About Us:
Kristy Menage Bernie, RDH, MS, RYT
Owner & Director, Educational Designs, Inc.
Kristy’s career in dental hygiene has exceeded 30 years and includes a diverse and unique set of experiences. Clinician, change agent and educator, include a few of the roles she has embraced. Although Kristy practiced clinically after graduating with honors from the University of Maryland, she was soon ‘discovered’ at an evening study club by a hygienist involved in sales. Her ability to network opened the door to pharmaceutical sales with Scherer Laboratories, the makers of Gel-Kam, without any previous sales training or expertise. She excelled at sales and after relocating to California, she co-founded Educational Designs, Inc., an oral healthcare industry consulting company.
In 2015, Kristy graduated with honors from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Master of Science in Dental Hygiene program. Her capstone research was awarded grant funding from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) and was published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene (JDH). She is currently on the Editorial Review Board for the JDH. Her roles in journalism include columnist, contributor and editor of one of the first online newsletters for the profession. She presently participates as an expert in virtual panels on a variety of dental-related topics. Additionally, she moderates the Facebook page Top Trending Topics in Dentistry, based on her most popular seminar.
As an international speaker she has been featured at the Pacific Dental Conference, the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Conference, California Dental Association Presents, Chicago MidWinter, Hinman, Yankee and numerous dental/dental hygiene venues including RDH Under One Roof. Kristy has been involved in webinar facilitation for the past 10 years and has been quoted in Esquire Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine and interviewed by ESPN Radio. In 2018 she became a faculty member for the Dental Hygiene Academy, a national board review company for dental hygiene students. Her highly interactive presentation style incorporates an evidence-based approach that has received rave reviews.
An advocate of business-minded approaches to the profession, Kristy embraced volunteer roles with a vigor and passion that continues to this day. She is a member of the ADHA, the American Dental Educators Association, the Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures and the American Academy of Dental Hygiene. She has received national accolades and awards including the American Academy of Dental Hygiene Commitment to Excellence Award, the UCSF Elizabeth Fuhriman Gardner Award, the California Dental Hygienists’ Association President’s Recognition Award and the ADHA Distinguished Service Award.
Kristy is also a registered yoga teacher and facilitates yoga practice sessions on national, state and local venues. She is the proud human of her ‘toilet trained’ cats and resides in San Ramon, CA, outside of San Francisco.