Spring Hatfield, RDH
Spring Hayes Hatfield, RDH, is a graduate of Florida State College at Jacksonville. She practices clinically in Denham Springs, Louisiana. She is Dental Hygiene Board Certified in Florida and Louisiana. She is a member of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health and the Foundation for Airway and Craniofacial Excellence. Her passion is helping her patients better understand the oral-systemic disease connection. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband and two children. She can be reached via email at SpringHatfieldRDH@gmail.com.
Sealants: Not Just For Kids Anymore
As a dental hygienist, I consider myself a preventive oral healthcare specialist. Dental hygienists are one of the few healthcare providers with the primary goal of preventing disease - not just treating it. We have an entire arsenal of preventive procedures we can offer our patients which ultimately leads to reduced cost and discomfort by reducing restorative treatment needs....
Dental Response to “Sucking Baby’s Pacifier Clean May Prevent Allergies”
To Whom It May Concern,
Your recent article published on your website on November 19, 2018, titled “Sucking Baby’s Pacifier Clean May Prevent Allergies,” has me concerned for babies health. Let me begin by introducing myself; I’m a Registered Dental Hygienist. Dental hygienists are also considered preventive health care specialist; we are one of the professions in the health care...
Topical vs. Systemic Fluoride: What Patients Need to Know
A study published online in Environmental Health Perspective on July 20, 2012, written by Anna Choi, a research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard, claimed, “Children in high-fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those who lived in low fluoride areas.”1 This publication fueled the fire for the anti-fluoride movement.
In March of 2013, another article...
Dentistry is a Real Pain in the Neck
The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the dental profession is well established and can have detrimental effects on productivity and lead to early retirement. The cause is attributed to ergonomic hazards, such as strained posture and repetitive movements. Studies show MSDs occur in 54-93% of dental professionals and involve the spine, shoulders, and hand-wrist tract.1 Though that statistic...
Dear Dr. Oz: A Letter from a Licensed Dental Professional
Dear Dr. Oz,
I would like to begin by saying, your show has been very informative over the years, and I appreciate what you are trying to do for patients and healthcare providers. However, I am disappointed in your recent show titled, “Undercover Investigation: Dental Scams: Are You Being Overdiagnosed and Overcharged?”
Before I get into the issues I have with...
4 Ways Pregnancy Affects Oral Health
A woman goes through many changes during the nine months of pregnancy. It is always exciting to see the first signs of a baby bump, and most moms-to-be are concerned about the health of their growing baby. Unfortunately, these women can be misinformed or not informed at all about how pregnancy can affect oral health and how their oral...
Is Saliva the Future of Diagnostics?
During dental treatment, saliva is generally not our friend. We fight with it to keep patients from feeling like they are drowning, it is always interfering with sealant placement and other restorative procedures, but what if that saliva we loathe could help our patients with early disease diagnosis? The ability to utilize saliva to monitor the health and disease...
6 Ways You Get More Radiation than From Dental X-rays
Several years ago, a popular talk show informed the public that dental X-rays could be a contributing factor in thyroid cancer. This was shared via emails and social media and incited fear in many people. People began declining dental X-rays and made dental professionals jobs quite difficult. Since that time, I still encounter patients that decline X-rays due to...
Should Dental Hygienists be Independent Contractors or Employees?
At the end of every year, dental hygiene groups and forums are blowing up with questions concerning the 1099 they received from a dentist they worked for at some point that year. Most of these questions are regarding dentists that hired the hygienist on a temporary basis. Many of the responses focus on the legality of being paid with...
Could Periodontal Disease have an Autoimmune Component?
Periodontal disease causes chronic inflammation, tissue destruction, and cannot be cured only maintained. Periodontal disease has some genetic qualities, and if left untreated can wreak havoc on other organs. It has been associated with heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. All the traits I used to describe periodontal disease could be used to describe several other diseases, all of...