Book Kimberly to Speak

Dentistry is one of the only healthcare professions without independent third-party oversight. When something goes wrong, patients have nowhere to turn except the very boards designed to protect the profession—not the public. This talk examines the systemic gaps that allow ethical violations, unsafe practices, and workplace abuses to go unchecked, and makes the case for why independent accountability isn't just necessary—it's long overdue.

Dental hygienists are uniquely positioned to become health coaches. We educate patients, build long-term relationships, and understand the connection between oral health and systemic disease. Yet there's no formal pathway for hygienists to expand into health coaching—and there should be. This talk explores the oral-systemic connection, the rise of integrative health, and why health coaching could be the future of the profession.

We track dentist suicide rates. We don't track dental hygienist suicide rates. We talk about burnout in healthcare, but we don't measure it in the people who spend the most time with patients. If we're not being counted, we don't count. This talk is personal—and it's a call to start collecting the data that could save lives.

The dental profession doesn't reflect the patients it serves—and that's not an accident. When CODA dropped the diversity standards for dental programs, it sent a message: representation is optional. It's not. This talk explores why diversity in the profession matters, the barriers that keep underrepresented students out, and what we can do to change it. Because if the system won't prioritize representation, we have to.

The connection between yoga and oral health is backed by published research. (Yes, really!)

This talk explores how chronic stress drives periodontal disease, how the nervous system mediates the relationship between inflammation and oral tissue, and how yoga measurably improves clinical outcomes when paired with traditional treatment.

We'll examine what the research says about inflammation, bruxism, mouth breathing, and whole-body health, as well as, diving deeper into the neuroscience. Yoga doesn't just reduce stress, it rewires the brain.

Through breath work, movement, and mindfulness, we are actively building neuroplasticity by changing the way the nervous system responds to stress at a cellular level. That has direct implications for what we see in the oral cavity every single day.

Walk away understanding why lifestyle matters as much as the scaler, and with practical, evidence-based tools you can use on yourself and share with your patients.