Dental Hygiene Reflection

This class relate to my major in the way that as a Dental Assistant, I need to have the knowledge to used instruments to make my job easier and precise, just like in this class we used tools to make our sculptures faster and dynamic. When filling in a tooth I need to have the skills to reshape the teeth back to its natural shape, like in art I need to be able to use my skills to shape clay to a sculpture. In a dental office before starting a procedure, I need to be able to explain the patient what they will go through. In class, I need to present my sculpture and explain why I created it. This class and my major also require people skills and acceptance of different cultures and opinions.

Goals are important because they help people achieve an objective whether it is short-term or long-term. Goals should be attainable and realistic while still requiring hard work and effort. In order to accomplish goals, goals should be specific, plans must be put in place and carried out in a set amount of time. My short-term goals through the USD Dental Hygiene program consist of learning how to successfully clean and treat patient’s teeth while promoting and educating patients on their overall health with a special focus on oral health. To achieve this goal, I will be required to be actively involved in lectures, spend time out of class studying materials and review already learned information. The National Board Dental Hygiene Examination will test my knowledge and skill.

Ever since I was in middle school, I would tell everyone that I was going to become a dentist. That was my career plan until the summer of my junior year. During that summer, I had the opportunity to do an internship and job shadow Dr. Bradshaw at his private dental office. While observing and talking to the doctor, I realized that I would not enjoy working as a dentist. I still wanted to pursue a career in the dental field so I decided to job shadow the dental hygienists. Watching the dental hygienists perform their duties and interact with patients made me want to pursue a career in dental hygiene. I knew very little about dental hygienists besides the fact that they clean teeth. As I spent time with the dental hygienists, I learned more each day. While researching for this paper, I became knowledgeable on even more information. From reading The Occupational Outlook Handbook and A Career as a Dental

In Dr. Parson’s presentation, I learned that there are still many seniors with out dental insurance. This is sad because the population by 2030 is going to double and more will eventually need treatment done by a dentist. According to her presentation oral care is not a concern to the nursing home staff. Some families show up to brush their family members teeth. With the limited financial resources for dental care these patients have it is one of their barriers to getting treatment done if needed or even cleaning. Therefore, we as dental hygienist can help make a difference by going out to the community and offering dental care education to the nursing staff because they must first know how to take care of their oral health before taking care

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

This clinical experience took place at Peyton Elementary School and Prairie Heights Elementary School. Kamille, Ben and I were to teach hand hygiene, covering your cough and brushing your teeth to three Pre-K classes. First we developed a lesson plan and teaching aid for our students. Then, we gathered supplies such as spray bottles, dye, subject specific coloring sheet and a dinosaur with large teeth and tooth brush. Kids Rock dentistry in Colorado Springs was nice enough to borrow us the dinosaur and also gave us activity books for the kids. When we arrived at Peyton Elementary School at 0800, we noticed it was a very nice school. We met the school nurse at the office where we signed in. She showed us to classroom where the children

The main roles of a dental hygienists are to clean teeth and teach people on ways to preform proper oral care. Lack of proper oral health care can lead to more than just rotten teeth or gum disease, but can lead to systematic health issues. Both children and adults suffer from oral neglect. In fact some 82 million adults do not have dental heath insurance, which means most of these individuals do not go to the dentist. Also, in 2005, all of the children living at 200% of the federal poverty level did not go to any type of dental provider.

To start, I have always had an interest in the health field and knew it was where I saw my future. I came across dental hygiene and quickly became fascinated. I learned just how important it can be and how many tend to overlook it. Given the opportunity, I would like to make sure my patients understand the importance of dental hygiene and share my knowledge. I feel because I have been given an opportunity that others weren’t so fortunate to receive; it is my responsibility to give back. I come from a small community in Northern New Mexico in which I plan to return and offer my knowledge and skills. I also have plans of doing missionary work for those who are unable to afford dental care. To be accepted into the prestigious Division of Dental

Most dental hygiene programs require at least one to two human anatomy classes. A dental hygienist must know how the bone structure of a skull works, including the jaws and teeth structures. I will be taking my first human anatomy class this following semester, and I am quite excited to learn more about the human body. This is one of the many things that first attracted me to becoming a dental hygienist; the medical and scientific aspects of the job are fascinating to me. I am also excited to learn about different oral diseases that the human can experience. It will be my job to teach others about these diseases, such as gingivitis, and what we can do to prevent and treat such

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

During Wednesday’s lecture we had the opportunity to hear Kathryn Trilli give us a short autobiography of her career, and introduce us to the roles of a hygienist when working in a specialty clinic. Mrs. Trilli started her career at Sheridan College in Wyoming. She received her Associates in Science in Dental Hygiene. Upon graduation Mrs. Trilli was serving tables while waiting for her license. It was at her serving job that she met her first boss, John Nabers D.D.S., a periodontist in Wichita Falls, Texas who later was the founder of the Nabers probe. After working in Nabers practice for two years she left to begin her teaching career. While teaching Mrs. Trilli obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Hygiene, from Midwestern State University. After relocating to east Texas for her husband’s profession she worked at various private practices. While living in Denton, Texas for five years she taught at Texas Woman’s University. After her husband accepted a coaching position at Newman University the Trillis relocated their family one final time to where they currently call

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

This reflection acts as my fourth reflection since I have started my internship at Comfort Dental under the Guidance of Dr. Trino Nuno. The semester is coming to an end, and I have enjoyed my time at Comfort Dental., I previously had a clinical and administrative internship at Smile Works Dentistry in Rockwall, Texas and I can now tell you that my experience at these two dental practices was incredibly different. At Smile Works, I quickly got used to the way the practice was run because it was not that complicated and I only had one doctor’s schedule to manage. However, at Comfort Dental I still struggle with managing day-to-day functions. The reason I struggle is that Comfort Dental has three doctors and a lot more staff. Also, the computer system that I mastered at Smile Works is not the same computer system that they use at Comfort Dental. I got the chance to use all to same skills in this internship. I answered phones, checked that patient’s insurance plans are eligible to be billed and scanned paper documents into a hard drive.

With fondness, I will always remember when I first began to consider dentistry as a future profession. My childhood mentor Dr. Spigner was having a weekend workshop for his patients, at this moment, I was exposed to dental education at its full capacity. While there we learned how to properly brush and floss our teeth, the benefits of tooth hygiene, and how fillings are applied to adolescent teeth. After learning these helpful tips, I wanted to share my newfound information about the importance of

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