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(Photos by Danny Abriel)

Gincy George (BDH'26) knew she wanted to work in health care, but she didn’t expect to become an oral health professional. And she certainly didn’t expect to have multiple oral health roles. But sometimes things have a way of working out for the best, even when we have other plans for ourselves.

George grew up in Kerala, southern India. She finished high school with the ambition of studying medicine and sat the entrance exam for selection to the health professions. The exam went well, but George was surprised to be accepted into dentistry school. At that point, she didn’t know a lot about the profession.

George says that learning dentistry was a bit intimidating. But she grew to appreciate the artistry and critical thinking involved. “In the process of learning everything from scratch, I started to like it,” she says.

Canada beckons
By the time she had completed the required dentistry internship one year after graduating, George found that a lot of her friends were applying to go to other countries to study or work abroad. This discovery prompted her to consider different options.

"Even though I was ready to start work as a dentist, part of me was asking to try something different,” she says. After some research, she felt that Canada was a good option for her.

She arrived in 2018 as an international student and began to study for a diploma in health care administration at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. When it was completed, George and two friends from the program headed to Nova Scotia to look for work and apply for permanent residency in Canada.

They arrived in 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning. After quarantining, George looked for an administration role in a dental office. COVID restrictions meant that jobs were not in great supply in Halifax, but George successfully found a position in Dr. Ian Ross’s (DDS’86) oral and maxillofacial surgery office in Berwick. The two and half years she spent there taught George a lot about patient care and inspired her to find a way to become involved in caring for patients again.

A time of change
In 2022, George was married and her husband moved to Canada, providing the support she needed to think about returning to oral health care. They relocated to Halifax for her husband’s job as a supply chain specialist and, after acquiring the necessary prerequisites, George embarked on a Bachelor of Dental Hygiene in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Dentistry.

George had explored requalifying as a dentist but found that that there were more requirements involved and she felt she wasn’t ready. She decided to start with dental hygiene.

It's a decision she doesn’t regret. Although the basic information taught on the program was basically the same as what she would be taught in India, George says the teaching methodologies and the way the material is approached are very different from the methods used back in India.

Her first year was chiefly theory, says George and there were a lot of exams, plus practising on mannequins in the simulation lab. What surprised her was that the professors and instructors were teaching the students mostly one-on-one.

"They were always watching how we were holding the instruments and everything we did," she explains, "and then they would give us feedback on how we could modify our techniques."

At first, George found it a bit intimidating because someone was always scrutinizing her and her work. But then she grew used to it and liked receiving immediate feedback.

"It’s better to change what you are doing in that moment rather than continue to do something wrong and only be told later that it was not the right way," she says.

George also appreciated how supportive and understanding the faculty members are, as well as willing to be approached with questions at any time. "I never felt that I was on my own to figure something out," says George, "and my instructors made sure I understood concepts."

Enthusiastic about prevention
One aspect of clinical care George particularly enjoyed learning was counselling patients. "As a health care professional, it is part of your role to educate patients about how to prevent certain conditions from happening. As dental hygienists, we are in a good position to help them do that."

One major difference between a dentist and a dental hygienist, she says, is that when you’re a dentist, you are often dealing with problems that are already there.

"As a dental hygienist, you see patients more frequently and help them prevent problems. You can talk with them and they trust you when you give them information and advice."

George was also surprised to be taught how to screen patients for oral cancer and to teach patients to screen themselves at home. George says that her patients – particularly those with a family history of cancer – are grateful for this information.

In October, George discovered she was pregnant. In the early months she felt tired and nauseated, but both faculty members and her fellow students were supportive and helpful. With the baby due in July, George plans to start work in October at a Halifax dental office that is happy to wait until she is ready to return to work.