Lara James, RDH
Lara James, RDH, is a licensed dental hygienist of clinical hygiene, including corporate, dental management, and private practices. She graduated in 2004 from Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Lara has created DentalAisle.com, a dental blog, to educate consumers on dental products and dental issues. Lara also has written an online continuing education course on dentalcare.com. For more information, email her at lara@dentalaisle.com.
Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Review for Dental Hygienists
Burning mouth syndrome is a benign condition affecting about 2% of the population.1 Women are about seven times more susceptible to this condition than men. Within women, pre/peri-menopausal women are at higher risk. Burning mouth syndrome is more common in adults over 60 years of age.2
Burning mouth syndrome can be chronic or periodic and last from days to weeks...
Ethical Dilemma: Trying to Encourage Patient to Seek a Second Opinion
Recently, I was in a situation where I thought I needed to be more of an advocate for the patient than agree with the dentist’s treatment plan. This situation tugged at my heart, and I didn’t know how to encourage a second opinion professionally.
The 69-year-old patient left the office thinking she needed five crowns. They were diagnosed a year...
“Osteo” Conditions Overview and Oral Health Implications
With health conditions becoming more complex, the dental hygienist's review of health histories has become more confusing. Many conditions sound and seem the same but have slight variances that make the difference, such as within the "osteo" group of conditions. While "osteo" means relating to bones, these conditions affect not only the skeleton but may also affect oral health.
The...
A Look at Pontic to Natural Tooth Bridges
A pontic to natural tooth bridge is when an anterior tooth is extracted and then used as the replacement tooth. The compromised tooth may be affected by trauma, periodontal disease, root canal failure, root resorption, or other root problems to where it needs to be extracted. If the crown of the extracted tooth is healthy, it can then be...
Dental Career Longevity: Healthy Immune System for Healthy Job Performance
The immune system is essential as it is a complex network of cells and proteins that defend the body against infections. Other parts of this system are made up of white blood cells, antibodies, lymph nodes, and organs, and the system's primary purpose is to kill the pathogen without harming the host.
The dental field is considered a high-risk job...
Barodontalgia: How Pressure Changes can Cause “Tooth Squeeze” Pain
Barodontalgia, also known as “tooth squeeze,” is pain in the tooth region after a pressure change. The name reflects the condition – “baro” means pressure, and “odontalgia” means tooth pain. It is an acute toothache with high sensitivity when a sudden change in environmental pressure occurs.1
Another condition is dental barotrauma that happens when changes in barometric pressure generate damage...
Tunnel Syndromes: Dental Hygienists can Seek Treatment for Occupational Injuries
Tunnel syndromes are comparable in symptoms yet are very distinguishable in their characteristics. Many symptoms overlap with numbness and pain, but the locations are the key determinates. While all three of the nerves start in the neck, they travel down the arm and take different paths. Where the pain starts in the arm can determine which nerve is the...
Tooth Staining: Awareness of Oral Health Effects of Tetracycline and Minocycline
Tetracycline and minocycline are common antibiotics used medically for infections and inflammation. While useful for medical reasons, dental professionals know it more for internal staining of the teeth.
Tetracyclines lead to permanent tooth staining when ingested during pregnancy, nursing, or during the developmental period of secondary and primary teeth. This vulnerable time frame is from the fourth month in utero...
Jaw Pain: Evaluating the Severity of Injuries from Dental Treatment
Jaw sprain is a common event yet is commonly underreported or misdiagnosed. The jaw is one of the most used joints in the human body, and it makes sense for it to have wear and tear, overuse, injuries, and pain.
Dental patients who experience a jaw sprain have a challenging time keeping their mouths open and constantly need to rest...
Cold, Flu, and Sinus Infections: Dental Care while Sick with Viruses
It's that time of year when patients and dental professionals are more vulnerable to getting sick from the seasonal flu or common cold. Many dental hygienists still go on with their day ─ even though they are not at their peak yet in recovery ─ and they do not feel bad enough to use a vacation day for being...
Antidepressants: Medications Can Influence Direction of Dental Care
Antidepressants are used to correct chemical imbalances in the brain. The body naturally produces brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which correlate with depression, such as serotonin and dopamine to provide happiness to the brain. Norepinephrine is another neurotransmitter to help treat depression by focusing on attention, promoting concentration, responding to stress, boosts energy, increases alertness and arousal.1 Most medications relieve...
Scalene Muscles: Poor Working Posture Can Lead to Pain in Hygienists
The scalene muscles can either be a dental hygienist's friend or nemesis. When the muscles are healthy, they keep the neck positioned correctly, tilt the head side to side, and turn the head left or right. When they are an adversary, the scalene muscles can feel disabling to the upper extremities.
Scalene muscles are affected by the postures of working...
The Uvula: Conditions that Dental Hygienists can Observe during an Exam
The uvula should not be neglected when evaluating the oral cavity for any discrepancies. The uvula is a fleshy, soft tissue in the middle of the soft palate that hangs down in the back of the throat in front of the tonsils, resembling an oval or teardrop shape (see Figure 1). The uvula’s flexibility prevents food and liquids from...
Understanding How Menopause and Andropause Affect Oral Health
In The Female Brain, a man's neurological reality slowly wears down over time while a woman's brain is erratic. The author of the 2006 book, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine, wrote, "His is like a mountain that is worn away imperceptibly over the millennia by glaciers, weather, and the deep tectonic movements of the earth. Hers is more like the...
Mutual Respect: Avoid Referring to Dental Colleagues as ‘Just a …’
After graduating from the dental hygiene program, I temped for about a year since I had no previous dental experience, and I wanted to see what dental hygiene opportunities were out there. One office where I temped was interesting enough that I am here 17 years later writing about it. The office was a father/daughter dental practice, and he...
A Deep Dive into Core Muscles: The Foundation of Hygienist Ergonomics
The core, a group of midsection body muscles, is essential to strengthen and maintain for overall health. The back is one of the most compromised groups of muscles and ligaments in the dental profession ‒ even with good ergonomics. A static, unnatural position can initiate or accelerate an injury, whether short-term or long-term. Depending on the patient or self-induced...
Dental Fear, Anxiety, and Phobia: Discerning the Difference and Treatment Tips
Fear, anxiety, or phobia, tend to be used interchangeably when describing emotions about the dental office, and I’ll refer to these terms as a whole as being apprehensive. Fewer dental patients are enthused about visiting the dentist versus those who don’t. Dental apprehension can affect oral health by delaying or avoiding care, causing extensive or complex treatments, including oral...
Oral Health: The Difference between Genetics, Hereditary, and Lifestyle
How often do we hear, “Just take my teeth out and give me dentures because my parents had them,” from dental patients? Or, “I’m prone to cavities because I was born with soft teeth” as they drink soda and brush once a day?
“Prone” is thrown haphazardly around since everyone is prone to something. Prone is having the natural inclination...
TMJ Disc Displacement: Hygienist Finally Seeks Care after Year of Self-treatment
I suddenly became my own dental patient one day after years of clicking and popping in my right side temporomandibular joint ‒ nothing painful or even uncomfortable. I just knew that I would feel and hear my jaw when I ate.
For many years, my “normal” jaw included painless popping and clicking, more so when opening. It didn’t keep me...
Dental Prevention vs. Treatment: Breaking It Down
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and preventing disease is preferable to curing a disease. Prevention is the action of stopping something from happening or arising. Treatment is care given for an illness or injury. Even when illness is treated, one may not fully recover. Prevention saves money, time, pain, and inconveniences. Treatment costs money,...