By Weston Irons Posted October 15, 2014
The real world presents many different job opportunities, so choosing a career isn’t always an easy decision. Hopefully, after reading this article and learning about one of the many options there are to pick, that choice is made a little bit easier.
Krista Kalkoskie, dental hygienist, Lowry High School alum, and mother of three. Kalkoskie has worked as a dental hygienist for 18 years and is currently working at Dr. Jancar’s Dentistry Office. Kalkoskie got an early start in dentistry, as far back as her first year in high school.
“When I was a freshman at Lowry, I decided to work after school at Dr. Dubonis’ office, and I really liked it, so I decided to go into college and get my degree in dentistry,” said Kalkoskie.
There are many reasons as to why Kalkoskie chose this career. She enjoys working with her coworkers and loves the fact that with this job, she is able to help people all the time
“I like my job; I like to be able to help people daily. I also like that it’s one-on-one, and I guess I just like scraping crap off of people’s teeth. It’s different too; everyone’s teeth are different, so it is a new thing every day,” said Kalkoskie.
Like every career, being a dental hygienist comes with its share of difficulties. It can sometimes be hard and frustrating. Occasionally, the patient is not accustomed to having their teeth taken care of, and that can make the hygienist’s job much more difficult.
“People don’t like going to the dentist, so sometimes people can be really mean when actually they are just nervous about having their teeth taken care of, so they take it out on you. So dealing with patients who haven’t had their teeth taken care of in ten or fifteen years takes a lot of patience,” said Kalkoskie.
Dental hygiene is a very important job. It will always be around because people will always need their teeth taken care of. It is a job that will be around forever, so it would be a great career for young adults of today’s generation to consider.
“Anybody who wants to have a profession that will have a job in it should consider becoming a dental hygienist; it’s always going to be around, it’s always going to be needed,” said Kalkoskie.
Kalkoskie provides some advice to any students pursuing this career. It is difficult and time-consuming to get to the position of dental hygienist, but once you are there, you are set.
“The schooling is really tough, the instructors are usually strict, but you have to know that you want to do that. I feel sorry for people who go through all that and get the degree only to not like the job. I would suggest getting into an office and observing the job in order to see if it would be something you would like and see if you would be able to handle it,” said Kalkosie.
Being a dental hygienist is difficult and requires a lot of hard work, but it is a truly rewarding and beneficial profession.
