Hygiene Spotlight features an exceptional dental hygienist every month. This month we are showcasing Paulette Dahlseide, owner of the mobile clinic Providence Dental Hygiene and passionate volunteer in the Alberta Metis community.
Why did you decide to pursue dental hygiene as a career?
Truly, I stumbled or, more aptly I suppose, I was led into the profession of Dental Hygiene for reasons beyond my own understanding at the time. I was a Bachelor of Arts student, majoring in sociology with a minor in native studies. One of my high school friends was a dental hygiene student at the University of Alberta. She asked me to be one of her patients, and as I sat there, watching the hustle and bustle of a busy teaching clinic, I thought to myself, “Hey, I can do this.” At that point in my life, I didn’t even know dental hygiene was a profession, as my family’s experiences of oral healthcare was symptom-driven and resource-limited. I set aside the humanities and pursued the health sciences, but not really – health sciences without humanities/social sciences would have little soul.
What inspired you to create your own travelling clinic business?
At my dental hygiene graduation in 1994, my father, in his forward thinking way of taking on the world, asked me when I would open my own clinic. At that point, dental hygiene was not yet self regulated so I laughed and said, “Oh Dad, that’s not likely.” Within a year though, dental hygiene became self regulated in Alberta and just over a decade later, 2006, independent practice became a real possibility. Once again, I realized how much ahead of his time my Dad has always been. I embraced his entrepreneurial spirit and opened Providence Dental Hygiene on my birthday in 2010.
Do you have a mentor in the industry? How did you find them and any advice for finding a mentor?
Graduating in 1994 from the University of Alberta Dental Hygiene diploma program, I was blessed to learn not only the clinical skills of dental hygiene practice but also to be mentored by a truly remarkable group of dental hygiene educators whose dedication, love, and vision for our profession was contagious and inspiring. I am grateful to role models like Sandra Cobban, Dr. Sharon Compton, Eunice Edgington, Sally Lockwood, Janice Pimlott, Janice Ritchie, Paulette Schulte, Brenda Walker, and Marg Wilson, to name a few. Many of these women have had or continue to have foundational roles in advancing the profession of dental hygiene in Alberta and establishing the full scope of practice that dental hygienists in our province now enjoy. After I graduated, and beyond their roles as instructors and clinicians and the many other hats these women wore in their personal lives, I continued to see these women advocate for our profession publicly and politically over the years, and their influence, past and present, impacts my own professional pursuits and clinical practice to this day.
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why? (personal or career)
The professional accomplishment I am most proud of is embarking on the adventure of opening my independent practice, Providence Dental Hygiene (2010-present). There were many leaps of faith along the way, but with the support of my family and especially my dad, I stepped into the unknown and worked to create a practice dedicated to increasing accessibility, acceptability, affordability, and availability of preventive oral health service delivery for those who face barriers to care in traditional storefront dental practices. I named my clinic Providence in honor of the time I spent with the Sisters of Providence as a young undergraduate student. A dear friend and mentor, Sister Orietta Belanger, welcomed me into their convent to stay and study for exam weeks throughout my dental hygiene program. On the wall of the convent was a quote that has stayed with me these last 30 years, “All I know of tomorrow is that providence will rise before the sun” (Lacordaire). I returned to the convent this February, a retreat of sorts, to finish writing my graduate thesis. I had not been back since before COVID to visit the sisters. Over the course of the week during my stay, I was able to sit with Sister Orietta, reconnect, reminisce, thank her for her love, support and mentorship, and on February 13, 2024, at the age of 95 years old, she passed away in her sleep.
Can you tell us about your work with the Métis community and the creation of Access for All?
I have been blessed by the mentorship and support of many amazing women over the years. As a Metis woman, embracing our ways of knowing and being as Indigenous people, I have come to know, understand, and honor the relationality of who we are as Metis people. The foundations of resilience and strength that we hold are generated through relationships. For example, the generations of strong matriarchs past, those with me now and those yet to come, kinship ties beyond blood alone, are intricately braided into who I am and what I am called to do in the world with and for our communities.
Appropriately then, Access for All, a student-led initiative that provides free dental and dental hygiene services to underserved Albertans in Metis communities across the province was born from relationships and collaboration between the Otipemisiwak Metis Government of the Metis Nation in Alberta (MNA), Reagan Bartel, the Health Director at the MNA, the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta, and Metis dental practitioners, myself and Dr. Suzy Depledge. Alongside the impressive pop-up clinic that students organize and administer, the MNA hosts the Metis community and students in ongoing cultural activities and evening events that showcase the food, music, laughter, and celebration that is inevitable whenever Metis folks gather. Collaborating to foster
these culturally informed, community healthcare spaces where dental and dental hygiene students and Metis folks visit and care for one another in a reciprocal way, is breaking down barriers to care and building trust and reconciliation between everyone involved.
Paulette can be reached at pdahlsei@ualberta.ca.