Ansley O’Bar ’10

As a senior in high school, I knew I wanted to do something in the dental field after graduation, and my plan was to go for an undergraduate degree and then apply to dental school. After graduating high school and before attending UNE, I spent a year at the University of Southern Maine where I majored in biology with a pre-dental focus. It was there that I decided I was not sure if I wanted to go on to dental school, primarily because I did not want to leave Maine and because I had never worked in a patient’s mouth and really wanted that hands-on experience. I decided to apply to the Dental Hygiene program at UNE where I have since fallen in love with the patient relationship and overall dental hygiene experience.

I have really enjoyed the close professor-student relationships and the low instructor-to-student ratio at UNE. The Dental Hygiene Department is a very tight knit community and has made me feel welcome since my first Dental Hygiene class in 2007. The instructors have all been welcoming and do an excellent job making you feel like you are something bigger and that your learning experience is their number one priority. 

I have engaged in a number of different projects and enrichment opportunities in my last year of the Dental Hygiene program. The Dental Hygiene Clinic at UNE and other enrichment opportunities, especially volunteering at the city of Portland's Dental Clinic for the homeless, have provided me with so much more experience than I ever thought I would have before graduating.