Former Vixen singer Janet Gardner, now a dental hygienist; Talent in Music and Science

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Garner said that when Seattle’s grunge scene hit pause on her music career, she became a dental hygienist in Connecticut, a trade she still practices today.

"My grandfather was a dentist," the singer explained to Fox News Digital. "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."

"It worked out great," she shared. "And I like learning. I like school. So going back to school for me was very satisfying. And I loved what I was learning. We had to take pharmacology… And I love science. It was invigorating. I loved it. I studied my butt off. I kicked a--… Not only did it give me something that I could do in my life… for money and security and for my family. [But], I also [get] to use a side of my brain that hadn’t been used in a while."


Garner is a part-time dental hygienist, which allows her to still make music and hit the road on her terms. In June of this year, she and guitarist/producer husband Justin James released a new album, "No Strings."

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.’ Some of them know, but a lot of people don’t. But I guess after they see this docuseries, they’ll go, ‘Hey, isn’t that the girl who just cleaned my teeth?’"

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