Dental Hygiene

Ask any experienced health-care professional what his or her goals are as clinicians, and the response will likely be something along the lines of placing patients first or doing what is best for those who need it. Regardless of the type of clinician, being able to guide an individual to health in any capacity requires the caregiver to retain...

People who live in developed countries often lack knowledge of some of the serious dental and health issues that persistently trouble residents in developing countries. On an infrequent basis, a horrible disease will surface in a developed country where medical care, nutrition, and sanitation are too often taken for granted. One of those diseases is noma. Noma, also known as cancrum...

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...

Have you ever thought about the amount of waste a dental practice produces? It can be hard to ignore when a large part of our day is dedicated to cleaning and changing over rooms for the next patient. For the sake of time efficiency and maximizing cleanliness, disposable barriers, single-use products, and chemical-laden cleaning agents have become essential. However,...

Have you ever found yourself discussing with coworkers about the patient in your schedule who is non-compliant with their treatment plan? The patient has had treatment recommended countless times, only to have them walk out with it unscheduled or has ended up canceling the appointment for said treatment. Working in the dental field, we hear all too often from...

The year 2020 has brought us some wild and crazy things, including a novel virus that led to a global pandemic, a record-breaking number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, and, most recently, the discovery of previously unidentified salivary glands. The most astonishing to me is the discovery of the salivary glands; admittedly, I may be a little biased as...

Xerostomia can be described as a “subjective sensation of oral dryness”1 with numerous causes. The most common are as a side effect from certain medications, Sjogren’s syndrome and other autoimmune disorders, and radiation therapy.1 Older patients are generally taking more medications, and so we tend to see xerostomia in this population more frequently than any other. However, anyone taking medications...

After graduating from a dental hygiene program, new hygienists certainly are not thinking about stepping back into an educational institution. For most new graduates, a looming student debt needs to be tackled. As a result, practicing as a clinical dental hygienist is the most accepted and lucrative route when beginning a dental hygiene career. It is well known that you...

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...

Disclosure: This article is sponsored by Ivoclar Vivadent as part of our sponsored partner program. When hygienists hear the word chlorhexidine, many may automatically think of chlorhexidine gluconate rinse; with that comes the thought of stain, calculus build-up, inhibition of fibroblasts (which can impair healing), and taste alterations. While these are downfalls for chlorhexidine gluconate rinses, the same does not hold...