Spring Hatfield, RDH, BSPH
Spring Hayes Hatfield, RDH, BSPH, is a graduate of Florida State College at Jacksonville, and she holds licensure in Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama. Spring is on the Advisory Board and holds the position of Continuing Education Manager at Today’s RDH. Her passion is elevating the dental hygiene profession through science, education, and clinical excellence. In her free time, she loves traveling, reading, and spending time with her husband, children, and the animals at her useless animal farm. She can be reached via email at Spring@TodaysRDH.com
Can the APOE4 Gene Connect the Dots Between Cardiovascular and Periodontal Disease?
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), no gene has been identified that has a large impact on periodontal disease.1 Nonetheless, we see this disease affects families, which would indicate there is some level of genetic factor associated with disease onset and progression. The ADA clearly states environmental influences are the biggest association with periodontal disease, and the connection...
Evidence-Based Dentistry: Caries Management Guidelines for the Dental Professional
Health care in every area should be based on evidence. For years, the medical profession has evolved to provide better guidance and protocols to provide the standard of care across the board. Dentistry, though, has stayed stagnant for many years. To this day, dentistry is practiced on a spectrum, while other areas of health care are more calibrated with...
Articaine vs. Lidocaine: A Comparison of Local Anesthetics
Disclosure: This article is sponsored content from Septodont as part of our sponsored partner program.
Pain management is arguably one of the most important aspects of patient care. Poor pain management can lead to dental fear and anxiety that could ultimately delay treatment, increase costs, and require more invasive treatments. First introduced in the 1900s, local anesthetic is the most used,...
How to Make Effective Oral Health Recommendations to Dental Patients
Disclosure: This article is sponsored content from LISTERINE® as part of our sponsored partner program.
As dental hygienists, our primary role is as disease prevention specialists. This means we must have tough conversations with patients about their oral health status, but we get to follow up with recommendations to help the patient. Educating on oral hygiene techniques and products is...
Diabetes Mellitus: Oral Health Complications and Dental Treatment Considerations
In 2021, the International Diabetes Federation estimated that 537 million people are living with diabetes, and another 541 million people have impaired glucose tolerance.1 The pathophysiology of the disease is a malfunction of the feedback loops between insulin action and insulin secretion.2
Staying abreast of the oral-systemic link associated with diabetes mellitus can be overwhelming. In this article, I hope...
5 Reasons Dental Patients May Suffer from Halitosis
Halitosis is a concern for many dental patients. As a matter of fact, about 50% of the U.S. population suffers from halitosis. Halitosis can be put into two different categories − genuine halitosis or delusional halitosis.1
This article explores some causes of extraoral halitosis. But, first, a refresher on how halitosis is usually categorized is offered.
Delusional halitosis is further categorized...
Curiosity Killed the Plaque Ep. 10: What We Know About Black Line Stain
In this episode of Curiosity Killed the Plaque, Spring Hatfield, RDH, BSPH, discusses all things black line stain.
Give it a watch, and make sure to subscribe to the Today’s RDH Dental Hygiene podcast on your favorite podcasting app or by going to https://anchor.fm/todaysrdh.
Ludwig’s Angina: A Life-threatening Emergency Requiring Immediate Dental Treatment
Historical medicine and dentistry are fascinating. It gives a starting point that can be traced to current treatment modalities and prevention, as well as a basis for a better understanding of systemic and complex diseases.
The "discovery" made by Wilhelm Fredrick von Ludwig is one of great importance. During his lifetime (1790-1865), many people died from what he described as...
Don’t Let ALARA Discourage You from Obtaining Necessary Radiographic Images
ALARA is an acronym that stands for "as low as reasonably achievable." It is the concept health care professionals use to reduce radiation exposure to patients and themselves. However, this concept is often misunderstood. This concept is meant to be used to determine risk versus benefit and not to guide health care professionals away from utilizing radiation to manage...
Curiosity Killed the Plaque Ep. 9: Ethics of Using Live Patients for Clinical Dental Boards
In this episode of Curiosity Killed the Plaque, Spring Hatfield, RDH, BSPH, discusses the ethics of using live patients for clinical dental boards.
Give it a watch, and make sure to subscribe to the Today’s RDH Dental Hygiene podcast on your favorite podcasting app or by going to https://anchor.fm/todaysrdh.
Informed Consent Review: How Hygienists Can Assist Patients in Making Informed Decisions
Informed consent is an important aspect of research, medicine, and dentistry, as well as the patient's right to autonomy. While a patient's right to autonomy can become blurred in the face of certain ethical decisions, it should never be ignored outright.
Medicine and medical research have a past that haunts me since early research rarely, if ever, considered patients' autonomy....
An Open Letter to Patients about Your Dental Insurance
Dear patients with dental insurance,
There is no easy way to say this. So I'll just be straight with you. Your insurance company is not in the business of improving or maintaining your oral health. They are in the business of making money. Though there is a running joke about how much dental care costs and how dentists are making...
QUIZ: Test Your Historical Women in Dentistry Knowledge
Are you in need of CE credits? If so, check out our peer-reviewed, self-study CE courses here.
Now Check Out the Self-Study, Peer-Reviewed CE Courses from Today's RDH!
Listen to the Today's RDH Dental Hygiene Podcast Below:
We Don’t Need a Dental Hygiene Union: Know Your Rights as Employees
A statement I've heard from multiple hygienists across the country is that dental hygienists need a union. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen for multiple reasons, the biggest being that dentists regulate the dental hygiene profession. It is to their benefit not to allow us to create a union.
The idea of a dental hygiene union is a pipe dream....
Curiosity Killed the Plaque Ep. 8: Utilizing Critical Thinking Skills in Dentistry
In this episode of Curiosity Killed the Plaque, Spring Hatfield, RDH, BSPH, discusses the importance of utilizing critical thinking skills in dentistry.
Give it a watch, and make sure to subscribe to the Today’s RDH Dental Hygiene podcast on your favorite podcasting app or by going to https://anchor.fm/todaysrdh.
QUIZ: Test Your Burning Mouth Syndrome Knowledge
Are you in need of CE credits? If so, check out our peer-reviewed, self-study CE courses here.
Now Check Out the Self-Study, Peer-Reviewed CE Courses from Today's RDH!
Listen to the Today's RDH Dental Hygiene Podcast Below:
Mission-Ready: Military Hygienist Serves Her Country and Those Who Serve
Many dental hygienists may overlook multiple aspects of the profession, such as those who serve in the military. During dental hygiene school, one of our rotations was at a military base, and I found it very interesting to meet and discuss dental care in the military with the hygienist who served that base and our country.
In this article, I...
Open House: Alicia Morris Helps Children with Autism Feel Comfortable with Hygiene Appointments
So many dental hygienists are trailblazers who never get the recognition they deserve. It seems the same key opinion leaders receive the awards distributed in the dental hygiene community, which often leaves hygienists who are doing great work unrecognized. I am honored to write this article to spotlight a dental hygienist who goes above and beyond to serve a...
Dissecting the Research: Elusive Causes of Black Line Stain and Hygiene Management
Black stain is “an external dental discoloration of bacterial origin, considered a special form of dental plaque.”1 The discoloration is characterized as a “dark line, or an incomplete coalescence of dark dots localized on the cervical third of the tooth.”2
Black line stain can be difficult to manage for both patients and dental professionals alike. Many patients who experience black...
Curiosity Killed the Plaque Ep. 7: Checking Your State’s Dental Practice Act
In this episode of Curiosity Killed the Plaque, Spring Hatfield, RDH, BSPH, discusses the importance of checking your state's Dental Practice Act, how often it should be checked, and what can be found within it.
Give it a watch, and make sure to subscribe to the Today’s RDH Dental Hygiene podcast on your favorite podcasting app or by going to...