Dental Hygiene

Dental ethics is “a system of principles governing the dental practice, a moral obligation to render the best quality of dental services to the patient and to maintain an honest relationship with other professionals and society.”1 Dental ethics plays an integral role in the daily practice of dental hygiene and infiltrate the “how” to proceed, the “why” to proceed,...

When I tell my dental hygienist friends that I work in a community health clinic, I get a variety of responses. Some ask if I’m doing non-surgical periodontal therapy/SRP all day. Many ask how long I think I can keep it up. Others ask if I’ve looked around for a private practice job. However, the truth is I love...

Dental hygienists have their share of ups and downs ─ something that is probably true of most professions. Most days are typically good and glide along smoothly. Occasionally, a hygienist will have one of those days when everything that can go wrong does. Dental patients inevitably can have an impact on the way the workday unfolds. For example, are they...

Decades after the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was first introduced, it is still one of the most misunderstood federal health laws in effect, including within dentistry. Prior to HIPAA, no generally accepted set of security standards or general requirements for protecting health information existed for health care. Recent events concerning vaccination requirements for employment have...

"Thanks for playing our little game." I'll never forget hearing those words after taking my clinical board exam. My anxiety was already at an all-time high because of the stress that comes with preparing and completing the board exam. The last thing I needed was a snarky remark from one of the proctors. One of the most debated topics in dentistry...

As if cigarettes isn’t enough of a battle there is also smokeless tobacco (SLT) that plagues the population. It appears that people choose this method because it is slightly more discreet and is not accompanied by an odor. Some admit to transitioning to smokeless tobacco as a method to cease cigarette smoking. Many think SLT is a safer alternative...

Yes, this article will focus on my own personal experiences doing some good in the community. My story could show some insight on how to find what you are passionate about in your own community. Sometimes opportunities such as this are unexpected, and they present themselves to you when you aren't even looking. In my case, I was attending a...

Disclosure: This video is sponsored content from Premier Dental as part of our sponsored partner program. Check out this video where Dr. Jason Goodchild and Kara Vavrosky, RDHEP, discuss the changes in dentistry and hygiene as a result of COVID-19. The discussion includes a renewed focus on preventive & less invasive measures including the reduction of aerosols. See a recent study showing...

You can’t open a dental industry magazine or social media page without seeing some information about sleep. Sleep apnea is a health crisis that affects almost a billion people worldwide. Dentistry is at the forefront of treating the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, and, of course, we all should be screening for symptoms. But this isn’t just another apnea article....

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...