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Working
By JOHN REINAN A day on the job in South Pinellas County.
Visaraphorn "Nikki" Insouta, 25 * * * How long have you been doing this? Two and a half years. * * * What attracted you to it? I've always wanted to be in a medical or dental field, and I got interested in this through my own dental hygienist. At one point I thought I might go on and become a dentist, but I don't think I'm going to now. * * * What kind of training did you need? A two-year course at St. Petersburg College. They have a great program -- there's actually a waiting list to get in. * * * What's a little-known fact about dental hygiene? A lot of people don't realize that gum disease has actually been linked to heart disease. Everything works as a system, and when you take care of your dental hygiene you have fewer bacteria in your mouth to swallow. * * * You get some frightened patients, don't you? Yeah. I go slow with them -- explain how everything works, tell them they can raise their hand if they want me to stop. Some people can't sit through a whole cleaning in one sitting; you have to bring them back again to finish it. * * * What's the biggest reward in your job? Probably the patients that appreciate your work and ask your advice. They're motivated and they want to talk to you about their mouth. * * * What's the worst thing? Cleaning up afterwards. You have very little time between patients. But that's a pretty minor complaint. * * * You must see some really disgusting mouths. Isn't that kind of gross? I actually enjoy it. Patients like that are easier to motivate because they know they're in trouble. I'll actually show them the tartar. Later, they can really see the improvement. * * * You split your time between two dental offices. Is it hard to adjust to different styles of bosses? I like to respect the different dentists' approaches. If a dentist likes to promote a certain kind of toothbrush or a certain theory, then I want to do that with their patients, too. * * * What do you make? Can I say that? Well, statistically, the average dental hygienist will probably make between $35,000 and $41,000 a year. * * * What's the best kind of day for you? When all the X-rays come out right, all the patients are on time and motivated, and I leave by 4 o'clock. * * * What's the worst kind of day? There are a lot of cancellations and the X-rays get stuck in the machine. * * * That's right, you take X-rays. Do you ever worry they might make you sterile or something? Oh, no. The scatter radiation is very little. Most of the walls are lead-lined, and I'm usually behind the wall. * * * If you could have your dream job, what would it be? A food critic, traveling around the world. I love food and I love to explore.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
