1. Use critical decision making skills to reach conclusions about the client’s dental hygiene needs based on all available assessment data. For each client I collect several different assessments to help determine a diagnosis and individualized care plans. First, I start with assessing their oral hygiene routine and get a general idea of how important oral hygiene is to the client. After this, I preform an oral cancer screening to make sure all soft tissues appear normal. Next, I preform an assessment of the periodontal tissue color, contour and texture as well as recording a periodontal chart. Once all this information is gathered we take a look at all the information and determine a diagnosis. Then, we set goals and select appropriate interventions …show more content…
The first thing we assess when seeing patients is a visual inspection, observe gait, mouth posture and other physical characteristics patients reveal. One patient I provided care for had a history of schizophrenia and psychiatric care. Upon bringing him to my operatory I noticed he was very apprehensive and walked very slow to postpone treatment as long as he could. When he sat down in my chair I chatted with him before getting started to relieve some anxiety he had, throughout the appointment the patient was short and agitated. When he seemed agitated I would ask him about things he liked to do and he would return to a happy state before I would continue with any procedures. We made it through the appointment and he was in good spirits and said he was excited to come back and see me for his next cleaning. This was an awesome learning experience that tested my patients and ability to adapt to each patient. It helped me develop skills needed to ease dental anxiety and provide enjoyable care for patients that are apprehensive about dental …show more content…
It is important to strengthen the enamel after demineralization from sugars and acids between appointments as well as the removal of the outer layer during polishing. However, some patients believe fluoride is bad for their systemic health and refuse treatment. For these clients I express respect for their decision while informing them of the benefits of fluoride as well as studies showing there is no effect on systemic health from periodic fluoride treatment. After explaining how the benefits outweigh the risks, some clients accept fluoride treatment and others still refuse. While some clients still refuse, I recommend fluoride at each appointment to assess if they have changed their mind or still
Dental hygiene is amongst many professions that come with an increased risk of injury. In fact, evidence suggests that the incidence of dental professionals acquiring musculoskeletal disorders is reaching 96%. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), these complications are a result of “repetitive motion or awkward posture for more than 2 hours at a time, unassisted frequent manual handling (eg, scaling an area using the same strokes), and unassisted forced manual handling (eg, heavy calculus removal using hand-activated instruments)”. These complications not only affect the quality of life for the
These policies should be founded on best practice. Policies should be reviewed and revised as necessary to keep up with new research that can better the care being given. To amend a policy at this facility, the policy needs to be reviewed by the corporate office before being changed. Then staff need to be notified of the change and reeducated by staff development. The current policy in place does not include flossing a resident’s teeth and this is an issue that needs to be addressed. The policy does not include any education requirements related to oral care. It is not common knowledge for all staff that poor oral hygiene can lead to infection. Studies have shown oral care is performed more frequently after staff has received education (Hoben, 2017). Currently the policy does not reflect the roles of who should be performing dental hygiene. The nurse should be delegating this task to the CNA, the CNA performs the care, and then the nurse follows up as needed to ensure the proper care was performed adequately. Documentation is done on bathing, toileting, and feeding, it should be no different for mouth care. This would not be difficult to incorporate on the electronic point of care system that already exists (Klein, 2017). The care will be documented by the assistive personnel and the nurse will verify the care is being done
By having the information in the patient’s chart, Annette could refer back to it and follow up to see if anything has changed since the last visit. Most patients she sees do not have oral cancer, but she is able to identify abnormalities and encourage the patient to have them checked to determine if they are precancerous. o Is there anything else you would like to share with me about the head, neck and oral exam in relation to comprehensive, individualized patient care? As a hygienist, you are the number one defense because not everyone sees his or her primary care physician on a regular basis or only for his or her annual physical.
A hygienist then asks what polisher flavor the patient would like. What the polisher does is remove any fragments of plaque remaining and surface stains on the teeth. A hygienist will then go over how to properly floss teeth for future references. Flossing is the only way to remove plaque in between the teeth. The hand scalers and polishing can only do so much. Most patients believe that flossing isn’t a big deal and make excuses such as “I forget to do it” or “I don’t know how.” This is what a hygienist is for; to properly educate the patient how to take care of the mouth by teaching them how to floss if necessary and prevent serious
A 39 years old male adult attended for a regular 6 monthly dental check up and routine scaling. The patient reports to suffer from anxiety, he is a teacher, a non-smoker, non-drinker and a regular dental attender.
They then should look over the charts at the patient’s situation with their teeth and see what medical treatment they need. They then bring the patient in and perform the treatment. Lastly, they charge the patient for the certain treatments, like the cleaning, and then for say a filling, they will charge them separately, and then the patient will leave. Soon after, they will start all over again. Furthermore, there are a lot of skills required to be a Dental Hygienist, but yet simple ones.
The best description of a dental hygienist is a professional whose main job is to teach their patients necessary oral hygiene skills and provide great dental care. They perform various tasks around a dentist’s office such as applying fluoride treatments, removing plaque and stains, taking x-rays, removing sutures, placing temporary fillings, and evaluating the patient’s overall health (“Dental Hygienist” Coin Career). Dental hygienists do not just work in a dental office, but they also can work at schools, nursing homes, health clinics, and many other dental settings. Close contact is necessary when doing this job. Working with people is an everyday thing in this profession, so one must be able to communicate and get along with their clients very well. Having certain traits such as excellent hand-eye coordination and great motor skills are very important to posses since dental hygienists work on their patients mouths (Porterfield 4). Communication is vital since dental hygienists are constantly teaching patients how to hav...
In the Dental Hygiene field, many challenges come about every day and during different situations. Every day there are new challenges and unusual situations that occur in the dental field, but one challenge that continues to come about and has been a big dispute over the years is the ability to provide beneficial information about oral health care for the underprivileged. For the individuals that are not fortunate enough to pay to have services done in the dental office, lack the knowledge of how important good oral health care is. They do not receive the one on one conversations explaining the significance of taking care of your teeth and gums that the patients who can afford to make appointments and receive essential services do. That
The dentist will review your general medical history as well as your dental history and examine your oral cavity properly and in great detail. He/she will also check your bite and also take the appropriate x-rays. All these are aimed to determine if you require treatment.
In answering the PICO question, silver diamine fluoride is more effective at arresting dentinal caries than sodium fluoride varnish. In reviewing these research studies, SDF is an affordable, effaceable alternative to restorative treatment that can be particularly helpful in areas without much dental personal, equipment, or facilities. Further study is needed to determine the recommended interval, exact application, and longer term outcomes. In conclusion, research suggests SDF would be a great carries treatment solution for people around the world, especially those in disparity groups.
In conclusion, its recommended that patients brush two-three times a day two minutes long to insure that most of the bacteria is removed from the teeth,gums, and tongue also. Flossing after every meal should also be done regularly because of left foods that get stuck between the teeth. There are many kinds of toothpaste, but not all contain fluorine. Its important that you chose on that does have fluorine because it rebuild tooth enamel and strengthen the tooth too.
At CADH, I was taught how to act upon the eight competencies in different aspects for the public. As a clinician I was taught how to apply the dental hygiene process of care; assessing signs and symptoms, as well as risks factors related to oral disease, and then make a diagnosis, plan, implement, and evaluate the treatment within the dental hygiene scope of practice. One of many important roles of being a dental hygienist is being part of a dental care team where I we work in collaboration with a dentist or a dental specialist. I have been able to extensively develop my management skills to understand the administrative setting of the school, as well as the authority responsibilities and roles of my faculty and other professionals involved. As an administrator, I am responsible to manage my clients’ periodontal status, by identifying presence of disease, setting care priorities, eliminating risk factors, and deciding whether the client is already in the maintenance state or needs further special treatment. As ...
Introduction: In Canada, general dental health is not part Canada’s national system of health insurance (Medicare) (1) except for some dental surgical procedures that are performed at hospitals. Since Oral health does not come under the Health Act about ninety-five percent of the oral health care services are offered on a fee-for-service basis. Oral health care is under provincial or territorial jurisdiction like other health care services and publically financed dental care programs provide the remaining five percent of oral health care services (2). Thus, majority of Canadians receive oral health via privately owned dental clinics. Privately owned dental care gives these services providers control over dental service charges, types of available treatment for the patients and number of follow-up appointment for treatments or routine care. Service users pay for the dental expenses from their own pockets or utilize insurance coverage (1).
Dental hygiene is a dynamic and challenging career that offers team work, personal growth, and extraordinary benefits, and it is the perfect career for me. As a health care professional, the dental hygienist is an important member of the dental team providing patient care. Good qualities for a dental hygienist are compassion and enjoying talking to people which are two qualities that fit my personality. I love the thought of knowing I made a positive impact in a person's health. Becoming a dental hygienist professionally requires you to obtain an associate degree in dental hygiene. They affect the average American by educating them about dental care. A dentist helps people with their dental health, which can greatly impact a person’s day-to-day life.
Our job is to detect and treat any underlying oral condition or pathological pattern that may pose a future health risk – the most serious of which is oral cancer. Beyond just checking your teeth and gums, we investigate areas that a general practitioner does not: including your cheek, palate, tongue, face, neck, gum tissue, salivary gland, lip and floor of the mouth. The result is a highly accurate diagnosis in which we are able to determine the onset or development of any oral ailments, their root causes and stage of development. This allows us to treat and manage the effects with higher efficiency and better outcomes. Evaluation and treatment may include observation, biopsy (removal of suspicious tissue for lab examination), laser removal, or excision.