The dental hygiene profession has long been one of the most important and rewarding careers in the dental field. As our society has become more aware of the importance of preventive measures in dental care, the dental hygiene profession has taken a center stage in dentistry. The residual effect of elevated awareness of preventive care is the increase in liability of practicing dental hygienists. Due to the fact that majority of hygienist works in private practices, many do not have the proper education regarding liability issues of being a health professional and less likely to have their own risk assessments to mitigate any potential career ending lawsuits. The first dental hygiene program started in 1913 with graduates serving public schools. During the time that dental hygiene was born as a profession, hygienists were allowed to perform routine scaling, polishing teeth, and prophylaxis treatment. Though during this time, dental hygienists were only considered as dental nurses …show more content…
Often times, dentists only hire hygienists for a few days out of the week, therefore resulting in most hygienists working for more than one dentist, often in different locations. Since it is required for dentists who own a private practice to always carry insurance, hygienists tend to rely on this insurance to cover their liabilities. Although it may be sufficient more often than not, there are still areas that will require an individual's own insurance coverage in order to have proper protection. There are often limits to insurance on an insurance policy, if that limit is reached on a malpractice lawsuit, there won’t be any funds left to cover the hygienist. If the hygienist is the sole name on a lawsuit, the employer's insurance will not cover it. One should consider this to be an additional liability that a dental hygienist must
To become a dental hygienist, one must attend a college or university that has a dental hygiene program. “Your coursework will include classes such as the
When most people think of dental hygienists, the first and only thing they think about it cleaning and whitening teeth. However, that is mainly what dental hygienists do, but they also learn to do a lot more than that. According the occupational outlook handbook, hygienists clean teeth, examine patients for signs of oral diseases such as gingivitis, and provide other preventative dental care. They also educate patients on ways to improve and maintain good oral health. As explained on American Dental Association, the dental hygienist...
Medical malpractice has become a controversial social issue. From a doctor’s standpoint, decisions and preventative actions can alter the medical malpractice lawsuits filed against them. In order to protect their career and professional life medical malpractice insurance is available. Medical professional liability insurance, sometimes known as medical malpractice insurance, is one type of professional liability insurance. “Professional liability refers to liability that arises from a failure to use due care and the standard of care expected from a person in a particular profession, in this case a doctor, dentist, nurse, hospital or other health-related organization” (Brandenburg, 2014).
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...
It's important for any high school student to have an idea or plan of what they want to pursue in the near future. Most students want to go into the medical field, become a professional athlete, a lawyer, etc. Many talk about becoming a dentist, but not a dental assistant. Simply because they feel like it's not that big of a title of being a dental assistant as compared to a dentist. Little do they know dental assistants play a big role as well in the office. A dental assistant does many tasks and duties that help benefit the dentist and also the patients.
Dentistry as a profession over the years has evolved rapidly in light of new scientific evidence. Rapidly evolving science and technology have implemented changes within dentistry as evidenced by new standards and guidelines being produced by nationally recognised associations including National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) in Scotland, in provision of new scientific evidence. The latest standards and guidelines produced, endorse everyday clinical practice through evidence based dentistry (REF). All dental professionals as part of continued professional development are expected to keep to date on relevant guidelines and knowledge related to their practice (REF). This is supported by the General Dental Council who state all clinicians must maintain their professional knowledge and competence throughout their working career (REF).
Healthcare is a necessity to sustain society. Dentistry is an area of healthcare that I feel extremely passionate about because access to proper dental care is limited, especially in the underserved communities. As an African American, I want to become a dentist and healthcare provider in the hopes of helping patients and adding to the diversification of the field. With a growing minority population in the United States, it has become apparent that there is a shortage of black dentists. This is problematic because underrepresented minorities are in great need of access to culturally connected dentists who understand their clinical needs as much as their lives and their challenges. I believe that when the profession includes a range of ethnicities
Introduction A dental hygienist is also considered a health care professional. As a health care professional, it is implied in one’s duty to give the best care possible to the patient. The best knowledge in giving the patient the best care possible includes knowing the signs and symptoms of what could or may be. A dental hygienist cannot diagnose definitively, but they have the education for suspecting when something is wrong.
The role of a dental hygienist in education includes clinical and classroom instructors according to the ADHA model. The dental hygiene educator teaches dental hygiene students at community colleges and universities. They instruct students on how to properly remove calculus, stain, and plaque as well as exposing and processing radiographs in the clinical environment. In a classroom environment, the educator will teach the students about the dental hygiene process of care, evidence-based decision making, ethics, and numerous other courses and curriculum that is required for the students to obtain their licensure. Dental hygiene fits into this path as an educator because you can use a dental hygiene degree to become a clinical instructor or classroom instructor.
They do many things a dentist normally would do and can work for the most part without the help of a dentist. “Dental hygienist examine the teeth structure, clean, and polish their patients’ teeth… Dental hygienist also take, process and interpret x-rays, take impressions and apply cavity-preventive agents to the patient’s teeth”(Institution). These responsibilities are just some of the tasks dental hygienist do. Hygienist are the ones who clean your teeth, try to diagnose any problems, and access the head and neck regions to make sure nothing is wrong. “Dental hygienists provide a variety of preventive services, including scaling, polishing teeth, and teaching patients how to have good oral health (Geshelin).” Dental hygienist do all the “dirty” work in the dental industry, the dentist just comes in after the dental hygienist has done all the work and checks the patient’s teeth so the dentist knows nothing is wrong or if there is a problem how they are going to fix it. They are the answer to dental care in rural areas; they cost less meaning rural areas can afford dental hygienists. Dental hygienists do all the common work in dentist offices, with that being said the statistics that dental hygienist will continue to be in high demand is true. In this article it states some ethical problems dental Hygienist face, “ Hygienist schedule their own appointment and help make
Keeping up with teeth cleaning routine and listening to my hygienist on how to maintain a healthy oral hygiene is the best thing I did for myself. Without my hygienist, I wouldn’t be able to be confident to smile and learn correctly how to maintain the health of my teeth. In the end of all my dental experiences, I decided to become a dental hygienist. I want to be a member of American Dental Hygienists Association helping people improve and learn to maintain their oral health. It’s interesting to me that one’s mouth can either impress or disappoint someone’s depiction of an individual.
CASE 1 In this case, there are several ethical and legal issues involved. Societal trust: Patients trust in us, as dental professionals, and this trust is based on our actions and behaviors. Patient trusted in dentist treatment plan. Malpractice and negligence:
Having shadowed a dental hygienist prior to that of a dental assistant I didn’t know what to expect their job to be. Although I did assume a dental assistant’s job consisted of handing instruments to the doctor during the various procedures so I was surprised to see just how many responsibilities they have. Each dental clinic has different expectations of what they require their dental assistant to do in my shadowing experience they were responsible for: preparing the room prior to the patients arrival, greeting the patient upon arrival and inviting them into the operation room, confirming dental history with the patient, briefing them on the procedure they are about to have and what to expect, answering the clients questions to the best of their abilities, assisting the doctor in the procedure and aiding with any tasks required of you, when the patient is ready to leave helping them to look presentable and explaining what to expect after that kind of procedure, updating and verifying dental records, and sanitizing and sterilization of the room and all instruments after departure of
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).
Noel Brandon published an article about dental facilities. They should be disinfected before to treatment to avoid cross contamination with patients and the staff themselves. He also discusses awareness and provides prevention in the dental services since questions flashed upon dental regulations and hygiene at a dental facility in Italy. However, 83 year old lady died after she contacted an illness. Investigations were done do find the cause of the death, as well as, samples of water from the dental facility were tested to determine that it could be linked to her last trip to the dentist.