Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, is a practiced clinical dental hygienist and orofacial myofunctional therapist practicing in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

Shirley is an industry leader and forward thinker in preventive and minimally invasive practice. Focusing on the airway preventing airway issues has taken a front seat in her current practice.

Shirley is an international speaker and award winning writer on topics ranging from toothbrush design to medicinal sugars to Darwinian facial changes. Her podcast Cross Link Radio is in its 4th year. She explores the topics she’s passionate about and frames those topics in a way that’s easy for consumers to understand and for clinicians to put into practice.

Her books for dental hygienists focus on raising the profession up by pointing out standards that dental hygienists can attain and how to present their professional growth paper. For dentists these books can illustrate what to expect from their dental hygienist.

She has written chapters on sealants, and temporary fillings in the textbook Essentials of Dental Hygiene.

When she’s not writing Shirley is speaking using virtual classrooms and webinars. In person she speaks across the US and internationally on minimal intervention dental hygiene through her business Cross Link Presentations. She’s the technology coach at CareerFusion career development for healthcare providers with Beth Thompson.

Shirley is the 2008 Alumna of the Year Marquette University School of Health Science in Dental Hygiene, a recipient of the Leadership Award from the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry, the 2006 - 2007 President of the Wisconsin Dental Hygienists’ Association. Currently she is writing a dental health cookbook with renowned nutritionist June Russo.