Cassie Kellner [00:00:01]:
Welcome to The Bloom Effect. I'm your host, Cassie Kellner, former chairside assistant turned team coach and founder of Everbloom. This podcast is all about the real stuff. Honest convos, leadership lessons, and the heart behind thriving orthodontic teams. If you're ready to grow, lead, and bloom, let's dive in.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:22]:
Welcome to The Bloom Effect. I'm your host, Cassie Kellner. I. This is my first guest of 2026 because I did a solo pod, so I'm super excited. Also, y'all better sit up straight for this one. Like, we are diving into it. Stephanie Botts, welcome to The Bloom Effect.
Stephanie Botts [00:00:45]:
Thank you so much, Cassie. And, oh, my gosh, I didn't realize I was your first episode of 2026, so happy New Year.
Cassie Kellner [00:00:51]:
I know, right? Stephanie. Stephanie. I am. Oh, gosh. Where do we even begin? Well, first, I guess we'll begin with. Who is Stephanie Botts?
Stephanie Botts [00:01:04]:
Oh, man. How far. How far back do you want to go?
Cassie Kellner [00:01:07]:
I was born at home.
Stephanie Botts [00:01:09]:
I actually was born at home. My mom.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:10]:
Were you?
Stephanie Botts [00:01:11]:
Yeah. Yeah. And I grew up in the house that she. She gave. I know. We're not going that far back. Oh, my gosh.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:17]:
I love that.
Stephanie Botts [00:01:19]:
Yeah. And it's funny because when I was growing up, I thought everybody was born at home. And I thought it was so weird when they told me they were born at a hospital. I'm just like, what? Yeah, that's where I grew up. In my. In my house till I. Till I moved out. Really? When I was, like, in my 20s.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:35]:
That's a good, fun fact.
Stephanie Botts [00:01:37]:
Yeah. Yeah. She gave birth to me in that house. And then one of my sisters, she was born at a different house.
Cassie Kellner [00:01:45]:
Oh, okay. Kudos to your mom.
Stephanie Botts [00:01:48]:
Okay, well, she was. You know, my parents were, like. I think back then, you would have characterized them as, like, crunchy, like granola. You know what I mean? Super, like, alternative, I guess.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:01]:
Yeah.
Stephanie Botts [00:02:01]:
Now it seems like that stuff is more mainstream, but they were doing before it was cool.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:05]:
Oh, my gosh. Okay. Born in a house. Stephanie Botts, born in a house.
Stephanie Botts [00:02:10]:
Love this, but let's fast forward.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:12]:
Okay, fine.
Stephanie Botts [00:02:13]:
So, yeah, I'm a dental hygienist. I've been practicing for. It's like, every year, I kind of lose count, but it's that I'm almost at 18 years, and then, so. And I still do that occasionally. Like, see patients occasionally. But I started a company about five years ago called Polish Posture. It's an ergonomics coaching and consulting business, and I help dental professionals and office workers. With their ergonomics.
Cassie Kellner [00:02:40]:
Okay. So we were going to record this. Last month, however, I broke my foot and then we, I had to reschedule and like, life happened and I was like, also, Stephanie, it's funny that I was, you know, we've talked about this even before I hit record, but I was like, ergonomically, let me tell you, walking in a boot, being on a scooter, like, all the things. I'm not behind the chair anymore, so I can relate to that aspect. But this is just like day to day stuff and like the ergonomics of my body being, I, I. The love I have for people being in boots and breaking limbs and, you know, all the things I, I truly, I empathize so much more than I ever did, you know?
Stephanie Botts [00:03:29]:
Yeah, well, I feel like ergonomics, it's everywhere. You know, every profession has their own issues with it and ergonomics, at least the way I look at it, it's not just like posture or like setting up your workstation correctly. It's like life stuff, like what you've been through. You know, it translates to like, diet and sleep and exercise and, and all. And mental health, like, all of it. It really is just like a wellness type of thing.
Cassie Kellner [00:03:54]:
So how did this happen? Like, was there a moment where you, I mean, were you in pain? Like, what is your, your story? Like, how did this come about? Because I'm so fascinated and I do not think, at least I know in orthodontics, we are not talking about this enough. So was there a turning point?
Stephanie Botts [00:04:14]:
Yeah, so I just, looking back, you know, I was full time at this practice for quite a while. And as the years went on, I started, like, my back would go out and I would have to take some time off or I would just be really struggling at work. And I'm just like, God, I'm in so much pain. And I remember, but it was, I don't even want to say it was manageable. I was thinking it was manageable at the time, but really I was really struggling. But then COVID happened, right? And so we had a little bit of a break and then I went back and my pain within that first week was like 10 out of 10. And I'm pretty sure that it was the stress of the situation too. That was a really hard time. And then my body hadn't been practicing for a while, but I was, I remember texting my boyfriend and I was like, this is not sustainable. I cannot do this. You know, And I was doing all the things at the time I was changing my workouts, I was going getting massages, chiropractor, PT. I even tried acupuncture. I was doing all of it, but I was. Every time I went into the operatory, that's where my pain came back. Monday morning, first patient, and I'm like, okay, clearly I'm doing something wrong in here that's causing this, you know. So I started kind of researching ergonomics. Like, how should I be positioned? How should my patient be positioned? What do I need to do? And I started making these small changes, and then I felt the results of that. I was like, not in as much pain and I was. Had more energy and I wasn't resenting my patients for showing up, you know?
Cassie Kellner [00:05:50]:
Right, yes.
Stephanie Botts [00:05:51]:
And then I was just like, it was like a light bulb moment. I'm like, I'm not the only one that struggles with this. Like, pretty much everyone else in my office also was in pain. So I went back to school, I got certified as an ergonomic specialist. I started my business, had no idea what I was doing. I still sometimes have no idea what I'm doing.
Cassie Kellner [00:06:09]:
Yeah, same.
Stephanie Botts [00:06:10]:
But then started. Started trying to help as much as I can. So.
Cassie Kellner [00:06:14]:
So now how does this work? Do you go in to practices? Like, what does your model look like?
Stephanie Botts [00:06:22]:
Yeah, it's kind of. It's just depending on what the person or the practice needs. Like, I have some practices that hire me to work with the entire team. I'll go spend a day or two with them. But what I want to do, it's like I created what I needed at the time. And when I was really trying to figure things out, I was like, I need someone who knows a to. To watch me and tell me what I'm doing wrong. You know, it's like I can only figure out so much because I'm so focused on the patient. So that's what I did. And what I really want to do is not just tell people to have good posture. I want to watch them practice with a patient in their operatory and be like, okay, this is what you need to do in this operatory to have better ergonomics, you know, or, or whatever. And it's not always recommending brand new equipment. I mean, that's not my goal. You know, it's trying to figure out how they can best utilize what they're provided with. So I work with teams I work with. I have single clinicians hire me, single doc, single hygienist, whoever. I do it in person or virtually sometimes, especially if it's an individual out of state. It doesn't make sense to fly me out there for to work with one person. So I'll work with them virtually. But I do a lot of education too, like lecturing and CE and stuff.
Cassie Kellner [00:07:39]:
It's really actually incredible. And you know, as you say this, obviously every specialty in dental is different. Like think about every assistant who sits maybe in surgical or ortho or endo or. Right? And then you have hygiene, like and so ortho specifically, because that's my niche. And what I know, they, they are moving from chair to chair. It's not necessarily their operatory, which is really wild. I'm having so many aha moments right now just in my own career. It's so wild. You can jump from one chair, then you're over to the next chair. I'm 5 10. And so my chair is going to look really different than somebody who's 5:2. However, I can't tell you how many times I was a clinical systems consultant for eight years, I would go into practices and I would see the orthodontist also is sitting in that exact same chair and he could be 6 5. And you know, like the, the what's happening in between all of this. And then when I see an assistant who maybe is 5:2 after the orthodontist leaves, she's just so focused on working on her patient that she just sits down and gets to work and like the hunch, you know, the things that are happening within her body I don't think we're really even paying attention to until it's five o' clock and you're like, I am so sore. My neck hurts, my body hurts. Right. It's really, really interesting. What would you say are like early warning signs that people should not ignore or dismiss? Because I'm telling you right now, I'm ignoring and dismissing so much.
Stephanie Botts [00:09:33]:
Yeah, well, it is tempting, you know, and we especially as are notorious for just pushing through the pain, saying that we have high pain tolerance and it's fine and it's not fine. Any kind of chronic pain, especially something that lasts longer than two weeks, that's a warning sign that something's wrong. And I remember seeing this post on social media a while ago. I wish I came up with it, but I didn't. But it said pain is your body's way of telling you you're not doing it right. And I'll never forget that because it's true. Pain is not normal. And yet painful is normalized in dentistry. It's like we're all, it's like a badge of honor. We're all in pain, we're all slogging through, you know, and it doesn't have to be that way. I mean, just think about are you your best self when you go home at the end of the day and you're completely exhausted and your back hurts and you can't play with your kids or you can't cook or you can't exercise. Like it's not worth it, you know. And so I really try to empower people to like what you were mentioning with the ortho. Take a minute or a few seconds, get the stool that's actually fits you. Right. Because stools, it's not one size fits all. The stool that fits six, five is not going to fit five foot tall. So get your stool, bring it with you. Organize yourself and set up your patient in a way that you're not struggling, you know. And, and with ortho too, I know there's a lot of jumping around and I've seen a lot people are like, oh, I'm just going to sit down real quick and do this. And it's like it's not real quick. Usually you're there for longer than you think. So it's like we need to just take a second and set ourselves up for success and just think about how you want to feel at the end of the day and let that motivate you to take those few seconds to really position yourself correctly.
Cassie Kellner [00:11:16]:
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, excuse me. I think a lot of times at least I'm just going to speak from my own experience. Like I was always like, like oh, this is just part of the job, like my upper back, my lower back, like this is just what we do, what we feel. My sister in law is actually a hygienist. I'm thinking of her so much throughout because like she went through two babies, two pregnancies in hygiene and you know, and, and she's still in it. And like so many female professionals, practitioners are and I just don't think that we're speaking about this enough. You know, like there, there are so many women, specific factors. Right. There's pregnancy, there's menstrual cycles, there's perimenopause, menopause. I mean we could just like keep going forever, but that we deal with. And these, our industries are predominantly female.
Stephanie Botts [00:12:21]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:12:22]:
So like there's so many challenges that we face. This doesn't get discussed enough. The pain.
Stephanie Botts [00:12:32]:
No, I, yeah, I agree. And I actually. So I created a Lecture all around. It's brand new, but it's all around the. The female specific challenges in dentistry. Because you're right, you know, and I've just been thinking over this last year, I'm like, okay, if we look at the statistics, dentistry is predominantly female. Right. We see that in practices just across the board. Female.
Cassie Kellner [00:12:57]:
Yes.
Stephanie Botts [00:12:59]:
And if we look at the injury rates and musculoskeletal disorders, the majority of dental clinicians are in pain, and pain rates are higher in females. And so I'm just like, okay, but why is that? You know, is it just because most of us are female and that's just how the numbers go? But honestly, it isn't. It's because of hormones. It's because of these severe hormonal shifts that none of us are talking about. We're kind of conditioned not to talk about that.
Cassie Kellner [00:13:25]:
Yes.
Stephanie Botts [00:13:26]:
And the fact that equipment, it's changing now, which is good. But historically, it has been designed around the measurements of men. So we are women with hormonal issues. Okay. That are going in, working on equipment that is not designed for us. And so we're having to reach or we're having to strain and hunt or sit on stools that flat out do not fit us, and that's contributing to our pain rates. So I'm lucky that I'm working. I have one company in mind that I'm working with, and I'm sure that there's other ones out there that are starting to design equipment around the measurements of women, because we're the ones using the equipment, you know, or at least making it adjustable so that it will fit everyone instead of just forcing, you know, five foot five female to work on something that's been designed for the average male, which is 5, 9, or 5' 10.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:18]:
I did not even actually put this together.
Stephanie Botts [00:14:22]:
Yeah. It's like, I get very passionate.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:24]:
Absolutely.
Stephanie Botts [00:14:25]:
It's a huge hole in our profession that I'm hoping that now, with conversations around menopause and hormones, that that's becoming more normalized, that this also will become more normalized. And we'll be like, okay, this is something that we've been neglecting for a long time. Let's go ahead and change that.
Cassie Kellner [00:14:43]:
Yeah. I mean, think about how many pregnant, how many pregnancies that females in our industry are just working through. And so many colleagues of mine are like, yeah, I'm working until the end. And I'm like, I can't imagine.
Stephanie Botts [00:15:03]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:15:04]:
I mean, when I, when I had my kids, I was already in the consulting world, and So I was traveling. That was a whole different ball game. Being on an airplane and being pregnant and the ergonomics of that. But I didn't have to sit chairside and do it. I just, I can't imagine like the hips, the pelvis, the back, all the things. And then the equipment is not actually built for them to begin with.
Stephanie Botts [00:15:29]:
Yeah, right. In pregnancy, that adds a whole nother layer. I, I don't know. So I haven't been pregnant. I haven't worked through that. I can't speak from a personal experience, but honestly, I cannot imagine trying to do full time hygiene or full time dentistry in any capacity. Being pregnant. The demands that pregnancy has on the body, especially the musculoskeletal system, which is already overworked because we're working in dentistry. The fact that females can do this at all blows me away, let alone up until they actually deliver. I don't even know how that's possible.
Cassie Kellner [00:16:03]:
I know. Okay, so shout out to all of you out there that are listening to this that we're drilling like, oh, I'm gonna go to 40 weeks. And you're just behind the chair doing your thing. I mean, you're a super, you're superwoman. You know, I, I just.
Stephanie Botts [00:16:19]:
We don't have to be super women. Like, aren't we tired of being superwoman? Aren't we tired of being amazing? And we can do everything we shouldn't have to do that.
Cassie Kellner [00:16:28]:
I agree with you, Stephanie. Wholeheartedly.
Stephanie Botts [00:16:30]:
Too much. The demands are too high.
Cassie Kellner [00:16:32]:
Yeah, I, I agree. Hey bloomers, I've got something big to share. Our May Ortho Society meeting filled to 95% in just 72 hours. That level of demand told us everything we needed to know. So we're opening a second highly curated and geographically exclusive cohort. Join us June 4th and 5th at the Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, California. For The Ortho Society, a hands-on implementation experience limited to 20 hand-selected orthodontic practices. I'm co-hosting with Lindsay Quinn, founder of Heartwise Collective. Together, we bring 40 plus years of orthodontic and practice management experience, and we build systems alongside you. Day one, team growth plans, clear pathways for long-term success. Plus your digital workflows, AI systems, CEO dashboards, and a 12-month operational roadmap. Day two, peer collaboration, problem solving, and real-time implementation. Think study club vibes. This is real work built in real time and you leave ready to execute. Applications are open, spots are limited. Link in the show notes. I'll see you in San Diego. This is going to go off on a tangent here, but that also speaks to the workplace environment. On why do I have to work until I'm 40 weeks? You know, like, there's, there's so many layers to this that, you know, we don't even have enough time for. But it's true, you know, our bodies, the, our mind, you know, what we're going through as female practitioners, so much can relate to this. You said when we first jumped on. There's so much more than just posture. And it's funny that you say that, and I, I'd love for you to speak to this a little bit. You talked about, like, you know, working out and nutrition and, and all of the things. Like, can you speak to that a little more? Because I think of just posture. Like, I'm sitting at my desk right now, but it's so much more than that.
Stephanie Botts [00:18:41]:
Yeah. Well, if we, so if we talk about posture, I mean, posture obviously is very important. We all want great, perfect posture. And it's. It's fine for me to tell you what perfect posture would look like.
Cassie Kellner [00:18:54]:
Sure.
Stephanie Botts [00:18:54]:
If you don't have the muscular strength to maintain that posture, it doesn't really matter. So then it's like, okay, that's a whole nother layer. Let's talk about strengthening. We need to strengthen our bodies. As dental clinicians, we have to be able. I mean, dentistry is one of the most physically demanding jobs out there because we're using our body. We're not using our body the way it's meant to be used. Our body's meant to move right. As humans, we're meant to move around. In dentistry, we're stuck like this, you know, in chicken wing, or we're twisting or we've got our head forward. Those are all very unnatural movements. And to sit still, still for minutes or hours on end is not what our body's meant to do. So first off, dentistry, already, that's a check mark against us. Right. And if our body isn't strong enough to withstand those, those postures and have the stamina, it doesn't matter. Posture doesn't matter because we're not strong enough to do that. You know, So I talk a lot. I mean, stretching. Dental clinicians stretch and they stretch and they stretch till the cows come home, which is great. But strengthening is equally, if not more important than. And I'm not talking about bodybuilding, you know, or getting ripped or whatever. I'm talking about strengthening these smaller postural muscles like in our neck, our back, our shoulders, our pelvis so that we can maintain those kind of weird situations that we find ourselves in. And the nutrition, you know, a lot comes back to nutrition. We all know inflammation is bad. Why do we have high sugar treats in the break room in every single dental office across the country? Like, that's increasing our inflammation, which is increasing our pain. So we also need to get our diet dialed in, too, and protein. I mean, I could go on and on about all of this, and there's. There is so much, and it can be overwhelming. I. I just try to tell people to focus on one thing at a time. But I was actually interviewing someone yesterday for my podcast.
Cassie Kellner [00:20:52]:
Yeah.
Stephanie Botts [00:20:52]:
And it was about vision. And he was giving tips on how we can, you know, keep our eyes and our vision and our brain healthy. And it's so funny how all of these things, they all come back to the same conversation. Decrease inflammation, reduce sugar, increase protein and whole foods. Like, it is pretty simple when you just break it down like that.
Cassie Kellner [00:21:12]:
Yeah. And then it. It just, it. That's like the layer, like, it just fact. It's like the umbrella. And it just factors into all of these other things in, in. In health.
Stephanie Botts [00:21:23]:
Yeah. And. And too, dental clinicians will be like, okay, well, I've. I've got the saddle stool. I've got the ergonomic loops. I've changed all of this. My posture looks better, but I'm still. Still in pain. What are they eating? Are they sleeping? How's their mental health? Are they exercising? You know, it's all of these things put together that equal us feeling good or feeling bad. And it's like, we can't. There's not one magic bullet that's going to fix everything. It's just this holistic thing, just like what we tell our patients. Right? Yeah. It's the same thing.
Cassie Kellner [00:21:53]:
Yeah. Yeah. That's actually really, really powerful to, to just like, it's. Obviously, it's our bodies, but everything is connected, you know?
Stephanie Botts [00:22:06]:
Well, it is. And. And, you know, coming back to women, I don't know about you, Cassie, but I was raised to be the nice girl. To get along, to not make waves, to not make. My job was to make other people's life easier. Okay, that does not translate. I will just say to a healthy life or a healthy mental state. Okay. I've learned the hard way, and I'm trying to undo that, but especially as dental, female dental clinicians, it's the same thing. It's like, well, I'm not going to say I'm in pain. I'm not going to say I need new instruments or a new stool, I'm just going to make do and no, you're going to be the one that suffers. Like I suffered for way too long until I figured this out. So I think we as women, we just need to just get over it, you know, and start advocating for ourselves and stop putting everyone else first. Like we have to take care of ourselves. Yeah, sorry. I get very passionate about that.
Cassie Kellner [00:23:04]:
I love this. And you know, it's really interesting in the ortho world we have a, a large group of dental assistants who are working in orthodontic clinics. Right. It could be, you could have three, you could have 25. Like you could have these mass safe groups. What I find really interesting is this, this health. Right. Mental health, physical well being, all of it is actually also directly correlated to their career. So when you go into a practice, you typically find in the ortho world younger assistants who are eager, more excited and, and honestly as a 41 year old female female, they're not paying attention because I wasn't when I started to their body and what they're doing. Right. I mean think about it. I mean let's go way back where I was like doing sleepovers with my girlfriends and I'm like on the floor with like maybe a random like pillow and like we're up all night and God knows like, you know what I mean? Like, like so we just. I know I wasn't as a young female getting into this profession paying attention. However, it hits you pretty fast. I have a 25 year old niece who's in this profession and she feels it and she's 25, you know what I mean? And something happens in that kind of range of between 20 and 25 where you're like, oh, I feel it now, it's happening. And then what happens if we're not paying attention and we're not focused on this? This is why I love what you do. The next thing you know we have these assistants who are so burnt out and our bodies are burnt out that we're like, okay, well can I go in and can I be a T, Can I be a treatment coordinator? Can I go into the marketing role? Can I? Because my body, it's, it's like I still want to do this chair side but my body can't handle it anymore. I'm burnt out from this.
Stephanie Botts [00:25:09]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:25:10]:
And, and if we were to just pay attention to when we were 19 and had these conversations that could look a lot different. You know, I think everyone's struggling the business then is struggling. You know, it's just really interesting if you really put this into perspective.
Stephanie Botts [00:25:29]:
Well, it's, it's. Yeah, I totally agree with what you're saying. And in my lectures too, I talk about, you know, if I'm talking to dentists and dental assistants, it's like I've had that experience too, where the assistant will come in typically trained on the job, sometimes they've been to school, but usually not, at least in my experience. And they're young, like, what are we doing? Because we've got these young, most of the time, women coming in, getting no ergonomic training, working on equipment that maybe fits them, maybe doesn't. Don't get me started on assistant chairs. That's a whole nother thing. And we're like setting them up for what you just said. Being in pain at a young age and then what's the rest of their life look like? Like, what are we doing? We just, we have to be better as soon as possible. When it comes to ergonomic training, that's in schools and dental schools, hygiene schools, assistant schools, making sure. I mean, in my ideal world people would have assessments or have some kind of regular ergonomic training. I'm not the only one that does this. There's a few of us out there. We need more. Honestly, it just to make sure that people can work for as long as they want to. And it's, it's a tough thing because it's not something that people don't see the ROI with it. Right. It's not like getting a scanner and then you're going to increase production or it's not like adding an operatory and you're going to like 10x your whatever. It's not like that. It's more of a, I don't know, kind of a hidden thing. But if, if dental practice owners are having a hard time finding people, retaining people, they're losing people because of pain, that is preventable. And we all know how hard it is to find people right now. So if we can keep them in the practice, keep them healthy, feeling good, they're not going to have to leave and go get surgery or take time off. So it's more of like a long term type thinking that it's hard for people because it's like, I'm not going to invest in this because it's not going to give me my money back, at least not right away. But it will, it will eventually. Yeah, but.
Cassie Kellner [00:27:35]:
And also think about the turnover rates and what is the cost of losing a team member and then onboarding a new team member. I mean, you, you feel it almost immediately. I think it's, it's. It's so powerful. And I'm hopeful. You know, I have, I, I feel this way, and I don't know if you feel this way, but I think these days, at least we'll start with 20, 26. Mental health and health overall have become a. A conversation that we're finally having, and it took us a really, really long time to get here and to normalize these things. And I feel just as passionate about what's happening in the ergonomics of your body. So I, I absolutely love what you're doing. And now. You know what I mean? You're right. We can't afford to lose these team members. And if we're losing them to pain, it is preventable. Like.
Stephanie Botts [00:28:38]:
Yeah, and, And a lot of times it's a relatively easy fix. You know, a little bit of training, maybe getting someone a different stool. I mean, stools are so. Before I knew better, I would go into a practice. Like, I worked at practices for a long time. I also tempt, and so I was kind of exposed to a lot of different things. Most offices, no, all of the offices that I worked at just had random stools. And, like, you just kind of made do. But stools are a pretty important piece of ergonomics. We're sitting on them for hours, right? At the end of the week or month or year, if it doesn't fit us, it's going to cause issues. So we really need to. I mean, something as simple as a stool, just switching out the stool to someone to make sure that it fits them could make a difference. It doesn't have to be anything. You don't have to redo your entire office. But it's usually these little things that can really make a big difference. But people just don't know, you know?
Cassie Kellner [00:29:34]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So if someone's listening to this, do you have an idea of, like, just one change they can do right now to improve their ergonomics? Like, is there one thing that they could focus on? There's probably.
Stephanie Botts [00:29:49]:
Oh, my gosh. I know. I'm just like, which one should I pick? Let me, let me just think of the two. Let me give you two. Okay. Okay. So what. So I see reaching a lot. Okay. Reaching for the instruments, reaching for the overhead light, just reaching. That is something that is so easily fixed. And yes, we are going to have to reach for things, right? Our suction, air, water, instruments, whatever. It is, but we want to make sure it's a nice, easy reach. What we want to avoid is this flat, full arm extended reach where we completely engage the entire arm and the shoulder and the neck. Bring your stuff close to you. That's it. Whatever you're using the most. Like, for me as a hygienist, it's my suction and it's my bracket table with my instruments. I make sure that that's nice and close to me. So it's a nice easy reach. I'm not having to reach over the patient or reach way over here. So that's one that's. You don't need me for that. That's really easy. Another one is doing micro breaks. And if anyone follows me on social media, they're probably sick of me talking about them because I talk about them a lot. But it's for a reason. They're really important. Remember when I said earlier that dentistry, we're using our bodies in an unnatural way in dentistry? Okay. So I'm going to do the chicken wing, for example. We all do that. But when we're in an awkward posture like this, we have continual contractions of muscles straining to hold up that arm. Right. The longer a muscle is contracted, you have pressure that builds up on the inside of that muscle and then it cuts off blood flow. Our muscles and our musculoskeletal system needs blood to heal damage and to provide nutrients and remove. Remove waste products. Okay. So if I am stuck out here in chicken wing, these muscles are on fire in my shoulder and my neck. They're not getting blood that is going to cause injury. Over time, it cause fiber death in the muscles, which eventually can lead to a rotator cuff injury or a neck problem. We need to increase blood flow. That's what these micro breaks do, is it's a stretch. So I really love recommending, like an upper trap stretch. I've done numerous videos on that. But you want to hold the stretch for at least 20 seconds. Whatever stretch you're doing, holding it for at least 20 seconds because that allows that pressure to go away. Blood can then flow back and start to heal some of that damage. Damage. So if someone were to do micro breaks throughout their day, what I recommend is doing some kind of stretch every 20 minutes. It sounds like a lot, but it's only for 20 seconds.
Cassie Kellner [00:32:18]:
Yeah.
Stephanie Botts [00:32:19]:
If someone does that, they will feel completely different at the end of the day than if they didn't do it. Because their blood or their. Their blood is actually getting into those muscles, healing the Damage, reducing pain, reducing inflammation. It's all about blood flow. We could talk about standing dentistry. You know, I recommend alternating sitting and standing. And a big part of that is because it increases blood flow. So those are. Sorry, that was like, a really long explanation. But those are the two things so great.
Cassie Kellner [00:32:46]:
And. And like, those two tiny little, like, could be. That's just the beginning of. Of this, you know.
Stephanie Botts [00:32:56]:
Well, in ergonomics, it's not rocket science. You know, it's. I mean, nothing that I talk about or that I teach is like any genius. There's no genius to it at all. It's just these small little tweaks and these small little changes that people can make that make a huge difference. If we look at why people get injured, it's because of these small things. It's because of the accumulation of a million reaches right at the end of a couple years or twists or having our head forward. Those are all little things, but the damage adds up. It's all cumulative. And then that's why we end up feeling like crap after five or ten years. Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:33:32]:
You know, I. You say it's not genius. However, it is. And what you're saying is, because how many people are we hiring from outside of our profession that maybe were in sales and now they're our scheduling coordinator or, you know, they don't have, like, any true, real training on this. I mean, most people don't, honestly. And. And so, like, I just think we need to continue this conversation on your body so that you can actually stay in a profession that you enjoy for. It's, you know, the longevity of it. I think it's really important.
Stephanie Botts [00:34:18]:
Well, and I mean, if we think about those of us who went to school, you know, it's not cheap. It takes a long time. It's a sacrifice. As far as, you know, we can't. We don't have a social life. We can't really engage with our family the way we want to. And it's like, what? So we went through all of that to work for a few years, develop an injury, and then what, like work in real estate or, you know, go into sales or something? And not that those are bad jobs, but that's not what I plan for. I planned on working in dentistry until I retire. Yeah. But we have to take an active role to protect our bodies against the demands that we face in dentistry.
Cassie Kellner [00:34:55]:
Yeah. Yeah, I absolutely agree. Stephanie, where can people find you? Please, please, shout from the rooftops.
Stephanie Botts [00:35:04]:
Sure. So probably the best place is my website. It's polished, posture.net that has all my social media handles, my podcast, just everything is on there.
Cassie Kellner [00:35:16]:
So good.
Stephanie Botts [00:35:17]:
Yeah.
Cassie Kellner [00:35:17]:
Good. Stephanie, I cannot thank you enough for joining me. Honestly, I'm so focused. You know, I'm not in practice anymore and I work from home and I'm like, like, okay, well, it looks like I need to do these 20 second stretches this many times. Like, I need to pay attention, you.
Stephanie Botts [00:35:35]:
Know, as well working from a computer because I work with office workers too, and it is incredibly hard on the body, way more than what people think. I didn't have a neck issue until I dropped my clinical hours and started working more from a computer. And I'm like, what? Are you serious? Like, now I have a neck problem. Computers are really hard too. So, yeah, it's all. It's. It's all hard, but there's things that we can do to make it better.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:03]:
Yeah. Thank you so much for joining me. Truly, this has been so much fun and I learned so much.
Stephanie Botts [00:36:10]:
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm glad we could make it work. And again, happy New Year.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:16]:
Thank you.
Cassie Kellner [00:36:18]:
Thank you for joining me on The Bloom Effect, where we keep it real, keep it growing, and always keep it team. First, if today's episode sparked something for you, an idea, a shift, or just a reminder that you're not alone, take a second and share it with your team or a fellow ortho leader. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a convo. And if you're loving the show, leave a review. It helps more practices. Find us and join the movement. And if you're ready to bring this kind of energy into your practice, visit. Visit DiscoverEverbloom.com to learn more about working together. Until next time, keep leading with heart, keep building with intention, and keep blooming right where you're planted.
