My Story
My name is Sheree Wertz I am a registered Dental Hygienist and an Oral Health Coach
With over 30 years’ experience in the dental field, my goal is to educate Moms so we can reduce the # of kids with cavities.
What is an oral health coach? Simply put….It is a personal trainer for your mouth.
Why am I so passionate about Oral health you ask?
Cavities are the #1 preventable childhood disease.
One out of Two people have gingivitis
Over 64 million people in the U.S. have gum disease.
My job as a dental hygienist is to teach patients how to create an oral health routine that turns into a habit to keep their teeth and mouth healthy, which in turn keeps them healthy.
As an infant I was a colicky baby, as a toddler, I had high fevers, was anemic and given iron and Tetracycline which effected the color of my permanent teeth. We had well water, which means there was no fluoride in the water. My first memories of going to the Dentist were not good ones. My childhood dentist and believed in hand over mouth Dentistry, which I did not even know was a thing until I became a dental assistant at the age of sixteen.
My Mom was not allowed to come back with me when I went to the Dentist, which is sometimes a good thing depending on the child-parent relationship.
My first visits at the dentist if I cried, he would put his hand over my mouth lean down and whisper, you have 5 seconds to stop, or I will give you something to cry about.
I remember being so afraid to go to that dentist and hating it.
After that, I saw a pediatric Dentist until I was 18, they finally said I was too old to continue treatment there. I was so sad and did not see a dentist until I started Hygiene school even though I was working as a dental assistant.
Fear of the Dentist is a funny thing — more on that subject in another blog.
When I was eleven, I was teased by one kid in particular on the bus who gave me the nickname “Crusty “and asked almost every day if I knew what a toothbrush was? He would get all the other kids to point and laugh. I dreaded that bus rides home. Both my parents worked so I had no choice but to ride the bus home. There were several days I held back the tears until I got off the bus, ran to the house crying.
I got good at not showing emotion and pushing down my feelings, pretending it did not bother me. The truth is it made me very self-conscious of my smile.
It took me years to understand just how much that truly affected me. When things happen to you as a child, and you have repressed emotions and feeling they come up you later, you don’t always know what will trigger them or where they are coming from. I just kept moving forward not looking back or even thinking about those days or emotions, that would become a pattern for me in life one that would come back to bite me.
As soon as I was old enough, I had Veneers done on my upper front teeth to cover the orange stains I was so embarrassed by.
My early dental experiences are subconsciously the reason I went into dentistry in the first place. To make a difference where I was the most vulnerable.
The health of your mouth and gums directly impacts the health of your body. Most people have no clue just how much the health of your mouth affects your overall health.
How you feel about your mouth can affect your self-esteem and social interaction.
Cavities and gum disease are both 100% preventable if you know what to do to prevent them.
The good news is a simple change in your daily routine can improve not only your oral health; it can change your overall health.
When you go to the gym, you have a personal trainer help guide you in your fitness journey
They don’t do the exercises for you, they guide you in positioning and movement, so you don’t injure yourself, and you get the best results.
Oral health coaches do the same; we help motivate and inspire you to develop and achieve the most significant benefit out of your Oral health routine.
Health care has changed over the years; we spend billions of dollars on treating illness instead of preventing it.
Most Dental disease can be prevented with education and action.
My goal is to help educate as many people as humanly possible to the fact that their oral health is key to their overall health.
Join me in the Healthy Mouth Movement to a healthier life.
