Meet Kathryn

Kathryn Gilliam, BA, RDH, MAAOSH, HIAOMT is a Certified Biological dental hygienist and Founder of PerioLinks, a consulting and speaking company. She is laser-focused on empowering dentists and dental hygienists to elevate their identities as oral wellness specialists who powerfully impact the lives and health of their patients and grow their practices.

Kathryn is a proponent of incorporating the latest scientific research on the multiple oral-systemic links into practical clinical protocols. Her interest in the medical side of dentistry led her to years of advanced study of oral-systemic links, including twice graduating from the prestigious Bale Doneen Preceptorship and earning a Master Fellowship in the American Academy for Oral-System Health (AAOSH). Kathryn has completed level one of the Functional Oral Systemic Health Mini Residency of the internationally renowned Exceptional Dental Courses.

Teaching comes naturally to Kathryn and she delivers practical information that attendees can immediately integrate into practice. Her continuing education courses enlighten, entertain, and inspire her audiences. “I want other healthcare practitioners to be as excited about their careers as I am about mine. I absolutely love what I do. It’s an honor that people come to us for care, and that care should be delivered at the highest level possible.”

Kathryn’s topics extend from the foundational principles of the oral – systemic links and medical wound care processes, to the early detection and prevention of oral and oropharyngeal cancers, to screening for airway and sleep problems in children and adults, to recognition of oral signs of celiac disease, and to high-level communication skills. “When you want to affect change, as I do, it’s a blessing to be given the opportunity to educate and to speak to your colleagues from the stage. I don’t take that privilege lightly.”

An international speaker, Kathryn is also a key opinion leader for  Crest Oral B, Stella Life, and CloSYS, BioGaia, and MicrobeLinkDX. Additionally Kathryn is a member of the Carifree Cooperative. and is a founding member of MicrobeGeeks, a collaboration between like-minded oral-systemic educators. Kathryn has published multiple articles and continuing education courses in leading dental journals and serves on the Peer Review Board of the Dental Academy of Continuing Education.

Having studied adult learning techniques through the Lioness Principle Transformational Training, Kathryn excels in coaching dental professionals to elevate their standard of care with protocols based on sound scientific principles and proven strategies for optimal patient care and outstanding practice growth.

Kathryn has been on the front lines of the early detection of oral and oropharyngeal cancer throughout her career. Kathryn serves as the Director of Education for Oral Cancer Cause and serves on the Dental Hygiene Advisory Board of the Oral Cancer Foundation. Kathryn is an honor graduate of the University of Nebraska and The University of Texas Health Science Center Dental Branch. Kathryn values lifelong learning. She devours every dental book she can and typically pursues dozens of hours of continuing education every year.

A lifelong member of the American Dental Hygiene Association, Kathryn also belongs to the Houston and Texas components. She is also a member of the Dental Speaker’s Institute where she won the first-place viewer’s choice award in the Jumpstart 2019 Keynote Speaking Competition. Kathryn has shared the message of oral wellness on podcasts in the United States and Australia. She loves to travel and is intent on sharing her knowledge with healthcare practitioners around the globe. She is especially keen to work in The Netherlands for an extra chance to visit her sons who are there working on graduate studies in astrophysics.

A pivotal moment in Kathryn’s life was when father, Phillip Kamish, DMD, an internationally acclaimed practitioner, took her hands in his upon her graduation from dental hygiene school and said, “You have healing hands, just like mine.” This blessing and charge have been her standard ever since.

Even after over 30 years as a dental hygienist, Kathryn still loves and is passionate about her career as a dental hygienist and she feels her purpose is to love her patients back to health. Kathryn’s purpose in lecturing, speaking and writing is to inspire other healthcare professionals to love their patients at a higher level, as well, thereby creating a ripple effect, and extending her reach to care for even more patients than she could do alone.

Articles featuring Kathryn:

Dental Entrepreneur Woman

PDA Profiles: Focus on Kathryn Gilliam