Simple Advanced Treatment Modalities for the Dependent Patient - PART II

Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, FACE practiced clinical dental hygiene in and around Madison, WI from 1986 to 2003 when she focused her energy on writing and speaking.

After graduating from Marquette University in 1999 through the degree completion program, she became very active in the Amyrdh.com e-mail community monitored by Amy Nieves, RDH, and honed her communication skills to bring new and exciting information to the hundreds of hygienists in that group.  This evolved into feature articles and a monthly column in RDHmagazine.  In an effort to reach the public with her messages and cross over into writing for consumer publications, she wrote a series of articles on oral care for Diabetes Self-Management.  This effort won her the prestigious APEX Award for writing excellence.  Today she has co-authored a best-selling book with Amy Nieves, The Purple Guide: Developing Your Clinical Dental Hygiene Career which has sold out and the second edition is now available. She haswritten chapters on sealants, and temporary fillings in the textbook Essentials of Dental Hygiene.

Clinical practice has taken a back seat to speaking across the country and internationally as far away as Germany and Australia on minimal intervention dental hygiene through her business Cross Link Presentations.

Shirley is the 2008 Alumna of the Year Marquette University School of Health Science in Dental Hygiene, a recipient of the Leadership Award from the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry, the 2006 – 2007 President of the Wisconsin Dental Hygienists’ Association

Co-Director of CareerFusion career development for healthcare providers with Beth Thompson and Patti DiGangi.

She is also co-founder of Adopt a Nursing Home an initiative to increase oral health in dependant adults with Angie Stone, RDH, BSDH. She is a member of the Wisconsin Regional Writers Association, the American Dental Hygienist’s Association, American Academy of Dental Hygienists, and the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry.  She’s earned certification of CTM in Toastmasters International, has attained the ACEsthetics Fellowship.  She resides in Sun Prairie, WI is married to her husband Mark and is the mother of five sons.

Angie has been in the dental profession for all of her adult life and has held every position in the dental office, other than dentist, of course, at one time or another. She can often be heard saying she is lucky to have picked the best profession in the world to be a part of!

Currently, her full time position is that of Lead Xylitol Educator, for Wasatch Sales Force Management-Orem UT. Through this position she educates dental professionals about the amazing health benefits of xylitol and manages a team of four xylitol educators.

Angie is the owner of HyLife, LLC, a company dedicated to improving the oral health of dependent elders. This population has the worst oral health of any population. HyLife is dedicated to changing this statistic.  Angie’s mantra is, “They shouldn’t die of dirty teeth.”   She and her team are making strides to ensure this does not continue to happen. Angie was awarded the Sunstar Award of Distinction in 2012 for her work with the nursing home population and xylitol.

Her enthusiasm for dental hygiene, elders and her dental colleagues is apparent when she takes the podium.  She has spoken across the United States and Internationally. To date she has educated dental professionals in 35 states and 4 countries including Canada, Mexico Puerto Rico and Greece.  Her courses are full of energy and offer a no holds barred approach to dental hygiene. Attendees often write on her reviews they have never heard anyone speak with so much passion!

She has also had several articles published in an array of hygiene related magazines and journals. She has been the Editor in Chief for Hygiene Tribune, Director of Hygiene Consulting for McKenzie Management, Training Manager for Florida Probe and has been an educator in dental hygiene and dental assisting programs.