BRAINERD — The floss is cut, so it’s official.
Dental hygiene students are hard at work at Central Lakes College for the first time, part of a new program designed to help combat a shortage in the field.
Katie Thalberg is the director of the program, which has been about four years in the making.
“It’s kind of unbelievable,” Thalberg said on Wednesday, Sept. 25, after she ceremoniously cut a thick piece of floss to celebrate the opening of the new clinic at CLC to support the new hygiene program and expanded offerings for dental assisting students.
It started as a conversation between friends about the need for more dental hygienists in the area.
“There’s offices in our area that have been hiring for two years, and they just can’t draw from the area,” Thalberg said, noting a shortage of hygienists increases wait times for patients, too.
So it made sense for CLC to step in and help fill the gap.With the support of Delta Dental and several other local sponsors — including Otto Bremer Trust, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Labor, U Care and the Perkins Consortium — Thalberg and a team at the college created the program and revamped the school’s dental clinic, thanks to teams from Widseth and Hy-Tec Construction.
Delta Dental contributed a $500,000 grant to the project, which cost a total $1.4 million. CLC’s fundraising efforts garnered about $1.6 million.
Fifteen dental hygiene students are now studying at CLC, working on a two-year degree that will allow them to work in a dental office upon graduation.
Autumn Schiller, middle, talks about being a Brainerd graduate and having a dental program in her hometown during the grand opening ceremony at CLC on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
Two of those students are Autumn Schiller and Sophie Mattson, Brainerd High School graduates who are glad they can stay in their home communities while preparing for a career that promises them both good wages and hours.
The first five weeks, the students said, have been amazing.
“The teachers have been very nice, and they accommodate us well — it’s their first year, too, so they’re learning also,” Mattson said.
“It’s been a good challenge,” Schiller added. “And we have really good instructors to help us, too, and I feel supported in many ways.”
Once the program gets a little farther along, the students will offer cleanings to community members at a reduced rate from a traditional office, allowing the students to fine tune their skills with real world experience.
With the updated clinic serving the hygiene students, the school’s long-standing dental assisting program expanded from being able to serve 24 students to 30.
Nick Heisserer, dean of career and technical education at CLC, spoke of the overall success of CLC’s dental program over the year, graduating students who are ready to enter the workforce.
“I’ve worked in higher education for about 20 years, and I really believe we have some of the best dental instructors and staff on the planet,” Heisserer said. “Our program outcomes are insanely positive in terms of our pass rates, our completion rates, our student success rates. No matter where they come from or who they are, they leave as competent dental professionals.”
CLC offers three dental programs, allowing students to graduate with an associate of applied sciences degree in either dental assisting or dental hygiene, or with a dental assisting diploma.
1/The new dental program facility at CLC on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
2/The new dental program facility at CLC on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
3/The new dental program facility at CLC on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
