Catrice Opichka’s energetic and captivating approach to dental programming blends her clinical experience and evidence-based research with a spunky delivery. The result: an entertaining learning experience with relevant examples that can instantly be applied. She has been active in the field of dentistry for three decades, practicing as a registered dental hygienist for the last 25 years. Ms Opichka is the owner of Pure Education and through her lectures tackles challenging topics like the effects of addiction in dentistry and the risks associated with the Human Papilloma Virus. Ms Opichka holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in addiction and a master’s degree in management and leadership. Ms Opichka is the owner of Island View Dental Care, a direct access, mobile hygiene practice serving individuals in long-term care facilities. She also volunteers at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission Dental Clinic, working with dental patients in their drug and alcohol recovery program.
Dentistry is a unique, fast paced and often stressful profession that can lead to both physical and emotional exhaustion. An estimated 84 percent of dental professionals have reported feeling burnout. It is also suggested that these burnout rates will continue to increase for several reasons, including staff shortages and impacts of the ongoing pandemic. This has resulted in an increase in chronic stress and has led to a large number of dental hygienists choosing to step away from the profession that they once loved. We’ll discuss how to recharge our professional batteries and provide suggestions on self-care tools that will improve our mental health during times of professional stress. We will uncover ways we can help combat dental workforce shortages and work better as a team during these staffing challenges. Finally, we will uncover top ten recommendations for reigniting our passion for dentistry and the patient care we provide.
Upon completion of this session, attendees should be able to:
Recognize common work stressors and apply the skills needed to prevent burnout
Evaluate effective self-care tools and decide which tools work best for our individual needs
Identify 10 different ways to step out of the operatory to reignite our excitement and passion for patient