About Me, Carrie Ibbetson RDH
My name is Carrie Ibbetson and I am a Registered Dental Hygienist with nearly 20 years experience in the dental world. I have worked as a dental assistant, front office coordinator, and as a dental hygienist. I like to think that because I have immersed myself in all facets of the dental office that I have a pretty rounded idea of what dentistry and dental offices are all about.
One unique thing about my career is that I have spent many years working as a temporary fill in for offices (think substitute teacher). This has given me a really broad idea of what other offices are like, and has helped fuel my passion for amazing products and helping people connect the dots about their own health.
For quite a few years I had a gypsy style mentality of living, travelling and exploring. Dentistry always allowed me to both pick up and move, or it allowed me to find work if I decided I was ready for a change. I would not change my experiences, but I can say that it has helped me to understand why many people find frustration or distrust in the dental offices they visit.
DENTISTS ARE TAUGHT TO DRILL IT, FILL IT AND BILL IT
This is not meant to bash dentists or dental offices at all. However, in all the years that I have spent working, I have found more often than not, dentistry is a means to an end, and there are all too often people that either lack passion about what they do, or they are so focused on telling people what they should be doing that they forget to slow down and ask what is important to the person they are working with. Just like in any profession, the amount of letters behind your name really has little to do with your competency level.
In my world, if you lack passion, you lack purpose and the gumption to push forward in order to make a difference in lives. In school, dentists are taught to drill it, fill it and bill it. The problem with that mentality (for myself at least), is that is what is considered a “disease centered model”. This is partly dental insurance companies doing. People have been trained to feel like their insurance should cover the work needed, so dentistry as a whole has had to mold its business around what plans will cover. I found myself dreaming of a way where things could be different, and where I could feel good about the services being provided in offices I was in.
FOR ONCE, I WAS IN LOVE WITH WHAT I WAS DOING
Fast forward to one of the last offices I was in. That dentist had PASSION! I mean dentistry was his life! He spent years and years studying bite related whole body dentistry (Pankey dentistry), and took a holistic (whole body approach) to the services he and his staff provided. At 72 he was still very actively involved in multiple study clubs and was always hard at work caring for his clients….problem was he cared more than they cared, and he hadn’t found a way to communicate the VALUE that he was giving them. When a crown, implant, or restoration fits with the bite and the other teeth, the longevity is much greater, and the patient is much more comfortable.
Skilled work takes time to learn, and more expensive materials. Patients trusted him because they LIKED him, not because they really understood the amazingly superior work he was delivering. Together we went on a mission to hone in on our communication skills in order to allow the patient to take the driver’s seat in the course of treatment. This is also where I began to look at hygiene differently, and was allowed to explore what it was like coaching patients vs. simply cleaning teeth. My world was opened, and my mind began to spin! For once, I was in LOVE with what I was doing, and the difference I was making in people’s lives became my why!
If you brush the same way every day, you miss the same spots every day. What I strive to do is help you keep them as clean as they were when you left the office, and have pain free teeth and gums! Think of me as a personal trainer, but for your mouth. I know this was a long winded intro, but this is what this site is all about! A few rants and raves from a hygienist, honest insightful help designed for you and your loved ones, a place where you can have your questions answered by someone who cares and a place for you to ask questions when you don’t understand what was said at your last visit or worse, f you don’t trust the person you are forced to see from a “list of subscribers” given to you by the almighty dental insurance companies!
Thanks for your time; I hope to connect with you soon!
All the Best,
Carrie Ibbetson, Registered Dental Hygienist
WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT?
I will spend time interviewing dentists in order to hopefully add value into the positive side of dentistry and dental hygiene. I will showcase and highlight local and national organizations that strive to make a difference, and I will do my best to help you or your children get over the fear of HATING THE DENTIST! Dentistry can be an amazing experience, and there are some amazingly talented individuals out there that care to make a difference in the world. There are secrets to uncover, and I invite you on this journey. If you have a question, send it to me. I will do my best to answer, or I will help you find a place that will be able to help you.
I have been fortunate enough to help hundreds of people find the simple ways to reach oral health. A healthy mouth really isn’t rocket science, sometimes it just takes a middle man to explain what products do what, what techniques work for whom, and how to develop the skills for healthy teeth and gums all year long whether or not you are able to visit the dentist. It takes 8 days after your cleaning for your gums to become infected again.