If your preschooler or kindergartener says the Tooth Fairy came for a visit at school, chances are this is not a new imaginary friend they’re talking about.
Because the Tooth Fairy is alive and well.
By day, she goes by the name of Holly Webster, an Extended Functions Dental Assistant (EFDA) and Expanded Functions Orthodontic Dental Assistant (EFODA) at A Kidz Dental Zone. When she’s not assisting Dr. Kyle House or Dr. Steven Wohlford with young patients, she’s in the community, teaching youngsters how to care for their teeth.
She’s adult-sized, of course, because it’s only at night when her magic fairy dust is able to make her small.
“I tell the kids, ‘I drive a normal car during the day and have normal feet like you,’” Webster said. “’Night is when the magic fairy dust works.’
“I had to come up with something like that, because this little girl said, ‘My mom said you were as small as a tulip!’ I had to come up with something on the spot, and that’s what came out.”
Her presentations last about 20 minutes. She reads “Melvin the Magnificent Molar,” a book on tooth care, and then Fred the puppet — he’s a baboon — comes out for a brushing demonstration. She emphasizes having mommy’s or daddy’s big hands help with brushing because little hands aren’t coordinated to do it on their own.
Webster also shows how much sugar is in a can of pop verses 100 percent apple juice and the importance of limiting sugary drinks and snacks. Next comes a question and answer period, although the “questions” end up being things like, “My dad has cavities!” or “My brother went to the dentist!”
“They’re not really questions, just a story about teeth of some sort,” she laughed.
Webster starts planning her school trips for February, which is National Children’s Dental Health Month. She reaches out to area preschools and elementary schools, but has even given presentations at the middle school level — sans sparkly dress and tiara.
“On that day, I am Holly the Dental Assistant,” she joked. Preschool and kindergarteners love a visit from the Tooth Fairy, but “first grade is kind of iffy, and second graders are, ‘You’re fake!’” she said. “After second grade, the Tooth Fairy has lost all of her luster and the big gown and crown don’t mean anything.”
But she’s still able to spread her message. With older kids, she talks about the importance of using mouth guards during sports events and age appropriate brushing and flossing techniques.
She recently had the experience of talking to a young patient who told her all about how the Tooth Fairy had visited her class — without recognizing that Webster was that same Fairy.
“She remembered the story, she remembered the big hands,” she said. “It’s a great avenue to provide age appropriate education to children that they can take home to their parents.”
Webster has been the Tooth Fairy for five years, a concept initiated by marketing manager Jill House. “She had the dress made to fit multiple sized-people, but no one else will put it on,” Webster laughed.
Her favorite part, both when visiting schools and assisting at the dentist office, is working with kids.
“It’s such a rewarding job being a dental assistant, to work with kids,” she said. “They’re so excited about the world, so willing to accept our training and listen to our instruction, and they are adorable. They ask honest questions — they don’t have filters, and they’re just beautiful. I love being able to play a part in their dental care and education.”
Webster has worked 19 years at A Kidz, but becoming an EFDA and EFODA was not on her initial radar.
She attended Cascade Dental Consultants, a “traveling” dental school run by a dentist from The Dalles at a local hotel, as suggested by a high school counselor. Through the 12-week course, Webster “got a lot of terminology education, learned about teeth and morphology and what they’re made up of, (and) how to do impression and chair assisting skills.”
Thursdays were bookwork days; Fridays were clinical days. “At that point in my life, it was a great opportunity,” she said. “I had never thought of being a DA. At the time, I was 19, had a baby … (and) just needed to get a decent job that provided a decent wage to raise my son.”
It also helped support her two teenage sisters, whom she “went on to raise. It was decent wages to support the family that I had.”
The course “gave me a good starting point, but then, most of my training was on the job, all my certification (was received) on the job.”
To become both a dental and orthodontist assistant, Webster had to work a certain number of hours — which took about two years — on the job, as well as pass a series of tests. She worked for Dr. Michael G. Page, DMD, beginning in June 1995, until Dr. House bought the practice in October 1999.
These days, Webster’s family includes husband Troy and sons Timothy, 21, Tylan, 15, and Payden, 12. The family lives in White Salmon, where she was raised.
“I loved this area so much I never left,” she said.
Webster still has a couple of openings in her Tooth Fairy calendar; contact the A Kidz office at 541-387-8688.
Commented