As a dental hygienist, you face new challenges every day. Whether it’s dealing with difficult patients or trying to keep up with the latest trends in dentistry, you always have to be on your game. Thankfully, there are some tricks that you can use every day to make your job a little bit easier.
In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most useful tips and tricks that dental hygienists use to make their jobs easier. Stay tuned for more information!
Use Air to Check For Calculus
One of the most difficult things about being a dental hygienist is removing calculus. Calculus is hardened plaque that has been left on the teeth for too long and can only be removed with special instruments.
However, there is a trick that you can use to check for calculus without using any instruments. Simply take a piece of gauze and hold it over the tooth in question. Blow air onto the gauze and see if it moves. If the calculus is present, the air will cause the calculus to move.
Make a Flossing Station
Another difficult thing about being a dental hygienist is getting patients to floss their teeth properly. Many patients do not floss regularly, and when they do, they often do not do it correctly.
To make sure that your patients are flossing properly, set up a “flossing station” in your office. This can be a small table or counter with all of the necessary supplies for flossing. Include items such as floss, floss picks, and mouthwash. Patients can then come to the station and use the supplies to demonstrate how they would floss, and then you can offer input.
Ask Your Patient to Move Instead of Moving Around Them
As a dental hygienist, you know that it can be difficult to reach certain areas of the mouth when the patient is in the way. Instead of moving around them, ask them to move. For example, if you need to get to the back teeth, ask the patient to tilt their chin up or down, depending on which teeth you need to reach.
This will save you time and make the procedure go more smoothly. You might think that you are being less accommodating, but patients actually don’t mind because they know that it will make the procedure go faster.
Tell Patients About Tongue Scrapers
Many patients do not realize that tongue scrapers exist, but they can be a great way to remove bacteria from the tongue. Tongue scrapers are small, metal instruments that are used to scrape the tongue and remove bacteria.
They are available at most drugstores and online. Be sure to tell your patients about tongue scrapers so that they can use them to remove bacteria and improve their oral health.
Perform a Chart Audit Before The Patient Comes In
One of the most important things that you can do as a dental hygienist is to perform a chart audit before the patient comes in. This will help you to identify any potential problems that the patient might have and make sure that you are prepared to deal with them. To perform a chart audit, simply review the patient’s medical history and dental chart.
This will help you to identify any potential red flags and make sure that you are prepared for the appointment. The reason you should do it before they come in is so that you can have a plan in place and be ready to address any concerns that they might have.
The patient will pick up on the fact that you have been thinking about them coming in and have taken extra steps to prepare, which will put them at ease.
Final Thoughts
These are just a few of the many tricks that dental hygienists use to make their jobs easier. Do you have any tips or tricks that you use in your job? Share them in the comments below!
And when you are ready to find your next job as a dental hygienist, be sure to use Stynt to connect with top employers in your area. Stynt makes it easy to find and apply for dental hygienist jobs, so you can focus on what you do best – taking care of patients!
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