Dental hygienists inspire more gentlemen to join ‘female-dominated’ profession on P.E.I.

Sufferers would from time to time be astonished when Gerald Proctor would introduce himself as their dental hygienist. 

Wait around, a male dental hygienist?

Proctor is a rarity on P.E.I. According to the Dental Hygienist Affiliation of P.EI., of about 120 registered hygienists on the Island, only 3 are adult men.

It is really not anything folks are acquainted with seeing. Some have mistaken him for a dentist, Proctor mentioned.

“They’re still a minimal bit, I guess puzzled would be the term,” he said. “They are not put off by it, but they’re just like, ‘OK effectively this is various, you know, and different’s wonderful.'”

With a shortage of dental hygienists, as perfectly as dental assistants, some are pondering if “various” — attracting more males and others to the area — would support relieve the months-lengthy waits to get in for just a teeth cleansing.

Monica Simpson, president of the association, stated the need for oral cleanliness solutions has improved as the populace has grown, authorities dental care packages broaden the affected person foundation, and dental offices get caught up from the backlog made all through the COVID-19 pandemic.

She mentioned it wouldn’t be challenging for a dental hygienist to obtain do the job on P.E.I. Most fork out among $36 and $40 an hour.

Two universities in Maritimes

“Definitely, if we could motivate much more adult males to consider the job, that would be a great strategy,” she reported.

“It can be a feminine-dominated occupation and typically situations when you have a younger mom, they might decide on to work section time to make it simpler for issues at residence. And then also with an 18-thirty day period maternity depart possibility, it indicates that you have a more time span that you’re trying to refill that placement and you can find quite a few maternity leaves that have not been in a position to be crammed so that leaves folks short, as effectively.”

The several hours ended up a single of the benefits that attracted Proctor to the area. He was a truck driver for a lot of decades, but when he acquired laid off much more than a decade ago, he took a job development program that led him to wellbeing treatment.

But he was starting up a family, and the weekends and shift do the job widespread in clinic perform was not attractive to him. Dental hygiene, even so, was a little something he could sink his teeth into.

“So I am being genuine with my occupation enhancement officer. I claimed, you know, I really don’t want to seem snobbish, but I don’t want that for myself at this point in my everyday living. I want like a Monday-to-Friday-kind career.”

Dr. Brian Barrett, government director of the Dental Affiliation of P.E.I., mentioned there is a lack of educated staff in all health and fitness-care fields, and dental cleanliness is no exception, but there is no very simple remedy.

“The only way is to teach a fantastic a lot of far more and as it can’t be done quite promptly, the problem will be below for many a long time. The typical age is also raising so additional are also retiring so no fast correct is going to take place.”

We hear that very typically, ‘I couldn’t do what you do.’ And I assume there is tons of employment I couldn’t do that other men and women do.— Monica Simpson

There are two spots in the Maritimes that offer dental hygiene coaching — Dalhousie University in Halifax and Oulton Faculty in Moncton.

Proctor graduated from Oulton 10 years back and was hired by Peter Bevan-Baker, a dentist who is now the leader of the P.E.I. Green Get together, at the Hampton Dental Clinic.

He’s been there at any time considering the fact that, loves it and would advocate it to other males. He claimed early on there may perhaps have been a stigma hooked up to it as a “woman-dominant” occupation, much like nursing, but he stated that is no for a longer period the scenario.

“You will find at times the place I think that people today occasionally allow their guard down simply because I am a male. We do a large amount of items like overall health histories and queries and points like that. So there is certainly occasions exactly where I am sure that female individuals are far more snug with a female hygienist, but then there’s also situations where you can find male sufferers that are in all probability more relaxed with a male hygienist.”

The “nurturing” element is probably why dental hygiene has customarily attracted more women, Simpson explained.

 Plus, let’s experience it, not every person has the belly to scrape plaque off a person else’s teeth.

“We hear that incredibly typically, ‘I could not do what you do.’ And I imagine you can find heaps of jobs I couldn’t do that other men and women do,” she claimed.

“If people are nervous coming to the dentist you have to be caring and nurturing and patient. It can be not for everyone but it can be a fantastic job in some ways for certain.”

Males can be just as nurturing, Proctor claimed, and and digging close to in someone’s mouth is not an concern for him. He discovered through his schooling, through an outreach system the place he would function on people whose circumstances prevented them from observing a dentist often, that assisting to boost a patient’s well being is one particular of the rewards of becoming a dental hygienist.

“It was exceptional to have those encounters early and notice you can make a change in someone’s well being, in someone’s lifestyle, since we never realize how essential it is to go to a task job interview and give a dazzling, assured smile.”