The Kwikly team has thousands of amazing professionals around the country. It’s always a privilege to connect personally with one of them and share their story with the rest of the Kwikly community.  This is our conversation with Brooke Hansen, RDH from Minnesota.

How long have you been a hygienist and what drew you to the profession?

I’ve been a dental hygienist since 2016. I went into hygiene school straight out of high school knowing that this field was going to give me a great work/life balance and be a truly gratifying occupation.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brooke Hansen, RDH, enjoying time outside with her family.

I am married to a wonderful man and we’ve been together for almost a decade. We have a 7 year old Yorkie named Kaia. She is the princess of our household and she knows it.  My husband and I love to do house projects. We live in a townhome and have done a lot of renovations ourselves. We also love to go paddle boarding in the summers. I have an older brother who is married and has three kids so I love hanging out my two nieces and nephew. My parents spend the winter in Arizona so we go visit them at least once during the winter to escape the Minnesota tundra.

Have you ever considered leaving Hygiene? 

I have always been interested in management. I worked at Jcrew during college and eventually was a manager there for a year. I wanted to put together my management experience and my dental knowledge. I quickly found out that dental management was not for me and went right back to hygiene.

What was it like working your first temp shift?

It was a little nerve racking. But I quickly realized it was a great way to make extra cash and see how different offices operate.

What do you find is the most gratifying part of your work?

I love the before and after of some cases. For instance, people who come in and haven’t had a cleaning in many years, sometimes decades. Being able to help these people achieve their health goals and follow them on their journey is awesome. I’ve worked with so many amazing patients and helped them realize that even though they may feel embarrassed about their mouths that we as dental professionals are not here to judge but to help and support them.

What is something you wished people understood about hygiene or dentistry?

Hygiene is more than just cleaning teeth. It’s creating relationships with your patients and helping them understand that they are in control of their oral health which leads to

Brooke, her husband, and yorkie.

better overall health.

What are you looking forward to these days?

I work for an awesome office most days of the week and plan to continue to temp with Kwikly as needed, giving me the work/life balance that I love. This year my husband and I look forward to traveling, continuing to work on renovating our home and spending time with family and friends (and our dog Kaia too)!