As a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH), my professional goal has always been to grow and evolve as an oral health provider. Simply, learn all the things—like orthodontics, laser therapy, tooth whitening, adjuncts to periodontal therapy, and so on. I even took on a casual role with my local health unit providing services, education, and screening to children in our community. I never wanted to get “stuck” in the possibility of day-to-day monotony. Fortunately for me, I had an employer and a team who were progressive and wanted their hygienists to offer effective, up-to-date information and services to our clients. So, with so much variety and opportunity, why did I start to feel “stuck”? Reflecting, I see now that I was evolving naturally on my own, slowly understanding that I had grown to the point where the rest of my journey had to be my own. I was beginning to feel ready for it.
Over the years in clinical practice, I began to learn the importance of airway health and how it related to my job not only as a clinician but as an oral health advocate and educator. My own personal experiences with my son’s health led me to the growing world of myofunctional therapy. I would spend time researching how to ensure that my child was breathing properly with a chronic respiratory illness. I didn’t want him to be a mouth breather but at the time I only knew a fraction of why mouth breathing was so detrimental to our overall health. As I researched, myofunctional therapy kept appearing in my searches. About 10 years ago, I attended a study club for hygienists in my community that was facilitated by a local orthodontist. The guest speaker, a pediatric dentist, asked us what we felt was the most important part of our oral health. After we blurted out various answers related to dental caries and periodontitis, he finally gave us his thoughts and said “breathing.” He spoke to us about the negative impacts mouth breathing has on our health and briefed us on myofunctional therapy and how we could find training and start practicing. I remember feeling a little uncertain, but this stuck with me, and I began gearing my learning towards airway health. Up until that moment, it had never crossed my mind that I would practice non-traditionally within my scope as an RDH. Would it ever really happen? Sure, I had thought about teaching or working in public health full time, but those opportunities in my community only came around occasionally. But myofunctional therapy? Like I said, it stayed with me.
In a profession when we are the experts in oral health and disease prevention, we still don’t know what we don’t know. Airway health was not a learning module for many of us in college, so seeing oral health from an airway perspective isn’t on the radar of every clinician. Thankfully, as hygienists we are a regulated profession that prides itself on the high level of expectation for continuing education. We know that staying current and well educated gives our profession value, keeps our skills sharp, and ensures our clients receive optimal care. In my opinion, dental hygienists are the ideal providers of myofunctional therapy, with so much experience and knowledge of the oral facial complex. RDHs are one of the regulated health professions that can provide myofunctional therapy within their scope of practice, provided you have invested in the training. I finally started researching training options, enrolled in a myofunctional therapy training program, and hit the ground running. As I completed my courses, I had also gained a new set of “myo eyes” and each time I looked in a client’s mouth, I couldn’t unsee all the things I had learned and was learning. My conversations with my clients shifted, and I felt for the first time I was looking at oral health and overall wellness more fully than I ever had.
About a year and a half ago, I left not only a job but my beloved clients and work family to start my own myofunctional therapy practice. This meant leaving something I had known for 20 years. I was comfortable, had the ultimate work life balance, and dearly loved those I worked with. There were so many reasons to stay. But I had gotten to the “stuck” point in my career that I mentioned earlier. I felt I was meant to do something more and felt I had earned the opportunity to be my own boss, be responsible for my own work life balance, and decide how I cared for my clients. I craved a change, and even though I would be giving up clinical practice, I still wanted a role as a dental hygienist and felt I had much still to offer.
As many can relate, a long working career as a clinical hygienist also takes its toll on you physically. I had my health to think about too. Although I was anxious and nervous, this idea of helping clients find the root causes of their symptoms and providing a therapy that could benefit their overall health was something I was drawn to. I started my myofunctional therapy practice slowly, opening one clinic day a week while still working three days a week in private practice and one day a week in public health. I spent my spare time advocating and educating others around me, sending emails, popping into dental offices, manual therapy practices, and even speaking to offices on their lunch hours to educate them and introduce my services. Slowly, like minded practitioners found me or I found them. I was also given the opportunity to work alongside a well established myofunctional therapist in her practice a couple days a week. I saw this as an incredible opportunity to learn, grow, and gain more experience, and that’s exactly what it proved to be. When my 20-year-old door closed, others were opening around me, creating learning and growth opportunities, all of which I was in full control of.
This meant putting myself out there and believing in myself and what I could offer. I will tell you, “imposter syndrome” is a real thing, and I still find it sneaking in the back door of my brain every now and then. Growth is meant to feel hard and scary, and from my experience, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t experienced the uncertainty and unsettling feelings of not knowing what is to come. They say this can make you either procrastinate or catapult you forward, throwing yourself into all the things on your new adventure. The latter was true for me.
As hygienists, we are an invaluable asset to the communities we serve, whether that be in clinical practice, public health, or education. Now more than ever, dental hygienists have so much opportunity in practicing preventative dental hygiene. In Ontario, graduates who pass the board exam and are registrants of the CDHO can own their own practice. This is monumental! This is one of the ways our profession has allowed us to evolve and grow together and which makes the opportunity to practice myofunctional therapy even more attainable.
As a colleague of those who are reading along, I encourage you to explore the world of myofunctional therapy. Maybe that means investing in training for yourself and offering therapy in your current work setting. Maybe that means learning to screen your clients for orofacial myofunctional disorders and finding airway focused providers in your community so you can offer referrals to your clients for collaborative care. Maybe it’s self study, attending webinars or seminars to learn and gain some knowledge. Our professional journey can easily be our own if we are open to it and allow ourselves to feel a little uncertain in learning or taking on something new.
About the author
Tenna Micks is a Registered Dental Hygienist providing Myofunctional Therapy within her community. She is the Owner and Therapist at Thrive Myofunctional Therapy in Stratford, ON. Tenna has been an RDH for over 20 years with experience in private practice and public health. Reach her at: www.thrivemyo.ca, @thrivemyo