Managing Our Inner ‘Perfectionist Hygienist’
Mar 08, 2022
Managing Our Inner ‘Perfectionist Hygienist’
By Suzanne L. Vila, RDH, PHDHP, B.A.
About 15 years ago, I was having a conversation with one of my employer doctors about a patient case. I made a quick off-the-cuff comment about my clinical notes saying, “Well, I’m kind of a perfectionist.”, which led to him bursting into laughter saying, “Of course, you’re a perfectionist, you’re a hygienist!”
After all of these years, I haven’t forgotten that conversation because up until then, I never put the two together. While being a perfectionist may seem like a positive in dental hygiene because it may mean attention to detail, it can also lead to stress and burnout if not managed properly.
The Perfectionist Hygienist
For hygienists, the pressure to be perfect starts as soon as we become dental hygiene students. As students, we strive for perfectly open contacts in our radiographs, removing 100% of calculus, and getting perfect grades. Once we graduate and start our career in practice, we keep that same mentality of perfection. We want to remove every speck of calculus, every bit of stain. We never want to run behind in our schedules and always want our notes to be completely detailed.
Striving toward perfection can lead to stress, exhaustion, frustration, and overall career dissatisfaction.
What is Perfectionism?
According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, perfectionism is, “the tendency to demand of others or of oneself an extremely high or even flawless level of performance.”
In dental hygiene, we tend to demand high-level performance of ourselves while also expecting the same from co-workers and employers. Although high-level dental hygiene practice may sound positive because it can help you achieve success, perfectionist hygiene can become unhealthy.
What can make perfectionism become toxic is when our actions become more about fear of failure rather than a tool for success. That means that what fuels our need to be perfect is fear of making a mistake because we want to avoid embarrassment, being reprimanded, or being perceived as not good enough.1
While practicing high level, quality dental hygiene is important, being able to practice without falling into the rabbit hole of toxic perfectionism is essential for professional fulfillment and happiness.
Are You a Perfectionist?
Many psychology experts agree that a certain level of perfectionism can be healthy if it is self-motivating toward success. But it can easily become unhealthy if the focus goes from success to failure avoidance instead, leading to toxic perfectionism.1
If you are reading this and wondering if you are a perfectionist, you might be if you find yourself trying to control situations, working to excess, taking on more and more tasks, and being overly critical of yourself and others.
Perfectionism in Dental Hygiene
Perfectionist Hygienists typically experience common perfectionist traits such as:
- ‘All or Nothing’ Attitude
- Highly Self-Critical/Critical of Others
- Fear of Failure
- Unrealistic Standards
- Procrastination/Avoidance
- Defensive Attitude
If any or all of these sound like you, odds are that you are stressed and approaching burnout. While it is certainly concerning, you do have options to manage your inner perfectionist while still maintaining a high level of patient care.
Managing the Cycle
There is a cycle that forms when we work within the perfectionist mindset. We come in with higher than realistic expectations, get stressed when our goals aren’t met, and then allow those frustrations to turn into self-criticism, low self-esteem, avoidance, and exhaustion.
The cycle goes round and round each day until you break it with tips such as:
- Setting Realistic Goals & Learning from Mistakes
One of the best ways to manage perfectionism is to remind yourself each day that perfect is impossible. Clinical conditions often prevent us from doing it all. Even if you are a great clinician, there are times when you cannot remove all of the calculus or take a perfect FMX. That’s ok! Allow yourself to reassess plans and adjust priorities based on the reality of the day. Remind yourself that you are doing your best!
When you do make a mistake, remind yourself that nobody is perfect, we are human, and humans make mistakes. Keep in mind that with making a mistake comes an opportunity to learn from it.
So, next time you feel like you made a mistake, try this learning exercise by asking yourself:
- What Did I Expect?
- What Actually Happened?
- What Did I Learn?
- Networking Among Other Perfectionist Hygienists
The good news is that you are not suffering alone! Chances are that many hygienists reading this article are feeling the same stress that you do. Find like-minded professionals so you can talk about issues and help each other answer questions and give encouragement. Consider joining your local dental hygiene association, finding groups on social media, or forming a study club within your own practice.
Knowing that you are not alone is one of the best ways to manage how you are feeling and get centered on more realistic goals.
- Taking Time for Self-Care
I recently published an article, Self-Care for Quality Care to talk about ways to reduce burnout and exhaustion in dental hygiene. While it might seem strange that these same tools can be used to manage perfectionism, it's important to see that burnout and exhaustion are often a result of our toxic perfectionist ways.
Learning to be kind to yourself isn’t always easy, especially after a challenging workday. But one way to try using an easy transitional tool to reduce stress. I often use a Two-Minute Transition to get me from one part of my day to another without carrying the excess baggage.
Final Thoughts
As a lifelong perfectionist, I am convinced that I gravitated to dental hygiene because of those classic traits. While being a perfectionist in hygiene school got me good grades, it also heightened some of my toxic perfectionism. It’s taken me MANY years to discover how to manage those feelings and give myself permission to not be perfect but to know that I am still a skilled and caring hygienist.
I hope that something in this article helps you find ways to give yourself that grace too!
P.S. We're hosting a Hygiene Summit at The Hotel Hershey, come listen to industry leaders sharing their knowledge in the beautiful hotel overlooking the gardens.
Everyone in attendance is entered to win a family 4 pack of Hersheypark tickets! Click Here to Sign Up, the early bird discount of $25 expires on April 1st.
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About the Author: Suzanne L. Vila, RDH, PHDHP, B.A.
Suzanne is a Registered Dental Hygienist in Central PA who works in private periodontal practice and at a local college as an adjunct dental hygiene faculty. After a thirty-year career in dental hygiene, Suzanne is now creating non-clinical projects involving professional enhancement, public health initiatives, and patient education. In addition to being a passionate dental practitioner, Suzanne enjoys teaching fitness classes such as Pilates and yoga, volunteering with the local dog rescue Pitties.Love.Peace, and spending time with her family and their two rescued pit bulls, Rudy & Freya.
Resources:
- Is the Perfectionism Plague Taking a Psychological Toll ... https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/the-athletes-way/201801/is-the-perfectionism-plague-taking-psychological-toll.
- Perfectionism - Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/perfectionism
