Biofilm Case Study Essay

In elementary school, one of my favorite days in grade school would be when my mom came in for her oral hygiene lessons. Even though my mom could have easily demonstrated proper techniques on how to brush and floss teeth with a dental model for my classes, she knew how excited I would always get when she called on me to personally demonstrate. I would brush in confidence those tooth surfaces, at a 45 degree angle and with small circular strokes. Promptly in the lesson, I would put the toothbrush vertically for those inside surfaces of my front teeth. My mom would end the brushing technique with a friendly reminder to brush for a full two minutes, twice a day. She also told the kids to think of triangles and to floss along the mesial and distal surfaces of their teeth, rather than straight down and cutting their gums. With every upcoming yearly demonstration, I honed that routine of mine, ensuring to my classmates the best way to keep the plague out. Even to this day, I have still got my middle school sketchbook in my desk drawer, where I had illustrated the cover as, “Dr. Pham, DDS”. Starting in my high school summer, I had my first shot to assist my parents with what I have always known to be as, “The Office.” In the day-to-day, I strove to follow my dad’s office procedures. Imagine, my young, impressionable self holding onto the large suction and water syringe as a patient’s wisdom were extracted; gums cut, that red blood flowing throughout the procedure.

Infection control is a central concept to every practice of health care providers. Its main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel (Martin et al., 2010). In dental clinic, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. They have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and special precautions must be taken to handle them. In this essay, I will highlight the scope of infection control practices in dental clinics and the ways through which infectious microorganisms are transmitted

While most of the patients I interacted with were seeking non-dental care, I met patients who were seeking care to health conditions that stem from their oral health such as oral abscesses, which our team was unable to treat except for prescribing antibiotics or painkillers. I encountered similar situations when I shadowed physicians in the emergency room of hospitals, observing a variety of craniofacial disorders originating from a preventable tooth decay. From these observations, I learned that patients often did not receive treatment that addressed the root of their problems: their oral health. As the result, I learned that many physicians saw the same patient repeatedly for problems that would otherwise be easily prevented through proper preventive dental care. Determining to address the unmet needs for accessible preventive dental care, I decided to pursue a career in dentistry so that I can provide a positive and meaningful impact to the underserved community on their oral health and ultimately their overall

The patient was keen to get her oral hygiene up to a good standard and prevent any

The student must provide clinical dental hygiene services to patients with all classifications of periodontal disease for eight to twelve hours per week during freshman year and twelve to sixteen hours per week during sophomore year. While in the clinical setting, the student must show competence and include the process of care for the following patients: children, teens, adults, geriatrics and special needs. The competencies include the following: life-long education and knowledge of present research-based publishings, delivery of proper medical services in an emergency situation, ethical rationale and resolution, collecting and understanding patients’ overall health status, evaluating findings in order to incorporate ideal care plans, recognizing the level of success with the patient, and documenting all findings accurately. All of these will show that the hygienist is competent and capable of formulating care plans and managing patients’ health within the community through assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. All of the education, experience and competencies are incorporated to prepare the hygienist for his or her career (Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations,

Bacteria adhere to the tooth surface and is often missed due to incorrect brushing or lack of flossing. Another common mistake is flossing after brushing. This action will only release more bacteria in the mouth, rather than flossing before brushing. Most patients are unaware that flossing can be a more complex action than assumed. Commonly missed spots when flossing is the proximal space between the mesial and distal of teeth. This is when the dental hygienist begins to educate the patient on the correct form of flossing and brushing in order to contribute to a cleaner mouth. The use of a Waterpik can also help with patients who often miss the proximal spaces when flossing. A Waterpik uses a range of different speeds to force water between the teeth and loosen up any debris. Also, the dental hygienist must correlate to the patient and attract the patient into learning greater details towards oral hygiene to better their health. Asking open ended questions will bring the patient more into the conversation. For instance, engaging the patient by asking or having the patient show their home health habits. In return, giving additional suggestions will help with developing good home health habits for patients. Another helpful tool is to assess caries risk factors and manage caries, based on preventive and curative clinical procedures. “One protocol, termed Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA), is an evidence-based approach to preventing, reversing and, when

The second step is removing the plaque,tartar, and stains that have accumulated on your teeth. The first tool that hygienists usually uses to do this is an ultrasonic instrument. The ultrasonic instrument is a device that uses vibrations to remove the larger pieces of tartar. This instrument also sprays mists of water to wash away the leftover debris. Once the hygienist removes the larger pieces of tartar, they will switch to a hand instrument called scalers or curettes.Unlike the ultrasonic instruments, scalers are meant to eliminate the leftover smaller pieces of tartar and plaque.Each tooth is done individually to ensure that all bacteria, plaque, and tartar is sufficiently removed.

Administration of this clinical skill involved undertaking an assessment of my colleague’s mouth before delivering any care in order to help determine the most appropriate means of delivering oral care. Malkin (2009) asserts that this is a critical component of the procedure and was one I was keen not to overlook. The World Health Organisation (WHO 2010) describes a healthy mouth as being free of chronic mouth and facial pain and in the situation described; this is the condition I found my partner’s mouth to be in. I was therefore happy to proceed with cleaning his teeth as instructed. I selected to use a soft bristled toothbrush and toothpaste. The use of these adjuncts are described by many writers as being the most appropriate in terms of removing plaque and preventing trauma to the gums (Holman et al 2005,McCauliffe 2007).Despite this it has been identified that they are also most

L., Walsh, M. M., (2015). Dental hygiene: Theory and practice (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.

As stated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year, more than 30,000 new cases of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx are diagnosed and over 8,000 deaths due to oral cancer occur.” (CDC). Most adults are unaware that they have periodontal disease or gum disease, this occurs because they do not maintain routine checkups with their dentist. When we insert food and other bacteria into our mouths, it affects our teeth and gums. We need routine dental checkups and cleanings throughout our lives. Dental checkups usually involve x-rays, cleanings, and the examination of the mouth.

At the initial visit the patient’s plaque index was 43% and the plaque score was 55%. The most amount of plaque was present in the posterior regions in both the maxillary and mandibular quadrants. The anterior teeth suffered from a fair amount of attrition. Plaque was being retained in the grooves and pits of the damaged teeth. The patient also had slight interproximal plaque. Number 18 was chipped measially and was missing half of the large amalgam restoration. It had the most biofilm build up covering almost every aspect of the tooth, including the inside portion, which was exposed to oral cavity. When asked why she felt this was a problem area for her she responded that food constantly gets trapped inside and it’s painful, it hurts to brush. A large interproximal lesion on number 8 adjacent to porcelain fused to metal crown retained a considerable amount of biofilm also. The large and old amalgam restorations posteriorly were wearing away at the margins creating grooves and fissures on the occlusal surfaces also retaining plaque. I asked her if she felt like her diet or habits may be contributing to any oral pain or problems she is having. She answered honestly by saying she knows she harming not only her teeth but also her body. She wants to eat better and quit smoking, but she still gets pleasure when indulging and just isn’t ready to give up things she loves yet. She did agree to try and change some of her oral hygiene

Oral care is important to keep up with no matter if you are healthy, or have some sort of syndrome or disease. If oral care is not as important to you as food is, then you may be asking for infection because your mouth is a very dirty environment. It is a bacteria heaven. In this paper, I will address a few different topics. First, we will talk about oral care for patients with autism, then patients that have Down syndrome. Both of these

An electric toothbrush is also recommended, as this can be more efficient at removing plaque and cleaning the gum line. You should also make sure the toothpaste you use contains fluoride because this natural mineral can help protect teeth against tooth decay by protecting your enamel. Flossing should be included in your at-home oral health routine on a daily basis. On top of this, making regular visits to your dentist is also advised as not only can they identify the very early stages of gum disease, but they’ll also be able to offer advice and possible protectants against it. Mouthwash that contains chlorhexidine or hexetidine can be bought over the counter and can help those who begin to notice the very early stages of gum disease such as bleeding gums. Antiseptic mouthwashes that contain chlorhexidine can stain your teeth if used regularly so should only be used when symptoms of gum disease can be seen. Depending on the degree of plaque build-up, we can recommend a mouthwash for you to help fight against a heavy build up of plaque. You’ll be advised as to which mouthwash would be the most ideal for you when you have your next dental

Biofilms are hard to treat for many reasons. The main reason is because they are highly resistant to antibiotics. This is because the outer cells protect the inner cells from the antibiotic. Therefore, a long-term treatment of antibiotics is required to help the biofilm related infection. Living in groups, give bacteria properties they didn't have when living alone. Another reason they're hard to treat is because they are undefeatable by the body's natural immune defense system. Biofilms avoid chemical disinfection in two different ways. The first is that a gel-like polysaccharide layer provides a physical barrier against any outside agent, biological or chemical. The second is that even if a biocidal agent is introduced in a large enough quantity to eliminate the living bacteria, then

After disclosing my patient Omar, I took this opportunity to talk about biofilm and the importance of removing it with the proper brushing technique and flossing, and it effects on causing periodontal disease. He had an index plaque of 1 in all quadrants, so I recommended him to pay more attention to flossing and making sure he gets the floss under the gums and against the tooth. Since I did not have enough time I started debridement on the UR and LL quadrants with the cavitron and hand scaling. For his next visit, I plan on finishing the debridement in all four quadrants, polishing, and applying fluoride varnish. For my afternoon patient, I had Aurea Loubriel, a friend who is in the occupational therapy program at LCNE. She has a class at 3PM, so I only had time to fill out the legal forms, the medical and dental history, pharmacological data, habits, and vitals. For her, I had to send a fax with a form requesting her radiographs be sent to the clinic. For her next visit, I want to move on and collect all my assessment data, do her treatment plan and SOAP, and have everything check before she leaves. After my patient left, I had the change to assist Krenar with the suction while he was working