Mentorship and manifestation: Empowering RDHs | Laura Bettencourt, RDH
Laura Bettencourt, an experienced dental hygienist, has transformed her career with a focus on innovative techniques like Guided Biofilm Therapy. As a co-founder of Diamond Dental Coaching, now known as LD Coaching, she empowers fellow hygienists to conquer burnout and achieve professional growth. Harnessing positivity and mentorship, Laura’s coaching services offer a transformative path for dental professionals seeking fulfillment and success.
Meet Laura Bettencourt
Laura Bettencourt shares her keys to positivity and innovative thinking. As a hygienist with 15 years of experience, she is certified in Guided Biofilm Therapy and laser therapy, and provides an elevated standard of care to her patients. Through the company she co-founded, L’Diamante Dental Hygiene Career Coaching, she helps hygienists achieve their goals and find their full potential. She manages all this while also prioritizing her family. Laura shares her mantra and beliefs on the power of manifestation, as well as encourages hygienists looking to grow to reach out and find a mentor.
Esmy:
Hello Laura, how are you?
Laura:
I’m doing wonderful. How are you?
Esmy:
I’m just doing great. Thank you so much for letting the RDH Connect team interview you. We’re so excited to talk to you about your career. So the first thing I want to start off with is how did you start your career and where are you now?
Laura:
Awesome. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. It’s wonderful to connect with you. I always love speaking with you and I love supporting RDH Connect. It’s such a wonderful platform to utilize. So to answer your question, where did I get started? Well, I graduated in 2008 and immediately upon graduation, I started my career at a private practice. While I was in school, I actually worked there and the hygienists that were there were such mentors to me, and they said, don’t you worry once you graduate, you’ll have a job here waiting for you. And that really became my home. I loved working there. I was there for about 12 years and life circumstances happened. My husband and I had our son, Jackson, and we ended up moving, and Jackson was about to start kindergarten. So I really wanted to be closer to home for him and adjust my schedule, children are priority.
So I ended up switching my career and started at another practice. It was bittersweet because everybody that I worked with really was family. But I have to say I’m so thankful that I ended up making that move because I became a better hygienist in doing so. I think a lot of times as a hygienist, when you are at one place for a really long time, there are so many benefits to it, but for me anyways, you get caught up in the same routine. Sometimes those four walls seem like they can close in on you. And I was obviously practicing as a hygienist the best that I could possibly be, but I definitely limited myself. And when I changed positions and offices, my eyes kind of opened up to other opportunities and that really led me to where I am today. So I am now practicing GBT, or guided biofilm therapy.
So I only practice as a guided biofilm therapy hygienist. I love being able to provide that standard of care to my patients. I constantly am learning new innovations and technologies. I’m also laser certified. So clinically, I love being able to just provide that type of care for my patients. When I was also in the process of all of that, I co-founded my own business with Danielle and we’re part of L’Diamante Dental Hygiene Career Coaching now where we coach hygienists to beat burnout and reignite their passion within their careers and find the growth that’s out there, because I knew all too well that I felt like those four walls were closing in. I wanted more within my career and I was able to make connections and discover that. So I want to help as many people as I possibly can do that as well.
Esmy:
Awesome. And super rare to talk to a hygienist who’s been practicing clinically for so many years and it’s still so excited about it and it’s so clinically innovative. That’s not always something that you see. And that’s definitely the number one thing that you see the difference between hygienists that are burnt out and not burnt out. So that’s amazing that you discovered that and you’re taking others with you.
Laura:
Yes. I’m so grateful for that.
Esmy:
What do you think has been the most rewarding thing about being a hygienist? Would you say it lies in the clinical innovation, the business side or the patient side?
Laura:
That’s a great question. For me, I think it’s really all inclusive. It’s all of them. I love being able to meet patients where they’re at and motivate them and help them reach their own goals, being able to empathize with them and have that intuitive conversation with them. I love that. I love being able to empower the clients that we have and help them gain the confidence and see the best versions of themselves. It’s really all of it. Like I said, I love practicing GBT. I love using lasers, all of it. I don’t think I could pick one thing.
Esmy:
What would you say is the most unique or unexpected thing about your career as a hygienist?
Laura:
So I never would’ve imagined. I really thought that I was just going to be only a clinical hygienist for the longest time. I never would’ve thought that I’d be an entrepreneur and business owner and mentoring and coaching clients to gain the flexibility and freedom that they’re looking for in their career. So that has definitely been the most unexpected and probably one of the proudest things that I’ve done that I took the initiative and the action to just start something.
Esmy:
That’s pretty powerful. It’s one thing to wish you were doing something quite another to actually take that thought, put it onto paper, and then take it from the paper and then turn it into an actual action. So that’s really incredible that you did that. A lot of people, you and Danielle both had the tenacity to just build your business while managing clinical careers, kids the whole thing. And anybody who knows you guys, you’re so passionate about what you do. So that’s incredible for hygienists to have you all guiding them through trying to figure out as a hygienist what’s on the other side. I know I graduated 10 years ago and mentorship wasn’t really a thing that was ever discussed. I had to figure it out on my own. So it is really wonderful, this new generation of hygienists, it’s so encouraging. Find a mentor. It’s like we really recognize you need that so that you don’t burn out.
Laura:
Absolutely. I mean, there’s so many different things that an individual needs to do to help prevent burnout, and I think that’s in all avenues and all careers, but especially as a hygienist, you really need to take care of yourself and prioritize what your why is.
Esmy:
So I know you are someone who is super, super positive, but everybody has tough times downtime. So what gets you through when the times get tough?
Laura:
Remembering my why, never giving up. So my dad passed away a little over two years ago, and he just instilled in me to always persevere. And when I was younger, when I was a little girl, he always used to sing to me, I can do anything better than you. No, you can’t. And you’d go back and forth and he just instilled in me to never give up on your dreams. So even on the hardest days, the darkest days, I just remember that and hold that near and dear to my heart. And I know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel and that I won’t give up on what my dreams are. So why is my husband and my son and to truly, I just want to inspire others to be inspired and to be the best version of themselves.
Esmy:
That’s powerful. Do you have a personal mantra?
Laura:
I do. I’m going to read it to you. The universe is awesome and so am I. My heart is open, love pours in and out. I receive all the good that life has to offer me, abundance that I have and the abundance that’s on its way. I choose to live a rich and full life, and I am grateful for having such an amazing life. So yeah, that’s something that I just say to myself every day. I end it with, I am a loving and supportive wife, mother, daughter and friend. I want what is best for all. So that’s my mantra that I say to myself.
Esmy:
That is beautiful. And I love the part about being open to receiving and just being open. I think you and I have, we’ve had conversations. We’re both big believers in manifesting things and the power of putting things out there and speaking them into existence. But I think there’s also something really, really wonderful about putting it out there, what you deserve, what you want for yourself. And you say it out loud and you claim it and you’re like, I know I’m going to crush this goal. I know this dream that I have. It’s going to be mine. So I think that’s incredible.
Laura:
Thank you. And I love that we’ve had that conversation and it’s so when you truly believe it and you say it and you manifest it enough, I mean, it can happen.
Esmy:
I tell it to students, I’m like, you have to say it out loud. I’m going to graduate hygiene school. I will be a dental hygienist. I will pass my boards.
Laura:
And write it down, writing it down when you write things down, it helps.
Esmy:
Definitely. Well, where can people reach you? How do people go about it if they’re interested in your coaching services?
Laura:
Yeah, so Danielle and I have a website, DiamondDentalhcc.com. You could always go on there. You could reach us via email at Diamond Dental [email protected]. And then we’re on Instagram social media for Diamond Dental Coaching. And we’re also on LinkedIn, a little bit on Facebook, not as active there, but definitely through LinkedIn and Instagram and of course email.
Esmy:
Awesome. Well, I hope everybody will be inspired to reach out to you to see about pursuing some coaching, especially those that are feeling crushed or the walls are coming in. I think so many of us hygienists relate to that, so it’s really wonderful to know that they have someone like you on their side who can help them see the way out and get on the other side of it to bigger and better things. So thank you so much for your time for sharing all your positivity and creativity with us, and we look forward to seeing all the wonderful things you’re going to go forward to accomplish. So thank you.
Laura:
Thank you so much, Esmy. Thanks for having me.
{recorded in August 2023}
Laura Bettencourt, BSDH, RDH has more than 15 yrs of clinical experience & co-founder of L’Diamante Dental Hygiene Career Coaching also known as LD Coaching. Her expertise is in human connection, career development, & team leadership. She has helped create & implement programs such as compliance, hygiene excellence & periodontal protocols. As a mindset hygiene career coach, she thrives on guiding & empowering her clients to achieve confidence & clarity. Learn more about Laura Bettencourt, RDH, follow @diamonddentalcoaching on Instagram, and visit LD Coaching at DiamondDentalhcc.com.
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