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4 Behind The Scenes Tasks Dental Hygienists Do

 

When you visit your dentist’s office, you expect one of the dental hygienists to greet you in the waiting area and bring you to the exam room. It is customary for them to make conversation with you, floss your teeth, conduct a dental cleaning, and then call in the dentist.

 

Dental Hygienist

 

Dental hygienists spend a large portion of their workdays in front of patients, primarily cleaning, polishing, and scaling the patient’s teeth. Most people, if asked what dental hygienists do all day, will likely give that as a response. However, there are also some tasks they perform either completely behind the scenes or some that patients simply do not notice during their appointment. Keep reading for the reveal of the four most significant behind the scenes tasks dental hygienists perform during their daily duties.

 

Checking Facial Expressions

 

When the dentist is checking your teeth, they are wearing what is essentially a powerful magnifying glass on their eyes. This allows them to really look closely at your teeth and determine things such as cavities, signs of gum disease, et cetera. However, it also prevents them from really seeing your face and facial expressions, which makes them blind to any winces and other signs of discomfort. In many instances, the dental hygienists often observe the patient’s facial expressions in order to determine if everything is going well. Patients are often too preoccupied to notice dental hygienists commonly do this.

 

Stocking the Office

 

Every dental office needs a vast array of supplies, including surgical masks, protective gloves, glasses, and the tools used to perform cleanings, suction, et cetera. How do all these supplies and equipment stay in the required quantities at the dental office? This duty often falls to dental hygienists, who stock up the exam rooms and office as a whole when they are not working directly with a patient.

 

Cleaning the Exam Room

 

It is necessary to clean exam rooms and sanitize all the tools before a new patient enters for their dental appointment. After all, a dental office is a medical environment. So who cleans the exam rooms in between patients? This is where the dental hygienists come in. In many instances, they have their own exam room for patients, which they will clean and sanitize before bringing another patient back. This usually includes cleaning the chair and the glasses used, plus disinfecting the dental tools (or replacing them with new ones while they undergo additional cleaning).

 

Reviewing History and Charts

 

Your primary doctor will often rely on your medical record, which includes notes from past appointments as well as details on any vaccinations you may have received. Your tooth records are just as important to a dentist. In fact, you may actually need to provide information from your overall medical history to the dentist and dental hygienist. Such information can include any medication you might be taking, surgeries you have had, allergies, et cetera. The task of reviewing and updating patient history and charts, including ensuring updated x-rays are in the file, almost always falls to the dental hygienists.

 

Aaron Creces at 10:51 AM
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