For Stacey Boyce, being a registered dental hygienist who has shaped smiles and advanced health in the Springfield area for more than three decades is more than a profession – it’s personal.
Working under Drs. Jerry Fankhauser and Nicholas Hein, since 2007 Boyce has been at Springfield Dental Care where she is driven to impact patients’ lives by developing relationships and promoting dental health as an important part of overall well-being. For Boyce, the job isn’t just a series of oral cancer screenings, gum assessments and cleanings. It’s an opportunity to establish real connections with people.
“Being a part of the dental profession in the Ozarks for over 30 years has allowed me to develop strong connections with many patients. I feel very blessed that they have accepted me into their lives by inviting me to family events, such as birthday parties, baseball games, weddings, hospital and nursing homes, and funeral visitations, to which I have graciously attended many,” Boyce says.
“Through this trusting relationship, and with encouragement and motivation, the necessary clinical tasks mentioned above become easier and more comfortable for my patients.”
Both through her work and through volunteer efforts – such as the American Dental Association’s Give Kids a Smile Day initiative, where she provides free dental services to children in need – Boyce says she sees herself as someone who can help patients see the big picture.
Boyce believes she provides a beneficial role in the community by helping those she serves understand that having a healthy mouth is a key to having a healthy body.
“I have a strong personal and professional motivation that stems back to my teenage years when I lost my father to heart disease in his early forties,” Boyce says, noting her longtime passion for health and wellness.
“The knowledge I obtained through my dental hygiene education has been a stepping stone to a life where I am dedicated to fitness, nutrition and health.”
Beyond elementary and nursing home screenings, Boyce’s community contributions include serving on a Mercy diabetes panel on oral health and being a promoter of local charity running events. She also has mentored several dental hygiene students.
“I frequently see patients at such events and love to promote overall health and well-being in this way,” Boyce says, adding she values the support she can give to the next generation of oral health professionals.
“I have also had the opportunity to mentor several dental hygiene students while they were in school.”
Throughout her career, she also has put a focus on continuing education as a way to better serve the community, because, in the end, what matters to Boyce is more than the outcome of a radiograph.
“From watching children with newly erupted teeth to seeing 90-year-old patients able to keep their teeth for a lifetime, my professional motivation is based on teaching patients to take care of the body as a whole,” Boyce says.
“This dedication in my personal life crosses over to my dental hygiene career with the same strong desire to help my patients set their own personal goals and accomplish them.”[[In-content Ad]]
A safe room and classroom addition at Willard Central Elementary School will be used by the music, arts and athletic programs for a district that had 4,536 students last year, according to Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education figures, but school officials say enrollment is projected to grow.
