Protecting Your Mental Health in Dentistry

Course Description

Caring for patients all day can make it easy to forget that you need care, too.

Dental hygiene can be physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally draining—especially when you’re balancing a full schedule, patient expectations, office dynamics, and the pressure to perform at your best every day.

This interactive mentorship session explores how to build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with your career before stress turns into burnout. We’ll talk about recognizing early warning signs, setting realistic boundaries, managing the emotional load of patient care, protecting your physical well-being, and creating habits that help you recharge outside of the operatory.

The goal isn’t to eliminate every stressful day—it’s to give you practical tools to protect your energy, advocate for what you need, and build a career you can feel good about long-term.

Can’t attend every session? No problem. You’re welcome to join any session that works for you, and the mentorship series repeats regularly, so you’ll have another opportunity to catch topics you miss.

What You’ll Walk Away With

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify common physical, mental, and emotional stressors associated with dental hygiene practice.
• Recognize early signs of chronic stress and professional burnout and identify opportunities for early intervention.
• Apply practical strategies for establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries with patients, coworkers, and workplace expectations.
• Develop sustainable routines and habits that support recovery, stress management, and long-term professional well-being.

About the Mentorship Program

Dental hygiene school prepares you to become a clinician—but some of the hardest parts of entering the profession can only be learned through experience.

Created for students, recent graduates, and dental professionals looking for additional support, this live mentorship series tackles the real-world situations that aren’t always covered in school. Led by Kim Augustus, RDH and founder of BloomRDH, sessions explore topics like workplace communication, confidence, interviews, career decisions, boundaries, difficult situations, and navigating your first years in practice.

Think of it as the guidance you wish came with your diploma.

Meet Your Mentor

Kimberly Augustus, RDH, is the founder of BloomRDH and a dental hygienist with more than a decade of clinical experience and nearly 10 years in dental education.

After recognizing how many new hygienists leave school clinically prepared but still feel uncertain navigating the realities of professional life, Kim created BloomRDH to help bridge that gap. Through mentorship, education, and honest conversations about the profession, she helps dental hygiene students and new professionals build confidence, advocate for themselves, and navigate their careers with greater clarity.

Her goal is simple: to make sure new hygienists don’t have to figure everything out alone.