We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela Grover and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, what matters most to you?
As a licensed dental hygienist for over 25 years, I have always placed high value upon my my ethical compass. Ethics is a matter of right versus wrong, and when a patient entrusts their care in your hands, you owe them everything you have to make ethically correct decisions. I have always operated on these thoughts, “How would I want my friends and family members treated?” Reflecting upon that question has led me to walk away from places of employment, which no longer aligned with the ethics I felt were necessary to keep the level of integrity I expected from myself. It takes true conviction to to walk away, but at the end of the day, being respected for having a high ethical compass and choosing right over wrong means the world to me!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I graduated from dental hygiene school in 1996 with my AAS in dental hygiene, I believed that was it! I had no intention to further my education beyond the “required” continuing education courses! Why would I? After all an AAS dental hygienist and a BS dental hygienist would make the same wage; we each had the same education aside from the letters that accompanied our degrees. Fast forward a few years, I moved to the Denver area, and Colorado hygienists did not need ANY continuing education courses for license renewal! Hooray for me!

Over the years, the profession affected the way my body felt, and I began to retract the idea that I would not further my education. I knew I needed an alternate plan away from clinical dental hygiene. I began researching getting a bachelor’s degree, but it was going to take so many credits to get that done; I felt deflated. Then a colleague told me about Community College of Denver’s bachelor’s completion degree in dental hygiene. Twenty years after graduation with an AAS, I was going back to college! It was overwhelming to say the least–all the changes that had occurred over the past two decades scared me!

Little did I know, I was made for being an adult learner. I loved learning new concepts, except Statistics and Spanish for the Dental Professional–many tears were cried! All jokes aside, I remembers how much I loved to write. I literally was thriving when I was writing! I felt so accomplished and proud! You see…I was a journalism major for one semester of college! Getting back to an arena I loved was so fulfilling! Following graduation with my BAS in 2018, I was a full time faculty member and program chair for a Midwestern dental hygiene program, but determined it was not the right fit when I found myself facing a crossroads regarding ethics!

At this point, I was halfway done with a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and decided to move back to Denver. I worked briefly at an office, where once again, I did not feel as if ethics were forefront. One day, I decided, “Now is the time to walk away and give my content creation my full attention. Networking became imminent because I wanted to begin writing for the dental industry again and also find a way to become known in the industry as an expert speaker on various topics–Hearing Loss in Dentistry and Eating Disorders.

A dear colleague of mine, Stephanie Botts @ Posture Pros, took time to meet and advise me about her journey in becoming more known on the dental speaking circuit! One piece of advice she gave me was to attend RDH Evolution, which was a career boosting conference July 2022. I had read about it but had not pulled the trigger. But, if Steph believed in it, I knew I needed to go!

RDH Evolution changed the trajectory of my mindset and has had me reeling for more since! I now choose to immerse myself among the best of the best in the industry, and I choose to listen to uplifting and positive podcasts and audiobooks, as well as seek life changing books! I never want to look back with regret, only forward with hope and excitement!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Wow! One of the first places I take out of town guests is Red Rocks because of its proximity to the city, but more so for the enlightening experience it offers. No matter how many times I visit Red Rocks, I always feel at one with the Universe there; always at peace. From there, I like to head up into Evergreen, but along the way, a stop at the Switchback Smokehouse for lunch is often on the agenda. It is nice to appreciate a small business, which does not boast a fancy environment, but rather a peaceful lunch on the patio enjoying the adjacent river. Once lunch is complete, we could head on into Evergreen and walk the main street artisans or walk around Evergreen Lake (the latter is my preference).

Next up would be a drive to meet up with I-70 and head towards Glenwood Springs to stay at a quaint vacation rental and visit Iron Mountain Springs Hot Springs. I like that these springs are adjacent to the Colorado River; it tends to be more peaceful than the other option. We could stay a day or two. If in the summer time, renting bikes or hiking the Hanging Lake (if open) would be a nice option. While in Glenwood we would for sure visit the Glenwood Canyon BrewPub. I have been known to like a craft beer or two, but leaning more towards ciders/seltzers/Diet Coke these days!

Next on the list would be to trek our way into the Aspen area to walk the downtown area (I have only driven through). I would definitely find a scenic hike to check out while there. We could choose to stay or navigate Independence Pass to make our way into Chaffee County. I love the Salida area! If during the summer, there are many festivals to enjoy, including FIBARK! I own a leisure kayak, would never want to kayak for sport, but the energy at FIBARK is incredible! Enjoying the live music in the park is a perk, but the best perk of all is the Hooligan Race at the end of the weekend! After staying in Salida, if there is anywhere to stay…oh, wait! I know the owners of the Sugarbush Campground in Howard, Colorado just down the highway, we could definitely stay there overnight!

After a good night’s sleep we could either head east toward Canon City to see the Royal Gorge and river raft, which is something most people enjoy doing while in our awesome state, or find our way to highway 285 to make our way back to Denver. Upon return to Denver, I would want to go to the Highlands and eat at Tacos, Tequila, and Whiskey! I love their flight of salsa, great adult beverages, and the street tacos are always incredible, no matter what you choose. Be sure to try their churros too!

On the last part of the visit, we would hit a Rockies game for the ambiance of the venue and people watching, not for the baseball. Hopefully, there would be a fireworks game occurring ! I would tell my friend, “I ordered those up for you! It’s the Denver way of saying thanks for visiting!”

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people, who saw my talents with content creation within the dental industry! Apparently, I have had the knack and did not give myself enough credit for my abilities to develop content and then transform the creation into published articles and continuing education presentations for my peers. First, I want to shout out Kat Galvan, former Nebraska Dental Hygienists’ Association (NDHA) president, and Wanda Cloet, my dental hygiene school program director at Central Community College and now mentor, for inviting me to speak for their organizations’ continuing education (CE) events in 2019; these were the first opportunities I was given the platform to speak on Hearing Loss in Dentistry.

Amid the pandemic, Kat asked me to design a one hour CE course for NDHA’s Annual Session. I agreed to utilize information I learned throughout my daughter’s eating disorder treatment to shed light on eating disorder awareness. While nobody ever wants to say they are excited to speak on eating disorders, I was thrilled to be affecting others’ lives by sharing my daughter’s journey. Therefore, I must also shout out Kamryn Grover for her vulnerability in allowing me to discuss her experience, which trickled into my life and into the discipline of dentistry. Each time I am offered the opportunity to present Eating Disorders Through the Eyes of a Hygienist Mother, I can’t help but feel many emotions since I retell a story, which affected our lives, but has such immense potential to change the lives of others, which is my main mission in speaking amid the dental arena!

Website: http://cf7db309.websites.looka.com

Instagram: @360dentalnavigations

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-g-b94066155/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/360-Dental-Navigations-101773809273633

Other: Email: 360dentalnavigations@gmail.com Published articles @ Today’s RDH & RDH Magazine

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