Ask Kara RDH

I work in an office one day a week. I am a new grad, and this is my first job. We recently hired a new hygienist with years of experience. She saw one of my SRP patients at their first recall recently. This patient has poor oral hygiene and up to 9+ mm pockets. She said that whoever did...

I recently moved and started working at an office last week. After taking the position, I realized that it is very unorganized and patient care is not their main focus. There is negativity in the office and I actually sometimes feel very uncomfortable with the situations I have been put in. I am too nice of a person and...

Just some background info first. I applied to jobs every day for a week until I got a call from a dentist to set up an interview. The interview went ok, and I was asked for a working interview. The pay was going to be less than I had asked for but I understand being a new grad and...

I am a new grad and started full-time at a new office. The hygienist I replaced sharpened her instruments once a month. I feel that is not nearly enough, but I know this office doesn’t like ordering new instruments often. My concerns are I don’t want to wear down instruments very fast by over-sharpening, and I don’t want to...

The new office I work for has refusal forms for everything; X-rays, perio chart, SRP, etc. To me, this is supervised neglect for over two years of X-rays and one year for periodontal charting. I’m not sure about non-surgical periodontal therapy/SRP. I had one patient who had not had a perio chart in several years due to refusal. I...

I’m currently a dental hygiene student in my second semester of my first year. It’s starting to get really tough, and I’m feeling the pressure. We’re just starting to see patients, and I’m feeling really lost with everything and discouraged. Being a dental hygienist is something I want very badly but I’m getting nervous that I will fail. Did...

I am a new dental hygienist, licensed for about four months now. I see a lot of patients for periodontal maintenance. My concern with some more involved perio patients I’m running into is, during periodontal probing there isn’t a huge difference from the previous charting. Their pocket depths are ranging from 4-7 mm, OH is poor/fair, and it seems...

Why aren’t there any articles on Today’s RDH addressing new infection control guidelines for when hygienists return to work? The short answer is because new infection control guidelines for post-pandemic hygiene don’t exist. (Please take note of the date this was published/posted) Long answer: Right now, the CDC only has interim guidelines for infection control practices for seeing emergency patients. They...

Is it OK to soak gauze in disinfectant or does disinfectant break down gauze to where the disinfectant is left ineffective? Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Organization for Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) don’t recommend pre-soaking gauze in disinfectant. Cotton fibers in gauze can absorb and actually inactivate ingredients in disinfectants leaving them less effective or...

Is there a polite way to tell a patient to come on time? I get that things happen and are out of their control, but I have a few patients that are always 10-20 minutes late for all appointments. What’s the best way to address this? The offices I’ve worked at that run smoothly, on-time, and with the least amount...