Dental Hygienist Reflection

After shadowing Dental Hygienist I have learned a lot about what is expected in the profession. Some traits that I found are very important to posses are, being able to properly communicate with your patients, be very detailed oriented, and have a positive and patient personality.

“Patient-centered care would allow for the dental hygienist to form a working relationship with his/her patients.” I think that is great that you think that because it seems like a lot of offices I know they have like a patient quota that they have to meet each day. Dental offices should not be like a drive through at a fast food place with just clean teeth then off you goes. Hygienists should be able to connect to their patients to have a better understanding about their dental health and overall health. We are proud to be hygienists because we can say that we help our patients one way or another to better their

Office Visit Reflection Paper As a part of the dental hygiene student program, shadowing a dental hygienist gave us a great preview of what we hope to do in a dental office. I had the possibility to visit three dental offices, two general and one periodontics. Although I have an idea of how to work in a dental setting at Miami Dade College Dental Hygiene Clinic, visited those offices was a great experience for me since I could observe how the dental hygienists operate and how they function in the real world.

To begin, dentistry plays an integral role in the daily lives of countless individuals. Dentistry as defined by the International Council of Nurses is, "The profession of practice of providing care for the sick and inform in regards to oral hygiene." Populations around the world, and in particular Japan, are aging quite rapidly. Baby Boomers, individuals born between 1946 and 1964 are reaching retirement age as they too become older. As this demographic age becomes older, they will typically become more prone to sickness or other forms of detrimental illnesses. As such, the importance of dentistry in the coming years will be even more profound. As such, interviewing an individual within the health care industry provided valuable insights as to the overall profession, and the implications it has on society.

Before beginning dental hygiene school, I pictured dental hygienists as people who are just responsible for cleaning teeth, have flexible work hours, and overall dental hygiene being a good family-oriented career. While all of this accurate, I now have a more thorough and greater understanding of dental hygiene after entering this program. In these past two semesters, my view of a dental hygienist has definitely changed in a positive way. The dental hygienists role is not only to clean teeth, but also play an excessive role in educating patients, building relationships, and preventing and treating oral diseases. The mouth is a basic form of the rest of the body’s health, and dental hygienists have a duty to keep that in mind when evaluating

In clinical settings next fall and spring I intend to use research methods to assist my patients in achieving patient’s human needs. Before starting to work on the patient the treatment plan based on each patient’s need will be developed by me. As a dental hygienist student I would provide efficient educational methods by administering evidence-based facts when preparing individualized patient-centered

enjoyed the office’s aroma. I frequently visit my Dentist office, not because I needed but I wanted be there. I had the opportunity to learn how to mix amalgam, how to prepare prophylaxis paste, and how to clean and sterilize instruments at early age. Ever since I can remember I knew that I wanted to work in the dental field. For that reason, it was a surprise for me that Dental field was not the unique career which corresponds with my interest and personality type. Even though Dental Hygiene was not in my top ten strong occupations, it fit in the first two of five top interest areas according to the Strong Interest Inventory.

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

As per usual, I volunteered in the operatory of the Allen Saxe Dental Clinic. Today, I was the only dental assistant working. We had a moderate patient flow, but we seemed to get everybody out in good time. I interacted with the front desk receptionist, hygienists, and the dentists. Usually I would interact with the other pre-dental students volunteering, but today no one but me was there. My favorite dentist was in the office today. She was so happy to see me and she requested that I work with her, even though I was actually initially placed with another doctor. My interactions with the hygienists were no more than just a simple hello and good morning.

Research has shown that staff training in oral hygiene and the use of an individualised Oral Hygiene Care Plan is beneficial to the resident and also the nurse and will allow appropriate care (National Guideline Clearing house [NGC], 2003).

Many seniors are not able to properly care for their teeth and gums due to physical or mental limitations. A home health aide can ensure they are reminded to brush and floss daily. They are also able to schedule regular dental visits and even provide transportation to these appointments. When seniors are not able to care for their oral health at all, home health aides can provide this care for

Research studies have indicated that the elderly Hispanic-American population residing along the Texas-Mexico border has minimal access to healthcare as well as inadequate use of preventive and screening services. The elderly population in El Paso, Texas is speculated to increase by 21.8% between 2014 to 2019 for the age group between 70 to 74 and 11.7% for the age group between 75 to 79. Unfortunately, many oral healthcare professionals are avoiding geriatric certification as a result of the low fees associated with Medicare and Medicaid and the bothersome paperwork that is often affiliated with the elderly, low-income, and minority patient. Based upon the Healthy People 2020 objectives for issues that are applicable to older adults; the objective to be addressed within this review report is the objective of increasing the proportion of dentists with geriatric certification. The specific research question to be addressed is “What are various factors that might be inhibiting dentists from attaining their geriatric certification and what are some strategies to overcome these obstacles and further facilitate this objective?” While the main priority should be to advocate for further health promotion of oral care in the elderly population and increasing the numbers of elderly adults that are able to understand the health benefits of oral care; various factors among the dentistry profession and elderly population must also be addressed. These factors might include ethnic

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

As a nurse in a skilled nursing facility, oral hygiene care is very important, but the importance significantly increases when our patients are functionally dependent or cognitively impaired. These patients are unable to perform this task and depend on nurses to provide daily care. Nurses need to pay close attention for potential problems. They will need to perform assessments, develop oral care plans, and identify preventions and strategies to eliminate any potential problems. Poor oral health has been linked to serious systemic illnesses including diabetes mellitus, stroke, hypertension, myocardial infarction and aspiration pneumonia (Dyck et al., 2012). Patients who suffer from a lack of oral care can have a dramatic impact to their

From a very early age, I had a natural affinity for teeth. I wanted to know how they form, and differ in other individuals. As a toddler, I would grab hold of the staff’s teeth at my local daycare and attempt my own version of a dental inspection. It came quite apparent to my mother that either I had a serious fetish or I was finding a passion for a future profession. Even though my mother loved my curious personality, she wanted me to understand that there are boundaries that I must adhere too. Over time, I stopped playing with stranger’s mouths and started using my hands for more important duties. On Saturdays, after soccer practice, my father would drive us to food banks to volunteer our time. During my time as a volunteer, I did such activities such as feeding the homeless, packing boxes of food for families in need, and assisting the building of homes with habitat humanity. Thankfully, I could continue my development as a community leader throughout college and adulthood.