.050 just put myself in the position of one of their 00:06:10.050 --> 00:06:13.189 family members saying to me, did you do an oral 00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:18.699 cancer screening? on my loved one. If not, why? 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:23.360 That's so important. Yeah. So that's what spurred 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.699 me on. I made the decision there that I would 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:30.160 always do an oral cancer screening on a patient 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:33.120 that sat in my chair, always. And I can honestly 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.600 say I have done that without fail over my, you 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.139 know, 50 year career. So that made an impact 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:49.680 on me. And I remembered that event and I had 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:55.800 started asking new questions when I started working 00:06:55.800 --> 00:07:03.240 with Dr. McKay and I found that the answers were 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:08.879 not keeping up with traditional hygiene, if you 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.829 know what I mean. Yeah. I was learning more about 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:16.709 oral systemic health and traditional hygiene 00:07:16.709 --> 00:07:22.949 didn't answer those questions. So I decided at 00:07:22.949 --> 00:07:25.990 that time that I was going to become that architect 00:07:25.990 --> 00:07:28.209 of change that was going to change how I took 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:30.949 care of patients. And I was going to be focused 00:07:30.949 --> 00:07:35.709 on saving lives instead of the tradition of, 00:07:36.410 --> 00:07:38.629 oh, you got to get your teeth clean every six 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:43.480 months. That's really what spurred me on to make 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.600 the change. And there's there's two things that 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.939 you hit on in there that I want to make sure 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:52.560 we cover. And one is about the questions you 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.079 ask. So I want to put that over here for now, 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.579 because the other. And it's so subtle, but the 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:00.319 way that you position it, that if you think about 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:02.180 if that's anyone's loved one and they come up 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:05.300 to you and say, did you do that? To me, that 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:08.740 that speaks volumes and shows your compassion 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:11.339 because your whole. viewpoint changed and it 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:14.319 became a lens of compassion and compassion something 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.939 I often hear you talk about you know in the work 00:08:16.939 --> 00:08:19.540 that we do together as being your superpower. 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:23.500 So when did you realize or was it at that moment 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:25.959 that you realized that this whole clinical skill 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:28.360 that you've learned in school just wasn't enough? 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:38.740 Well it was a combination of things number one, 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:45.440 to have the freedom and the commandment from 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.500 Dr. McKay to approach patient health differently. 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:54.059 But more importantly, I think what happened in 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:59.299 my early years, by the time I turned 18, I had 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:03.360 lost two brothers and my father had died. And 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:11.950 that shifted me totally out of the usual attitude 00:09:11.950 --> 00:09:16.730 about life as you're growing up. Unbeknownst 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:20.450 to me, and I realized it after I had started 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:25.129 work with Dr. McKay, I became at that time when 00:09:25.129 --> 00:09:29.029 I was 18 or so, I became a risk management warrior 00:09:29.029 --> 00:09:33.129 for my family. Because two of my brothers died 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:38.230 in childhood accidents that could have been prevented. 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:46.450 But it just grew in me this desire because loss 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:50.470 of someone is so painful that I wanted to be 00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:54.009 that person in the family that became that risk 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:58.549 management warrior. My sister says, oh, we love 00:09:58.549 --> 00:10:00.470 to go places with you because you do all the 00:10:00.470 --> 00:10:04.940 worrying for us. And I want to make people I 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:07.519 want to make it clear to people I'm not a worrier, 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.659 but I will do whatever I can to manage risks. 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:18.559 And so I shifted that after I became much more 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.519 aware and with the way that Dr. McKay talked 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:26.820 to me that I realized that becoming a risk management 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:31.419 warrior was my key to helping patients get healthy. 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:33.919 And that's all he wanted. He wanted patients 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:38.559 to come back from re -care healthy without any 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:43.899 bleeding. And so I became that risk management 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:47.500 warrior for them. And I looked for what their 00:10:47.500 --> 00:10:53.440 risks were and then how I could help them advocate 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:00.600 for themselves to dissolve those risks. And the 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.779 other thing that happened for me as I worked 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:11.639 in that environment is that I also became a values 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:17.460 hunter. A values hunter, what's that? Well, you 00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:20.600 see, I became a values hunter for myself and 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.840 my family because of the loss that I had been 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:30.129 through or we had been through. When I look at 00:11:30.129 --> 00:11:33.730 what we know about people's risks of heart disease 00:11:33.730 --> 00:11:39.049 and diabetes and cancer and whatever, that became 00:11:39.049 --> 00:11:42.629 my clue to how I could help them start advocating 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:47.090 for themselves like I did for my family in that 00:11:47.090 --> 00:11:51.330 I asked them, I wanted to know what they valued. 00:11:52.210 --> 00:11:56.129 So I asked the question as they walked back to 00:11:56.129 --> 00:11:59.700 my operatory, I'd ask them, tell me about something 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:03.480 great in your life. And I did that to find out 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.759 what they valued. Because somebody will tell 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:09.899 me it's something great in their life. To me, 00:12:10.019 --> 00:12:14.059 that means this is something I have to live for. 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:21.100 And so I could superimpose those values over 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:25.519 their risks. And I could say to them, because 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.700 you told me you have your first grandchild being 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:32.100 born and that you can hardly wait to watch this 00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:36.320 grandchild grow up. I want to help assure that 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:39.960 you're here and healthy and have a long health 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:46.039 span to watch that child grow. So when you present 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.480 a risk factor or a recommendation of treatment 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:54.429 to someone in that manner, It changes the whole 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:59.549 picture in my opinion. Right. So I was able to 00:12:59.549 --> 00:13:03.830 really by asking that question, tell me about 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:06.690 something great in your life. And then before 00:13:06.690 --> 00:13:12.389 that asking them, tell me what you want for yourself. 00:13:13.350 --> 00:13:16.730 Cause all patients want one of two things. They 00:13:16.730 --> 00:13:18.970 either want to move toward the benefit of health. 00:13:19.629 --> 00:13:22.750 or they wanna move away from the consequences 00:13:22.750 --> 00:13:26.629 of disease. And how we treat them clinically 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:31.990 is exactly the same, but our message to them 00:13:31.990 --> 00:13:35.570 and how we talk to them is totally different. 00:13:36.049 --> 00:13:38.789 Right, right. Well, let's talk about that for 00:13:38.789 --> 00:13:43.750 a second because you've even had to coach me 00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:47.090 with some of the things we've worked on to the 00:13:47.090 --> 00:13:50.769 way I phrase questions. And not only do you ask 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:54.629 value questions, but you don't ask the same traditional 00:13:54.629 --> 00:13:59.090 hygiene questions either. No. Yeah, you often 00:13:59.090 --> 00:14:01.909 don't do yes, no, you do these open -ended ones. 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:05.929 And so what's another example of an old question 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:07.690 that, you know, all hygienists ask, you're going 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:10.710 through your checklist versus the way you position 00:14:10.710 --> 00:14:17.149 it now. Okay, let me reframe that. what you asked 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:23.370 me to talk about with my belief is that one of 00:14:23.370 --> 00:14:28.250 the main reasons I gave up on traditional hygiene 00:14:28.250 --> 00:14:32.970 was that when I started asking new and better 00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:38.169 questions, what I found out was that traditional 00:14:38.169 --> 00:14:43.950 hygiene wasn't keeping up. Okay, so you're talking 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.120 more like a Are you just getting into that comparison 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:51.019 of a hygienist that delivers versus a hygienist 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:56.100 that leads? But essentially, I'll give you an 00:14:56.100 --> 00:15:00.940 example. Hygienists always say, how often do 00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:07.039 you brush and floss? What other things are you 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:11.279 using to keep your mouth clean? I don't care. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.639 about compliance questions and that's what those 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:19.700 kind of questions are. What I want to know and 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.539 the questions that I have started asking in the 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:26.820 past years is tell me about when your gums bleed 00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:31.259 because that takes you and your patient from 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:36.480 talking about compliance to a question that starts 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:40.200 a conversation about systemic health. Do you 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.190 see the difference? I do actually. Yeah, it's 00:15:44.190 --> 00:15:48.389 a huge difference. Because how do you go from 00:15:48.389 --> 00:15:52.230 talking about how often do you brush and floss 00:15:52.230 --> 00:15:58.769 to the fact that you're recommending some periodontal 00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:02.850 therapy or some other type of therapy to manage 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:08.169 that patient's risk. It just makes this a much 00:16:08.169 --> 00:16:13.620 easier and more acceptable conversation to approach 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:18.059 the patient from, we're gonna wanna manage your 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:22.659 risks and let's figure out what you value enough 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:26.279 to make some changes and to make some investment 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:28.840 in yourself. Right, because if they don't value 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.279 it, they're not gonna put forth the effort. Right, 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:35.460 but when the patients have those oral systemic 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:40.429 conversations about what links what's going on 00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:43.509 in their mouth and how often and when their gums 00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:48.789 bleed to their heart health and diabetes risk 00:16:48.789 --> 00:16:52.649 and heart attack and stroke risk, that creates 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:57.529 new conversations. And to me, that is what I 00:16:57.529 --> 00:17:00.690 mean by traditional hygiene wasn't keeping up 00:17:00.690 --> 00:17:05.039 with the answers that I was getting. Got it. 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:07.599 So let's take a step back just for a moment. 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:11.720 When exactly did your understanding of this oral 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:21.380 systemic connection evolve? Probably really started 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:24.799 getting an understanding. See, when I went to 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:30.400 work for Dr. McKay, it was 2000. And so by 2003, 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:36.920 2004, there were things developing in the science 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:43.180 world that was changing how we needed to approach 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:46.220 our patients' care. And let me tell you one other 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:50.680 thing. What happened to me when I quit my job 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:54.440 because I was burned out? I actually know now 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:59.019 today that was moral injury. Oh. Not burnout. 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:02.079 There is a huge difference between moral injury 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.440 and burnout. Burnout is something that, you know, 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:08.660 you can go away to Bali and take a month's worth 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:12.480 of yoga classes and come back and feel refreshed. 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:17.259 Right. Moral injury wounds the sufferer much 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:23.380 deeper than that because it involves the understanding 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:26.720 of a person that how they're taking care of patients 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:31.579 is not how they would prefer to do it. But due 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:35.940 to practice constraints, insurance constraints, 00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:42.240 attitudes of patients, your own limiting beliefs, 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:46.640 that's what moral injury is because that keeps 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.140 you from taking care of the patients. and really 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:52.740 changing the trajectory in the course of patients 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:57.420 lives and the course of your career. That's what 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:00.200 gets in the way of that. Do you think that's, 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:02.480 that's at the base of, and this is opinion, I 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.539 get that. Do you think that's what's the underlying 00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:09.200 issue right now with the high numbers and hygienist 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:14.099 burnout as it's being called? Absolutely. I would 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:21.799 bet money on it. Yeah. Yeah, because you see, 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:27.480 when you change your outlook and your beliefs, 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.240 I mean, I developed the belief that I could help 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:34.660 everyone in some way or another. And I didn't 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:37.259 care how they showed up and how they decided 00:19:37.259 --> 00:19:42.319 to approach me and what I was going to do with 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:47.690 them. There was a way around them to get to their 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:50.589 deep core beliefs of what they wanted for themselves. 00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:54.609 And that was the first thing that I shifted was 00:19:54.609 --> 00:19:59.329 Dr. McKay helped me understand that at that practice 00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:06.490 there, we practice wants dentistry. And it is 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.829 about, we asked the patients, tell me about what 00:20:09.829 --> 00:20:13.089 you want for yourself. If I had to go in and 00:20:13.089 --> 00:20:15.960 work with a patient, and I didn't know what that 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:18.680 patient wanted for themselves, you might as well 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:20.940 put a three inch piece of duct tape over my mouth 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:23.920 because I wouldn't know how to talk. I wouldn't 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.759 know how to have a conversation with them because 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:30.319 I refuse to make assumptions about what people 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.880 want for themselves. I despise that when somebody 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.619 does that to me, when they assume what they think 00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:42.559 I want for my health and wellness. Just ask me 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.660 and I'll tell you. And I think, you know, we've 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:49.819 talked about this on other podcasts, that I think 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.559 that's a huge shift that we are seeing in American 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:57.779 health care, at least in the US, that it's suddenly 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:01.859 the patients are starting to rally and advocate 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:05.400 for themselves. And, you know, I even do it in 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:07.359 my own health. Yes, I realize you went to medical 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:09.440 school, you're the expert. However, this is my 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:13.559 body. So let's do this together. And I've noticed 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:17.099 the huge, huge growth in my own health just by 00:21:17.099 --> 00:21:19.680 doing that, by having those conversations. And 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.059 I know that some hygienists we've spoken to get 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:24.839 nervous about that because they think, oh, wow, 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:27.400 now it's going to impact the time that I have 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.819 with this patient. But that's not really the 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:34.640 case, is it? No, you see, behind all of this 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.089 was my belief that Every person that sat in my 00:21:39.089 --> 00:21:42.430 chair is in what I call the danger zone. Okay. 00:21:43.130 --> 00:21:49.069 So the first times I see them, I would have some 00:21:49.069 --> 00:21:53.130 challenges and work to do to get them shifted 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:56.569 from the danger zone into the safety zone, because 00:21:56.569 --> 00:22:01.750 that's where I believe that they wanted to live 00:22:01.750 --> 00:22:03.910 from what they told me, no matter whether they 00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:06.430 were moving towards health or away from disease. 00:22:08.069 --> 00:22:13.970 And so I did and talked to patients in a way 00:22:13.970 --> 00:22:20.730 that if we leave this bleeding go and not address 00:22:20.730 --> 00:22:23.710 it, here are the consequences that can happen. 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:28.210 And we'd talk about, sometimes we would talk 00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:30.710 about their parents' health. Tell me about... 00:22:31.069 --> 00:22:34.369 Are your mother and father alive? No, they died 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:37.170 early. What happened to them? Well, my dad had 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:43.089 a heart attack at 55. So a lot of this stuff, 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.430 what goes on in families can continue to go on 00:22:46.430 --> 00:22:50.930 for generations. So we just started talking about 00:22:50.930 --> 00:22:53.369 what they wanted and here's how we could shift 00:22:53.369 --> 00:22:56.730 you out of that danger zone. Here's what I recommend 00:22:56.730 --> 00:23:01.579 that we do. And here's how we can get you living 00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:05.039 into the safety zone as soon as possible. And 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:08.720 have you come back for re -care still in that 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:13.759 safety zone? Right, which is huge. Yes. For the 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:19.319 patient and the practice, both. Oh, yes. And 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:25.519 for me, particularly, I had never been in those 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:31.609 last 25 years so inspired. about hygiene that 00:23:31.609 --> 00:23:34.349 I was in those last 25 years. And I still am. 00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:37.849 And that's why I'm still out here continuing 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:43.829 to talk about it because it made such a difference 00:23:43.829 --> 00:23:48.910 in me and more importantly in the patient. When 00:23:48.910 --> 00:23:53.069 you can teach a patient how to stand up and start 00:23:53.069 --> 00:23:57.960 asking questions. I mean, patients... Don't think 00:23:57.960 --> 00:23:59.839 that they're in a place when they come in and 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:03.019 get their teeth cleaned to ask questions Exactly, 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:04.619 right. We all know the drill. We're gonna come 00:24:04.619 --> 00:24:06.779 in We're gonna say sure I floss when we always 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:08.799 give them like half of the truth about all of 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.200 that Do a little polish the dentist is gonna 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.000 spend maybe five minutes with you and you're 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.920 out. We all know the drill We're trained. Yes, 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:21.039 and what I focused on was letting my patients 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:25.950 know every single one of them that I would be 00:24:25.950 --> 00:24:31.130 excited to partner with them because I wanted 00:24:31.130 --> 00:24:34.650 them to learn how to ask those important questions 00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:38.269 and be thinking about that when they're on their 00:24:38.269 --> 00:24:41.609 way back in for a hygiene appointment. Then I 00:24:41.609 --> 00:24:44.210 know she's going to ask me if I brushed or flossed 00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:47.109 and exactly flossing, but I did last night. So 00:24:47.109 --> 00:24:49.769 does that does that count? Right. We all do the 00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:53.410 last minute floss. And so when you're creating 00:24:53.410 --> 00:25:00.089 these self advocates, I would think that also 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:02.430 really is a game changer on their end because 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:05.410 now it's not suddenly, ugh, I'm going in to get 00:25:05.410 --> 00:25:10.029 scraped. This is a pain. I'm going to go talk 00:25:10.029 --> 00:25:13.289 to Chris and my dentist and take another step 00:25:13.289 --> 00:25:15.509 further in my health journey, or I'm going to 00:25:15.509 --> 00:25:18.190 go tell them. how much better I feel because 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:21.250 we've done XYZ. I think it would change the dynamic 00:25:21.250 --> 00:25:26.529 totally. Oh, it does. It does. And it's so rewarding 00:25:26.529 --> 00:25:34.670 on both sides of that. I mean, really, I think 00:25:34.670 --> 00:25:39.930 the purpose of a hygienist nowadays should be 00:25:39.930 --> 00:25:45.089 to help patients learn how to self -advocate. 00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:50.089 I think that's huge. I think I'd go a step further. 00:25:50.109 --> 00:25:52.750 I would just say for everyone, in medical school, 00:25:52.890 --> 00:25:54.910 out of medical school, if you're any medical 00:25:54.910 --> 00:25:58.529 provider of any kind, self -advocate, partner 00:25:58.529 --> 00:26:02.750 with the patients. Yeah. And I wrote a thing, 00:26:05.089 --> 00:26:12.269 a blog with Amy Donin. the heart attack and stroke 00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:14.650 prevention clinic or the bail don't need method. 00:26:15.029 --> 00:26:17.609 And I talked about, I think there's four steps 00:26:17.609 --> 00:26:22.529 in there of how to get your dental hygienist 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:26.730 and your dentist to partner with you. I put that 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:34.049 on the responsibility of the patient to ask their 00:26:34.049 --> 00:26:36.930 hygienist to partner with them to help them get 00:26:36.930 --> 00:27:01.119 what they want for themselves. You're listening 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.740 to Health Lifelines, a podcast brought to you 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:07.000 by The Lifeguard Approach, your trusted source 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.220 for insights, solutions, and training that empower 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:13.500 you to become a lifeguard for your patients' 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.880 health and wellbeing. This episode is just a 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:20.420 taste of the strategies and stories we will share 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:23.519 to help you and your patients live longer, healthier 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:27.230 lives. If you're enjoying the content, make sure 00:27:27.230 --> 00:27:30.809 to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. 00:27:32.150 --> 00:27:35.589 As a reminder, this podcast and the opinions 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:40.650 expressed here are not a medical diagnosis. And 00:27:40.650 --> 00:27:43.329 don't forget to explore our additional resources, 00:27:43.650 --> 00:27:47.980 tools, exclusive content. courses and coaching 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:50.819 solutions from the Lifeguard Approach by visiting 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:55.160 our website at thelifeguardapproach .com. And 00:27:55.160 --> 00:28:24.269 now let's jump back into today's episode. I do 00:28:24.269 --> 00:28:26.769 agree it is our job to ask, but what's nice, 00:28:26.970 --> 00:28:29.509 what I, what at least I'm experiencing and I 00:28:29.509 --> 00:28:33.990 think others are, is now suddenly when we ask 00:28:33.990 --> 00:28:36.809 these questions, you're not getting this, I know 00:28:36.809 --> 00:28:38.970 everything, you just do what I say. You're suddenly 00:28:38.970 --> 00:28:42.049 getting these responses from providers. I don't 00:28:42.049 --> 00:28:44.289 know, I'll look it up, or ooh, I read this article, 00:28:44.410 --> 00:28:46.950 or oh, let's try this on you, or tell me more 00:28:46.950 --> 00:28:49.250 what you want, kind of like you were saying with 00:28:49.250 --> 00:28:52.089 your questions. And it's interesting to be a 00:28:52.089 --> 00:28:54.210 patient in this era and watch this shift happen. 00:28:54.509 --> 00:28:56.789 So I would love to see it in dentistry as well. 00:28:57.289 --> 00:29:02.650 It needs it. It all comes down to compassion, 00:29:03.390 --> 00:29:08.569 in my view. A lot of people are talking today 00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:11.849 about, well, I'm empathetic, I'm an empath, and 00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:16.710 that is awesome. But I think what we need more 00:29:16.710 --> 00:29:21.779 in this world is more compassion. on a moment 00:29:21.779 --> 00:29:27.640 by moment basis with our patients and compassion 00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:32.140 for ourselves. We have compassion for ourselves 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:37.079 and I think that's part of the problem with staffing 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:42.819 in dentistry today. But I can't begin to tell 00:29:42.819 --> 00:29:47.940 you how impactful asking new and better questions. 00:29:50.019 --> 00:29:54.539 is to your patient, yeah. Such a simple shift. 00:29:55.099 --> 00:29:59.859 And I love, tell me about questions, not yet, 00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:02.380 you know, everybody talks about don't ask open 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:06.660 -ended questions, which I totally agree with, 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:10.619 but I love the tell me about questions because 00:30:10.619 --> 00:30:15.000 that gets the patient talking. about what the 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.160 reality is in their life and then how you can 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.019 help them shift that. Yeah. And I like that too. 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:24.440 And I believe you've got a blog that's got three 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:26.519 questions in it. We'll put that in the show notes 00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:29.059 too, because that'll just give everybody a little 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:33.220 more insight into how to do this. So as you're 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:37.539 going through this process, how do you help patients 00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:40.920 understand that these early screenings and preventions 00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:44.019 aren't optional, that these should be you know, 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:47.720 life saving additions to every one of their dental 00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:54.579 visits. Well, once you understand the science, 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:59.839 you know, about the same time I was coming into 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:05.759 view of the danger zone, the safety zone and 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:10.339 really helping patients create health and wellness. 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:14.809 Let me back up a minute. Before that time, I 00:31:14.809 --> 00:31:17.390 had lost what I call my impact and influence 00:31:17.390 --> 00:31:21.390 with patients. Because what I was telling them 00:31:21.390 --> 00:31:25.569 to do was not creating the kind of change that 00:31:25.569 --> 00:31:29.529 I wanted to see. And that's primarily why I gave 00:31:29.529 --> 00:31:36.289 up on tradition. But at this time, we were coming 00:31:36.289 --> 00:31:44.970 into knowledge about how pathogens impacted inflammation 00:31:44.970 --> 00:31:49.069 and infection, both orally and systemically. 00:31:49.609 --> 00:31:53.089 We were coming into knowledge about airway issues 00:31:53.089 --> 00:31:56.289 and sleep disordered and sleep disordered breathing. 00:31:57.210 --> 00:32:03.089 And all of this was driving the information that 00:32:03.089 --> 00:32:07.269 was being made available to us to utilize for 00:32:07.269 --> 00:32:13.089 change. And it was the stuff that kept me stuck 00:32:13.089 --> 00:32:17.109 in tradition was I wasn't applying the new science 00:32:17.109 --> 00:32:23.329 to patients. That's what I mean by traditional 00:32:23.329 --> 00:32:28.710 hygiene wasn't keeping up. It didn't come out 00:32:28.710 --> 00:32:32.210 equal to when I was seeing these systemic effects 00:32:32.210 --> 00:32:35.230 that the questions that I was asking and the 00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:38.329 information I was helping patients understand 00:32:38.329 --> 00:32:41.869 didn't jive with tradition. So something had 00:32:41.869 --> 00:32:44.650 to change. And that change had to begin with 00:32:44.650 --> 00:32:48.269 me, not with the patient, not with the doctor, 00:32:48.970 --> 00:32:52.690 not with the insurance companies, because I was 00:32:52.690 --> 00:32:56.230 going to help patients lengthen their health 00:32:56.230 --> 00:33:00.539 span to help them enjoy the things in life that 00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:03.779 they valued, no matter what the insurance said 00:33:03.779 --> 00:33:07.019 to me, whether I could or couldn't do that. I 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:10.220 don't care what insurance says because I know 00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:15.200 how to relate to a patient in a way that will 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:19.119 help them stand up and say, I value that. So 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:22.599 I'm gonna do it whether or not my insurance helps 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:26.640 me or not. And I think, and again, I have a little 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:30.460 insider info on this, which is why I'm posing 00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:34.299 the question this way. In my opinion, I think 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:37.019 that's why we're seeing such a huge shift in 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:42.640 dentistry to being private pay, non -insurance 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:47.420 pay practices, because then the dentist and the 00:33:47.420 --> 00:33:51.789 team now have complete control over this is the 00:33:51.789 --> 00:33:53.369 care this patient needs even though insurance 00:33:53.369 --> 00:33:56.009 says I have to do these 15 steps first. No, let's 00:33:56.009 --> 00:34:00.230 just do this. I know this is what we need. Yes 00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:03.690 and so with that information in the early 2000s 00:34:03.690 --> 00:34:10.409 what I did was I became hyper focused on helping 00:34:10.409 --> 00:34:14.030 patients create a healthy biofilm or what we 00:34:14.030 --> 00:34:18.449 used to call plaque because the science that 00:34:18.449 --> 00:34:25.440 was coming out was to me overwhelming in its 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.900 understanding of why I had lost my impact and 00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:33.340 influence with patients. Because scaling and 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:39.159 root planning is not going to put somebody with 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:42.139 periodontal disease into remission. It may help 00:34:42.139 --> 00:34:46.260 a bit for short term, but long term until you 00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:50.650 deal with the pathogens. the infection and the 00:34:50.650 --> 00:34:54.750 inflammation. And until I was able to figure 00:34:54.750 --> 00:35:00.809 out what was living in people's biofilm, my hands 00:35:00.809 --> 00:35:04.730 were tied. Right. I would continue to lose that 00:35:04.730 --> 00:35:08.309 impact and influence. So I can remember, I think 00:35:08.309 --> 00:35:12.570 it was in 2005 or 2006, I was at the Chicago 00:35:12.570 --> 00:35:15.869 midwinter meeting when Dr. Tom Nabors introduced 00:35:15.869 --> 00:35:21.519 oral DNA. Oh, wow. find out what those pathogens 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:27.099 are in people's biofilm that are creating help 00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:30.719 to create this infection and inflammation and 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:35.599 that went systemically. You know those pathogens 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:38.719 can create inflammation in the airway and in 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:43.599 the tonsils and down into the stomach you know 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:49.789 that your gut microbiome is so important. So 00:35:49.789 --> 00:35:54.949 and then I started using some technology that 00:35:54.949 --> 00:35:58.730 had just come out about that same time by Dr. 00:35:58.829 --> 00:36:05.929 Kim Cooch and he developed a system to help balance 00:36:05.929 --> 00:36:09.329 the biofilm. Now we're not talking about saliva, 00:36:09.329 --> 00:36:13.030 we're talking about biofilm. Right. This is the 00:36:13.030 --> 00:36:16.920 carry -free. Carry -free system. could help balance 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:23.199 the biofilm. And so I was all over that to bring 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:27.420 that into the practice and into our routine care. 00:36:27.619 --> 00:36:31.019 See, one of the differences between the way we 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:34.579 approached patient care and a lot of offices 00:36:34.579 --> 00:36:38.679 do, when we found a technology that I believed 00:36:38.679 --> 00:36:42.260 in, it became part of the protocol. There was 00:36:42.260 --> 00:36:47.079 no such thing as offering uh periotherapy say 00:36:47.079 --> 00:36:51.380 to somebody a la carte um like well if you want 00:36:51.380 --> 00:36:55.420 me to i can do an oral dna testing to see what 00:36:55.420 --> 00:36:59.440 pathogens are do are causing your problem nope 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:04.440 uh it was it wasn't a choice it was just yeah 00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:09.539 and the problem is when you ask a hygienist particularly 00:37:09.539 --> 00:37:13.559 to explain the benefit of something that you 00:37:13.559 --> 00:37:17.199 believe in, chair side, it'll all come down with 00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:20.460 the patient asking one question. How much? How 00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:26.500 much does it cost? And you see then you are getting 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:32.260 engaged in a conversation that's about cost and 00:37:32.260 --> 00:37:36.079 not outcomes. Right. And technically it's still 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.079 cost either way. I'd rephrase it. We're talking 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:42.139 about financial cost versus health cost. True 00:37:42.139 --> 00:37:44.219 a very different perspective and if you're sitting 00:37:44.219 --> 00:37:46.780 here Telling probably cuz I'm on the other side 00:37:46.780 --> 00:37:49.579 of this now, but sitting here saying something 00:37:49.579 --> 00:37:53.780 that's now part of my Regular visit is going 00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:56.219 to yeah, maybe cost a little bit more, but it's 00:37:56.219 --> 00:37:58.980 going to gain me because I'm going to be healthier 00:37:58.980 --> 00:38:04.579 Right. I lean that way now. So what I did with 00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:11.260 dr. McKay is we raised the price of our therapy, 00:38:11.579 --> 00:38:13.579 say if we're talking about periodontal therapy, 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:19.760 to include those things that we believed in so 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:23.559 that I didn't have to have those kinds of conversations 00:38:23.559 --> 00:38:28.559 with the patient chair side. So when our treatment 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:31.300 care coordinator presented periodontal therapy 00:38:31.300 --> 00:38:35.179 to a patient, they were shown what all was included 00:38:35.179 --> 00:38:38.090 in it. but it wasn't a choice. Well, I'll take 00:38:38.090 --> 00:38:40.929 this, but not that. There was no other choices. 00:38:41.389 --> 00:38:45.789 And I think that is so important. When you believe 00:38:45.789 --> 00:38:50.769 in something, you have those cost versus outcome 00:38:50.769 --> 00:38:55.070 conversations with patients. Right. Make it the 00:38:55.070 --> 00:38:57.789 baseline of your care. Because it's the right 00:38:57.789 --> 00:39:01.869 thing to do. It is. It is. And this is one of 00:39:01.869 --> 00:39:04.380 those things that I mean, I get kind of geeked 00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:07.079 out about this stuff at this point, but because 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:10.519 of people like you and you know, Dr. Claire stags, 00:39:11.940 --> 00:39:16.119 I really put so much more value and have so much 00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:19.340 more respect for the entire dental world, which 00:39:19.340 --> 00:39:22.320 I didn't know growing up because everything that's 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:26.139 happening in my body starts right here. Everything 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:30.300 from the food that I eat, how I breathe. It's 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:32.840 impacting my nervous system, my immune system. 00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:37.019 It's mind blowing what we know now. And that's 00:39:37.019 --> 00:39:40.519 to me why what you're doing is so critical. And, 00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:43.179 you know, kind of on that as we go through this, 00:39:43.579 --> 00:39:46.760 you've mentored and influenced, you know, an 00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:48.840 entire generation of hygienists at this point. 00:39:49.820 --> 00:39:51.880 So knowing all these amazing things that we know 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:54.579 now that are coming out about oral health and 00:39:54.579 --> 00:39:56.460 how it impacts the body and these changes in 00:39:56.460 --> 00:40:00.239 dentistry. What do you want to see as this next 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:11.800 wave of clinicians do differently? Well, help 00:40:11.800 --> 00:40:22.579 them look at their care differently and really 00:40:22.579 --> 00:40:28.349 realize that every time there was a Is a patient 00:40:28.349 --> 00:40:31.789 sitting in your chair? Imagine this is someone 00:40:31.789 --> 00:40:35.369 that you love dearly and how would you like them 00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:42.289 taken care of? Yeah. And be that care that you 00:40:42.289 --> 00:40:47.329 want for your loved ones and share that, be compassionate 00:40:47.329 --> 00:40:53.030 enough to share that love because you know there 00:40:53.030 --> 00:40:57.150 are many people that love that patient in your 00:40:57.150 --> 00:41:01.230 chair, and they want the best for their loved 00:41:01.230 --> 00:41:05.730 one. I like that. And one of the things I often 00:41:05.730 --> 00:41:09.130 hear you say is to follow the science. Exactly. 00:41:10.969 --> 00:41:14.610 The science will take you there of what you need 00:41:14.610 --> 00:41:18.280 to be doing differently. and reach out, get a 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:21.519 mentor, find somebody that's already doing this 00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:24.239 type of care. I'm not the only one. I may have 00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:30.900 a little different spin on how I manage to take 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:34.920 great care of people. You know, most people talk 00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:37.500 about when they look and they evaluate a hygiene 00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:39.780 department and their level of care or their level 00:41:39.780 --> 00:41:42.679 of health and wellness in the practice, they 00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:48.599 look at their perio percentage numbers. And most 00:41:48.599 --> 00:41:54.159 hygiene departments have a hygiene perio ratio 00:41:54.159 --> 00:42:01.519 of maybe 10 to 14%. And in my practice, my perio 00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:04.820 percentage ratio, which is the percentage of 00:42:04.820 --> 00:42:11.539 perinatal involved codes in relationship to a 00:42:11.539 --> 00:42:16.110 PROFI, which is a preventative procedure, my 00:42:16.110 --> 00:42:21.530 perio percentage number averaged monthly between 00:42:21.530 --> 00:42:27.889 78 and 82%. And I don't know of too many more 00:42:27.889 --> 00:42:33.690 hygienists that have that kind of ratio. And 00:42:33.690 --> 00:42:37.329 I'm bragging about it, but it's okay to talk 00:42:37.329 --> 00:42:40.769 about it when you're doing it. And you can show 00:42:40.769 --> 00:42:45.340 how in the background of that percentage, how 00:42:45.340 --> 00:42:48.579 other people can get there too. So that's important 00:42:48.579 --> 00:42:51.980 to me because it literally changed the course 00:42:51.980 --> 00:42:55.320 of my life and the course of our patients lives 00:42:55.320 --> 00:43:01.000 when you can have these kinds of conversations 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:06.940 and make this kind of change in patients. So 00:43:06.940 --> 00:43:10.960 as we start to wrap up, I'm going to turn the 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:12.860 table back on you a little bit and make you talk 00:43:12.860 --> 00:43:15.510 about yourself, which As I know you, I know that's 00:43:15.510 --> 00:43:17.130 not something you like to do, but we're going 00:43:17.130 --> 00:43:20.809 to do it because I really want to talk about 00:43:20.809 --> 00:43:25.190 your legacy that you're leaving, specifically 00:43:25.190 --> 00:43:27.829 what you've done in this last 25 years. And you 00:43:27.829 --> 00:43:29.690 still keep going every day. There's something 00:43:29.690 --> 00:43:33.250 driving you. So let's just start with what do 00:43:33.250 --> 00:43:37.150 you hope people say about your impact 25 years 00:43:37.150 --> 00:43:47.260 from now? Well, I hope they. think that I help 00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:54.340 them make life -saving screenings non -negotiable. 00:43:54.539 --> 00:43:58.079 To me, that is the purpose of a hygiene visit, 00:43:58.739 --> 00:44:03.619 is to be able to identify those risk factors 00:44:03.619 --> 00:44:08.440 and then manage those risk factors so they aren't 00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:14.139 in play in whether or not a patient lives a long 00:44:14.139 --> 00:44:19.000 and healthy life. And I would love to be known 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:24.239 for bringing compassion back into care. You know, 00:44:24.380 --> 00:44:28.219 there's the Dalai Lama had made a comment about 00:44:28.219 --> 00:44:31.119 compassion and he said, whether you're young 00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:34.820 or old, rich or poor, there are times in your 00:44:34.820 --> 00:44:39.079 life when you need help from others. And he says, 00:44:39.159 --> 00:44:43.960 when you can give that kind of help to others 00:44:43.960 --> 00:44:50.679 in a compassionate way, in a loving way, in a 00:44:50.679 --> 00:44:56.039 way that benefits whoever it is that needs that 00:44:56.039 --> 00:45:03.219 help. That's compassion. And there is a benefactor 00:45:03.219 --> 00:45:09.820 from North Dakota that heard that That quote 00:45:09.820 --> 00:45:14.719 by the Dalai Lama and he donated 100 million 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:18.960 dollars to UC San Diego and it couldn't be used 00:45:18.960 --> 00:45:25.099 for cancer research HIV Alzheimer's Only thing 00:45:25.099 --> 00:45:28.800 it can be used for is to develop an Institute 00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:34.019 of Compassion This is what we are all what I'm 00:45:34.019 --> 00:45:38.239 talking about here is how to develop a compassionate 00:45:38.239 --> 00:45:42.860 way to take care of others. And I hope that could 00:45:42.860 --> 00:45:50.619 be my legacy, is that more people will get involved 00:45:50.619 --> 00:45:54.780 in taking great care of people, helping, truly 00:45:54.780 --> 00:46:00.980 helping. You see, there's only one word difference 00:46:00.980 --> 00:46:05.039 between empathy and compassion. And that is? 00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:10.400 Action. So you can have all kinds of empathy 00:46:10.400 --> 00:46:13.739 for people, but unless you take some action, 00:46:14.380 --> 00:46:18.679 that turns empathy into compassion. And that's 00:46:18.679 --> 00:46:23.739 what I want to be known for is that I took being 00:46:23.739 --> 00:46:29.159 empathetic for others and I took action and turned 00:46:29.159 --> 00:46:34.659 it into compassion about saving lives. Love that. 00:46:34.780 --> 00:46:38.130 And that really does sum up what you do. So for 00:46:38.130 --> 00:46:41.329 those that don't know, technically, I think you 00:46:41.329 --> 00:46:44.010 are retired, but I work with you every day. So 00:46:44.010 --> 00:46:46.929 I know you're not retired. You're still out evangelizing 00:46:46.929 --> 00:46:49.530 and trying to build architects of change and 00:46:49.530 --> 00:46:52.190 help hygienists and dental professionals. What 00:46:52.190 --> 00:46:54.949 is it that drives you every day to still do this? 00:46:56.230 --> 00:47:01.190 Well, I'm a woman of faith and I believe in where 00:47:01.190 --> 00:47:05.599 my gifts have come from. and I have a responsibility 00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:12.719 to share those gifts and to not leave this earth 00:47:12.719 --> 00:47:18.280 with even one arrow less in my quiver of gifts. 00:47:19.059 --> 00:47:24.440 So I'm out there trying to multiply the gifts 00:47:24.440 --> 00:47:29.179 that God has given me and help others do the 00:47:29.179 --> 00:47:33.059 same. There's a great book out It's called The 00:47:33.059 --> 00:47:41.260 Last Arrow by Irwin McManus. And he talks about 00:47:41.260 --> 00:47:46.139 not leaving this earth until you share your gifts, 00:47:46.619 --> 00:47:50.260 share all of them. And I'll make sure that's 00:47:50.260 --> 00:47:53.079 the show notes too. And having read that, because 00:47:53.079 --> 00:47:55.519 Chris referred me to it, I highly recommend it. 00:47:55.800 --> 00:47:59.900 It's a great book. So last question I have for 00:47:59.900 --> 00:48:03.179 you. If you had to describe your journey in one 00:48:03.179 --> 00:48:19.000 word, what would it be? Oh boy. Transformational. 00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:27.460 Why? Well, it just created such change in me. 00:48:28.260 --> 00:48:33.340 with Dr. McKay giving me that challenge and having 00:48:33.340 --> 00:48:39.139 a belief in my potential. He said to me, 25 years 00:48:39.139 --> 00:48:45.559 ago, all I want you to do is grow. And that took 00:48:45.559 --> 00:48:50.920 a lot of the pressure and whatever off of me. 00:48:50.980 --> 00:48:56.059 And I knew that he would walk along beside me 00:48:56.119 --> 00:49:00.659 and help me whenever I needed it. But this was 00:49:00.659 --> 00:49:06.559 my, this was my whatever to bear. I had to figure 00:49:06.559 --> 00:49:10.739 this out. And I think that when you do that, 00:49:10.980 --> 00:49:15.039 when you decide, well, and also when you have 00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:19.019 a worthwhile goal. Right. Yeah. Time becomes 00:49:19.019 --> 00:49:23.219 important. And for, as a hygienist, you know, 00:49:23.239 --> 00:49:25.880 what we think about whenever somebody asks us 00:49:25.880 --> 00:49:29.719 to introduce something new into the time we have 00:49:29.719 --> 00:49:32.719 with the patient, we push back because we're 00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:35.420 focused on removing tartar from people's teeth. 00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:41.940 But when I had a new goal of helping patients 00:49:41.940 --> 00:49:47.360 learn how to create health for themselves, and 00:49:47.360 --> 00:49:52.179 when I worked in transferring them from the danger 00:49:52.179 --> 00:49:55.769 zone into the safety zone, I had much more time 00:49:55.769 --> 00:50:01.809 on my hands. So I had time to do five or six 00:50:01.809 --> 00:50:05.190 life -saving screenings in the appointment. And 00:50:05.190 --> 00:50:11.010 they became the reason why I continued on with 00:50:11.010 --> 00:50:15.469 this is I so dearly, because of my childhood 00:50:15.469 --> 00:50:18.670 experiences, wanted to save other people's lives. 00:50:19.110 --> 00:50:24.940 So I didn't play a part in the sadness and grief 00:50:24.940 --> 00:50:28.519 of a family losing a family member because I 00:50:28.519 --> 00:50:30.920 didn't do something that could have impacted 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:36.500 their life. And that is part of what makes you 00:50:36.500 --> 00:50:42.500 uniquely you. Yep. So I want to just sincerely, 00:50:42.739 --> 00:50:44.820 from the bottom of my heart, thank you for trusting 00:50:44.820 --> 00:50:47.639 me enough to come on your show and take over 00:50:47.639 --> 00:50:50.320 for an episode and guide you through this conversation. 00:50:50.460 --> 00:50:53.039 You are, as you know, one of my favorite people 00:50:53.039 --> 00:50:56.079 on the planet and I love your mission. And just 00:50:56.079 --> 00:50:58.599 thank you for letting me be a part of it. Oh, 00:50:59.159 --> 00:51:01.139 you did a great job. Thank you. You made this 00:51:01.139 --> 00:51:03.619 easy for me because I'm not used to talking about 00:51:03.619 --> 00:51:06.940 myself. So I know. I know. And you did great. 00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:12.780 Thank you. Thank you so much, Rebecca. That's 00:51:12.780 --> 00:51:16.159 it for today's episode of Health Lifelines, brought 00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:19.219 to you by the Lifeguard approach. I hope you 00:51:19.219 --> 00:51:22.099 found inspiration and actionable insights to 00:51:22.099 --> 00:51:24.900 support you and your patients' journeys towards 00:51:24.900 --> 00:51:28.260 better health and more fulfilling lives. Remember, 00:51:29.119 --> 00:51:33.360 every small step you take today builds the foundation 00:51:33.360 --> 00:51:37.510 for a healthier tomorrow. If you enjoyed this 00:51:37.510 --> 00:51:40.489 episode, please take a moment to rate, review, 00:51:40.929 --> 00:51:43.329 and share the podcast with someone who could 00:51:43.329 --> 00:51:46.469 benefit from it. Your support helps us reach 00:51:46.469 --> 00:51:49.769 more listeners and grow this community of health 00:51:49.769 --> 00:51:52.650 -conscious individuals and dental professionals 00:51:52.650 --> 00:51:55.889 focused on becoming lifeguards for their patients. 00:51:57.230 --> 00:52:00.150 For more tips, tools, and resources from the 00:52:00.150 --> 00:52:04.889 Lifeguard Approach, visit us online at thelifeguardapproach 00:52:04.889 --> 00:52:09.150 .com. Also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, 00:52:09.750 --> 00:52:13.309 or LinkedIn at The Lifeguard Approach. Thank 00:52:13.309 --> 00:52:16.909 you for tuning in. Until next time, stay informed, 00:52:17.469 --> 00:52:20.510 stay inspired, and keep showing up as a lifeguard 00:52:20.510 --> 00:52:24.030 for your patients at every single appointment.