Medical History : Dental Hygienists

For my senior project I have explored the career of a Dental Hygienist, who is a licensed dental professional who is registered with a dental care association within their country of practice. Their duty is to clean teeth, examine patients for signs and symptoms of oral diseases such as gingivitis, and provide other preventive dental care. They also educate patients on ways to improve and maintain good oral cavity health. Dental hygienist occupation has many important aspects to their job, which makes it a very rewarding occupation. According to my research dental hygienists is one of the top career choices in America, being so, over the years the career has evolved into a high demanding occupation.

Dental hygienists play an important role in the dental care facilities since they apply their knowledge on every case by removing tartar, stains, and plaque from teeth. They are in charge of applying sealants and fluorides to the teeth in order to protect them, they take and develop x-rays which helps them determine the patient 's vocal health and then present all this information through a report for the dentists to see. Once they have documented the patient 's care, they begin a treatment plan for each patient. They also educate their patients about the oral health and techniques they should apply and how to brush and floss the teeth accurately. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016-17, p.2) Dental hygienists apply critical thinking, compassion towards their patients, interpersonal skills, and dexterity while on their jobs and are supposed to be very detail oriented since they work on small parts of the body and need precise use of the tolls. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016-17, p.4).

I observed a second year student in the dental clinic who was incredibly enthusiastic, genuine, cheerful, and helpful, and her personality would fit perfectly into what I consider the typical dental hygienist. She seemed very well prepared and confident in her ability to treat her patient. A dynamic conversation was held throughout the appointment with her easygoing and cooperative patient. Besides the appropriate clock and chair positions, I was not aware of many proper techniques when I observed at the beginning of the semester. I noticed the student kept the patient chair in the same position for treating the maxillary and mandibular teeth. I observed her for the full four hours including the preparation before her patient arrived until

Young children and many adults are terrified of visiting the dentist. The first clinician they would see is the dental hygienist, making it extremely important for the dental hygienist to be kind, understanding, and easy to talk to. These characteristics will allow patients to be at ease and enjoy their dental visits. It is also important for dental hygienists to be good listeners so they could understand their patients` concerns. Physical skills are just as important as interpersonal skills in this career. It is important to have good finger dexterity and near vision. These physical skills will come to good use because the job of dental hygienists require them to use instruments in the small area of a patient's mouth. It is also crucial that a dental hygienist be in good physical shape. Dental hygienists spend most of their time crouched over a patient which could result in back pain if the hygienist is not healthy and

The patient has no family history of heart disease or diabetes, however both her parents are on medication for high blood pressure. Her paternal grandmother died of breast cancer at age 47. Her maternal grandmother

Dentistry, in one form or another, helps abate feelings of hopelessness and accountability that occur during periods of confusion. Not only are they knowledgeable about specific nuances that accompany oral hygiene, but they are also very good communicators. During my interview with the interviewee continually stressed the importance of communication. Communication is imperative in many respects as individuals seek closure within the context of an uncertain world. As she indicated throughout the interview, dental hygienist helps to facilitate a healthy exchange of both concepts and notions to an already emotional individual. This is quite important as the dentist can

All healthcare providers including dental hygienists should be knowledgeable when it comes to educating patients and use evidence based decision-making constructed on the research. The focus is to make an effort to find the right article and transform evidence into practice to improve quality and effectiveness of patient’s health care outcome.

According to Jada A. Grave on Money.usnews.com, the main idea about this subject is the understood tasks of a general dental hygienist. Dental hygienist focus mainly on the preventive care of dental hygiene rather than the damage already caused. They also educate and inform the patients of the best over-the-counter medicines for their pains, and speak to them about flossing and brushing habits to prevent future damages to the teeth and gums. A dental hygienist's main purposes are completing dental prophylaxis, screening oral cancer and radiographic research, and charting the conditions of

Dental Hygienists have an enormous amount of problems with their patients, one problem being that their patients have diabetes. Patients don 't realize that if they have diabetes they are more susceptible to getting serious gum disease. Studies have shown that 90-95% of patients have Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082158). The goal of this problem is for patients to not accrue the disease of diabetes by taking care of their oral hygiene. The relevance of this topic is for patients to know the importance of their oral hygiene and what can happen to their health. Hygienists can approach this problem by explaining the complications, for instance xerostomia, thrush, burning

The patient is a 44-year-old gentleman who no longer sees an endocrinologist as that office closed. He was last seen here in October of 2014. He had an appointment in April, but showed up late and decided not to stay for this. He did have lab work that he was supposed to do from December, but he never did get this done. He does tell me he continues to work two jobs and finds it very difficult to take good care of himself, he does not eat well. He continues to smoke greater than a half a pack of cigarettes per day.

A 48-year-old woman arrives to hospital displaying signs of headache, tiredness, thirst, dizziness, lack of concentration and numbness in the hands and feet. The lab results show that her blood sugar readings 425 mg/dL are higher than natural. She admits to a few dietary indiscretions, such as having multiple servings of dessert when going out with family. She lives in Fort Lauderdale. She is being medically reviewed at Broward Health Medical Center.

Lab Values and Diagnostics On September 2nd patients hemoglobin A1c level was 5.4 and within normal limits. Blood glucose was elevated at 112 mg/dl, normal values for this lab is 65-105 mg/dl. Patient’s cholesterol was 153, triglycerides 72, LDL cholesterol 89, HDL cholesterol 50, and Cholesterol/ HDL ratio was 3.1. All lipid values were within normal limits. T4 was 6.0 ug/dl and TSH was 1.11 ul/ml. Both thyroid test were within normal limits. Patients AST was 14u/l, and ALT was 13 u/l both of these liver function values were within normal limits. Patient’s chart did not state any prolactin levels.

Although some many believe that the field of dentistry is mundane, this is far from true. There are numerous interesting facts about dentists, the history of dentistry and dental statistics. Many of these fun facts will surprise you, be sure to share these with your friends and family!

The hygienist should be able to have an open conversation with patients who may be receiving this care without making the patient feel embarrassed or awkward. The decision to pre-medicate a patient with this condition should be discussed with the patient and the patient’s physician. If it is decided to pre-medicate, amoxicillin, metronidazole, augmentin, and gentamycin were the most prescribed antibiotics by physicians (Lee, 2012). IV or IM administration was the most preferred method of pre-medication however patients expressed difficulty related to timing dental and physician visits to get this pre-medication. It is important for the dental hygienist to be aware of all aspects of care for these patients. At the end of the day all patients have special needs and we can come up with solutions to help care for any

The patient is an 80-year-old female who presents to the ED with increased dizziness, vomiting and increased nausea. She denies any other symptoms. She felt as if she was spinning and the room was spinning but other than that she had no loss of consciousness, slurred speech, no inability to speak at any time and no type of weakness. The patient's medical history is significant for rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and melanoma in 1981. Medications are Metoprolol, Suldac and aspirin which she has stopped taking them because she does not like them. Laboratory work is essentially unremarkable. CT of he head shows no acute nfarct, no hemorrhage or mass effect no midline shift or bleed. She does have calcification of the internal carotid