With the concepts of prevention and minimally invasive care here to stay, Faye Donald, a dental hygienist who strives to exceed expectations, shares how she has improved not only her working life but also her health and happiness.
How and why did you choose dentistry as a career?
I’m not sure that I chose it, actually; I think it chose me. When a child, I used to help my grandfather garden in the garden. I hated it, but he would pay me 50p, so I did the work.
One day, he told me that if I did all the work on a garden clearing task, he would give me all the money the job paid. By then I was a teenager and, of course, I wanted that £5! He sat in the corner watching, smoking his pipe and only lifted a finger to point out the areas I’d missed. At the end of the day, he gave me the money and said: ‘When you grow up, find a job that makes you want to get of bed every day. Otherwise, you are going to feel like this every single day for the rest of your life.’
When it came time to choose what to do after A-levels, I remembered what he had said and decided I needed to work for a year. This would enable me to see if I could find that one job that was right for me.
After answering pretty much every job ad in the local paper, including one to be a dental nurse for a hygienist. I got that job and after a week I knew…
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