Kaokie Sepuru: Why I Became an Oral Hygienist, Not a Dentist
Why Did I Become A Doctor South Africa
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She could have studied dentistry. She chose instead to become the person who helps make sure you never need one.
Kaokie Sepuru, full name Mmakaoka Sepuru, is an oral hygienist who has been involved in the leadership of the Oral Hygiene Association of South Africa (OHASA) since her first year in the profession. In this conversation she makes a quietly powerful case for oral hygiene as a calling in its own right.
Kaokie grew up in Soweto, raised by a single mother, Iris, a teacher who later became a principal, always wanted more for her only child, and moved the family out to Northcliff. According to Kaokie, an aptitude test once told her she should be an accountant, but she knew she needed people and movement rather than a desk and numbers. She found oral hygiene almost by chance at a University of Pretoria open day, and she has not looked back since.
In conversation with Yash and Yak, she traces the path from shadowing an orthodontist, to a mobile dental truck serving communities across the country, to the Waterfall practice where she has worked for eleven years alongside specialist prosthodontist Dr Ashana Harryparsad. She explains why she calls herself a "floss fairy", why she believes prevention should come first, and how she has taught patients who cannot afford floss to improvise with what they have.
She is just as open about the parts of the job that rarely get spoken about: the patient who wept in her chair and called it a "safe space", the frightened children she has coaxed into trusting her, and why she measures her own success by how many people choose to come back. Her view is a simple one, that you do not have to be a doctor to heal people.
Beyond the chair, Kaokie's work with OHASA and with ITOP has taken her to Dubai, Nigeria and Egypt as a speaker and instructor, mentored along the way by Stella Lamprecht and Angelique Kearney. She speaks candidly about turning down work abroad, the ongoing and affectionate argument with her mother who still wishes she had become a dentist, and why she has chosen to build her life in South Africa.
Follow Kaokie on Instagram: @kaokie_xing
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