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A dental hygienist is your friend.

Sure, going to the dentist can be stressful. However, keep in mind that hygienists are there to help you keep your teeth looking good and feeling great. With recent studies on a possible link between periodontal disease and heart disease, your hygienist is more than a simple tooth scraper. They're essential medical professionals who can help save your teeth and provide you with important health education.

Mark Gilkey-Meisegeier is a Wisconsin dental hygienist. He's used to patients who feel apprehensive during their dental visits.

"Seventy-five percent of people that sit in my chair say, 'I hate coming here,'" he reports.

Gilkey-Meisegeier never thought he'd be a dental hygienist. Years ago, he was a hairdresser, hating the necessary long hours. Sitting in his dentist's chair one day, his dentist turned to him and suggested a career change -- to dental hygiene.

"My first reaction was 'Oh, that would be gross,'" he admits. However, after taking a second look, he realized that a career change could be just what the doctor ordered.

Dental hygienists typically work 32-hour weeks with full benefits. He was also virtually guaranteed an hourly rate of about $21 an hour. The positive combination of the pay and the family-friendly hours made Gilkey-Meisegeier rethink his initial reaction. He soon enrolled in a community college program.

The challenge didn't end there. Nearly all his classmates were women.

"They told me that only one man a year graduates from this program and the rest don't make it," Gilkey-Meisegeier says. When he started school, he saw another man in the class. Gilkey-Meisegeier turned to his "competition" and said, "Well, I'm going to make it." His competition said the same thing. Together, they beat the odds -- they both graduated in 1997.

As a male in a predominately female profession, Gilkey-Meisegeier battles some sexist misconceptions.

"People say to me, 'Oh, you're going to school to be a dentist.' I tell them that I enjoy being a hygienist. They don't ask the women that question," he says.

If you're considering a future as a dental hygienist, Gilkey-Meisegeier recommends working as a dental assistant or finding other work in a dental office. That will give you a good idea of the career before you start your schooling.

"You have to be committed to this profession," he advises. "I went to school with a variety of people. I found that the people that made it through knew that [dental hygiene] was exactly what they wanted to do."

While he says this career isn't for everyone, Gilkey-Meisegeier urges people to take a second look at it. "It's not as bad as some people think," he says.

After a challenging start, Gilkey-Meisegeier has found his career niche -- helping people keep their teeth clean.

"I find this job very rewarding," he says. "I enjoy my career a lot."

Getting along with people is an important talent in this field.

"I'll admit it, we do have a bit of a bad reputation for coming down hard on patients for not flossing enough," says hygienist Chris Butler. "But really, I'm not like that."

Butler, like most dental hygienists, really believes in the importance of good dental hygiene. Still, she has to admit that if people don't want to floss, there's not much she can do about it.

"There comes an age when you know you should floss, and if you don't, who am I to start scolding you?" She asks.

Butler prefers a kinder, gentler approach. "I try to tell people why flossing is important, rather than just ordering them to do it," she says.

Education and communication are as important in her job as anything she does with her cleaning tools. She says people need to know why good oral hygiene habits are important.

"I say to people, your gums don't bleed for no reason. It's a sign you need to do a little more work in there. Education is a big part of oral hygiene," she says.

Butler works full time with a dentist in a regular practice. She enjoys having a clearly defined role, just like the dentist has.

"As a hygienist, I work independently and I make up my own treatment plans. I consult with the dentist, but basically I'm on my own."

She's glad she doesn't work on commission, where hygienists are paid for each patient they see.

"I would never want to do this, because you start to see your patients as a pay check," she says.

"The patients really vary, from mild to intensive cleaning. It's really important to treat every patient as an individual, because you don't want to seem like an assembly line worker."

Butler feels it's also important not to judge people, even if they haven't been to a dentist in 20 years.

"There may be many reasons why they haven't been in 20 years -- fear and financial [reasons] are the big ones. Maybe they didn't have two cents."

Butler says she would never ask a patient why they haven't seen a dentist for so long. For her, the important thing is that the patient is there now.

"I really try not to judge. I may ask when their last appointment was out of curiosity, but if they say [it's been] 20 years, I just say, 'Well, it's great to see you.'

"You can bring about a big change in someone's mouth that hasn't been in for 20 years," she says. "You can see it and they can see it. It's pretty great."

A friendly approach is really important in making patients feel comfortable. It also helps ensure they'll be back.

"If people come in with the idea that you're going to scold them and they're going to lose all their teeth, and you say, 'This isn't too bad at all,' they leave happy and they come back."

In addition to performing regular cleanings, Butler also gets to see some pretty interesting cases in her work. In particular, she remembers a woman who came in for a cleaning and mentioned a spot where food was getting trapped at the back of her mouth.

"I looked in her mouth and saw what looked like a piece of pork chop bone or something wedged in the back of her gum." Butler tried to remove it but had no luck, so she called in the dentist.

After X-rays and more examination, Butler and the dentist found that it was no pork chop bone -- it was a piece of the patient's jaw bone that had chipped off and started to break through her gum.

"This was probably the most interesting case I'd seen in a while," recalls Butler.

Cases like this are just part of an average busy day for Butler, who says her schedule is very organized but hectic.

"My time is really structured and it has to be. I know exactly what I'm going to be doing at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock."

Having steady appointments makes for a busy day. "When I'm finished with a patient, I walk that patient to the door and right there is my next appointment."

Despite the busy and demanding schedule, Butler loves her job. She admits there are people who enter this profession only because it pays well, but she stresses she isn't one of them. She says she's just lucky it worked out that way.

"The money is a bonus. It's not the only reason I'm doing this. I'm just lucky enough to be paid well to be doing something I enjoy."