Gums and Roses. Rock and Roll meets Dental Hygiene
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- Published: Monday, 07 August 2023 09:49
- Written by Peter Ingle
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From time to time members of the dental team may daydream about a different vocation, and a life less ordinary. As their minds wander to professional sports, an acting career, or another headline grabbing occupation, it might surprise them to know that the reverse can happen.
Janet Gardner was a founder member of the band Vixen, formed in 1983 and soon moving to Los Angeles. Their genre has most often been described as glam metal. But, as the New York Post Reports, she has other talents far beyond contributing lead vocals and guitar to three of the bands studio albums.
The 61-year-old recently joined several artists who survived the decadent era of the ‘80s for a Paramount+ docuseries, “I Wanna Rock.” As she put it, some viewers may find themselves wondering, “Hey, isn’t that the girl who just cleaned my teeth?”
When Seattle’s grunge scene hit pause on Gardner’s career, she became a dental hygienist in Connecticut, a profession she still practices today. She attended the University of Bridgeport, and graduating with a degree in dental hygiene, became a dental hygienist in 2005. Since then she has worked as a hygienist when not working on musical projects. As she explained: “My grandfather was a dentist. My uncles, a couple of them were dentists. Their kids are now dentists, a couple of hygienists – lots of dental people. And they all had really good lives. They were able to do their work and have the sort of work/life balance [that] was very good… I needed something that would allow me enough time for my family, for my music, other things in life. That work/life balance really appealed to me. If I had this kind of skill, I could work more when I needed more money, and I could work less when I needed more time for other things.”
While she was with the band they went on worldwide tours in support of Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi as well as their own headline shows. After two albums and touring with Kiss and Deep Purple, they split up in 1992 citing musical differences. Later Gardner returned when the band reformed, finally departing in 2019.
Former Vixen singer Janet Gardner, now a dental hygienist, recalls Ozzy Osbourne tour during ‘80s metal fame https://t.co/M5PenSvXyF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 29, 2023
She said few of her current patients know about her rock star past. “I do it three days a week, and then I have four days a week for other things,” Gardner explained. “And music is one of those things, and of course, my family. I don’t know when I’ll stop. I’ll do it as long as I can still do it.”
“Back in Connecticut, I worked at the same practice for a lot of years,” she noted. “And by the time I left there most of my patients knew. They would be like, ‘Where is she today?’ And they would be told, ‘She’s on a tour with her band.’ But where I currently work, I’ve only been there for about a year, so not many people know. It doesn’t come up. It’s never, ‘Any concerns with your teeth? Oh, by the way, I was in this band in the ’80s.’
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