Why did you begin a career in dental hygiene?
I was so eager to start educating patients about dental health, that while waiting for my license, I decided to make a dental health video and post it to YouTube (youtube.com/teethtalk). To my surprise, more than just my family and friends watched it, and these viewers actually requested more dental videos!
Creating videos has become a biweekly routine and I’ve been loving every minute of it! In addition, I’ve been turning all of the educational videos into articles for teethtalkgirl.com because I’ve found that some people prefer to read. My goal is to cater to everyone.
Initially, my intended audience was the general public, not dental professionals, but recently I’ve been creating videos for the dental community as well, such as music video parodies relating to teeth, silly dental office skits such as “things patients say at the dentist,” and even videos providing tips to dental hygiene students and new grads. My whole theme in general is to educate and entertain! You don’t have to be interested in becoming a dental professional to be interested in learning about healthy teeth. There are so many teeth enthusiasts out there (we all know them—the patients who really care about their teeth), and it’s so cool that we can all come together as a teeth-loving community, whether we are dental professionals or not.
What causes do you advocate on social media?
I advocate for better oral health awareness! Through my videos I am able to reach more than just my patients one-on-one in the operatory, and I take that very seriously. Spreading awareness about dental health is very important to me, and I’m thankful I’ve found a way to personally contribute to community dental health.
Since I’ve been creating videos, viewers have been asking me to provide Teeth Talk Girl merchandise. At first, I considered maybe making something someday. However, last year, I was shopping for a tooth-shaped purse (because who doesn’t do that in their spare time?) and I could not find one anywhere! Long story short, I thought to myself, “This is it. I’m about to create the merch. And I’m going to start with a tooth purse!”
So that’s what I’m doing right now, and it has turned into a whole company called Happy Teeth that will include purses, bags, and accessories. But the reason I bring this up is because for every item purchased, we will donate an oral health kit to someone in need. In addition to donating the kits, which will include dental essentials such as toothbrushes and floss, we will provide oral health workshops to those receiving the kits.
I’m extremely excited for this project because I’ve been advocating for dental health education online for a few years now, and now I’m able to actually visit people in person to educate and provide home-care products. I am overwhelmingly excited for this project to launch this summer, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!
What are your goals?
My first goal is to continue spreading dental health awareness to the public through my Teeth Talk Girl platform. In addition, I strive to provide a positive and uplifting environment for the dental community. My second goal is to officially launch Happy Teeth this year so we can start donating oral health kits and providing oral health workshops to those in need.
Facebook: @teethtalkgirl; @givehappyteeth
Twitter: @teethtalkgirl
Instagram: @teethtalkgirl; @givehappyteeth
YouTube: youtube.com/teethtalk
LinkedIn: Whitney Rose DiFoggio
Websites: teethtalkgirl.com; givehappyteeth.com
Years in dental hygiene: 5 years
Are you still practicing clinical dental hygiene? Yes
