Has someone or something ever had a profound effect on you? Maybe a loving parent, a wise teacher, or a faithful pet. Maybe a core memory was made. You could say that was an important moment in your life. In fact, the Oxford dictionary defines the word ‘important’ as being of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being. Can a Dental Hygienist be considered important?
Dental hygienists are important to society because they promote oral health and equip others with preventive strategies to combat oral disease.
If keeping you healthy and well doesn’t make it on the important list I don’t know what will! Here are 7 reasons why dental hygienists are important.
1. Assist Dentist to Treat More Patients
The dental hygiene profession arose out of the need to delegate the educational and preventive aspects of practicing dentistry. The dentist was originally the one who did it all: drilling, filling, crown prep and placement, root canals, tooth extractions, dental cleanings, and patient education (i.e. oral hygiene instruction).
Of course the dentist had his dental assistant and although they had many duties they mainly served as the second set of hands for the dentist during procedures (and they still do!).
A certain dentist by the name of Dr. Alfred C. Fones began to conjure up the idea of a dental hygienist, someone especially trained to promote preventive strategies and maintain oral hygiene. By delegating a part of his duties he was able to free up more time for other technique- sensitive procedures, such as root canals.
Today, dental hygienists are an integral part of any dental team. Because of their extensive training that sometimes overlaps with a dentist’s expertise (i.e. local anesthesia ) they are in a better position to assist the dentist serve more of the community.
2. Guided Biofilm Therapists
Dental Hygienists are trained to understand the detrimental effect dental plaque biofilm has on the human oral environment. Plaque biofilm is a community of bacteria that covers itself with a slippery mucus to resist its removal from the teeth and gums. It is a serious problem across all populations and is THE significant source of bacteria that causes tooth decay and gum disease.
Dental hygienists are trained to assess the extent and severity of the plaque biofilm present in the mouth. They can then proceed with the appropriate method of removal and restoration or maintenance of health.
Most hygienists have at their disposal prophy cups and prophy pastes of varying grits (from fine to coarse) to remove dental biofilm from the teeth. But the very best method is with the use of an air polisher, which uses a slurry of air, water, and baking soda ( among other ingredients ).
The ‘guided’ aspect of the therapy comes from the help of a disclosing solution that reveals the location and presence of the plaque biofilm thus allowing the hygienist to deliver a superior biofilm removal.
By removing dental plaque biofilm from the teeth, gums, and even the tongue, the bacterial load in the mouth is significantly reduced and makes for a more resilient dentition.
The dental hygienist is an important part of any oral health plan to control bacterial biofilm in the mouth and in so doing promote the health of the community.
3. Provide Nutritional Counseling
The general populace is constantly bombarded with food advertisements for all sorts of food, but mostly for fast food and other sugar-laden products. And yet, many of these foods are the fuel that keep cavity-causing bacteria going and wreaking havoc in people’s mouths.
This is where the dental hygienist comes in as a helpful guide in a world full of poor food choices.
What foods to eat and which to avoid or limit is key in the prevention of dental disease. This is especially important for children since their adult teeth are emerging just as their eating habits are at their worst. This sets them up to ruin some of their most important teeth if they and their parents, who provide them their food, aren’t guided to better food sources.
The dental hygienist can introduce a food discussion by first pointing out the patient’s current dental work and /or missing teeth, and asking a few questions like:
- How did you get to have so many crowns/fillings/cavities?
- How did you lose your tooth?
If the answer is because of cavities and tooth decay you have a good segway to bring up their eating habits, make positive recommendations, and have an impactful conversation that could define a new road for them to follow.
In fact, many of the foods that promote oral health like vegetables, meats/proteins, and low to no sugar foods are the same foods that are good for the whole body. Dental hygienists can prove to be an important healthy influence on society.
4. Another Set of Eyes On Overall Health
That’s right. Dental hygienists are not confined to the premises of the mouth. We have a powerful impact on a person’s general health.
It is not possible to successfully treat the mouth and teeth independently from the rest of the body. They are all connected. Therefore, dental hygienists are well versed in basic proper functions of the human body.
During a routine dental visit a hygienist may take vitals signs which include blood pressure, pulse, and respiration readings. They may also ask about A1C and blood glucose numbers for diabetic patients. High blood pressure and diabetes are rampant throughout our communities and the hygienist may be the one to uncover the signs of a patient’s undiagnosed condition.
If the readings are not within the normal range dental hygienists can advocate for the health of their patients encouraging lifestyle changes, diet changes, stress management, and additional consultations with their primary care physician.
A patient walking into their dental hygiene appointment is a patient walking into a medical establishment. They deserve to get the proper care they need and/or the information and guidance to that proper care.
The dental hygienist is another important set of eyes on your health.
5. Provide Community Access to Oral Health
There is nothing more satisfying than making a difference in the lives of those around you especially when they may not have the most ideal life conditions. Dental Hygienists play a huge role in providing access to oral health in a variety of communities.
Dental Hygienists can be stationed at:
- Community health clinics
- School dental clinics
- Mobile Dental Clinics
- Senior homes
- Rural clinics
- Indian Health Service centers
- Hospitals
- Prisons
It really takes a special sort of person with the skills of a trained dental hygienist to reach out to these unconventional establishments. It may take extra effort to drive out to a rural community to serve their dental needs. Or be willing to work in the confined space of a Mobile clinic.
And yet, the experience and compassion a dental hygienist brings to these settings can improve the overall health and well being of the most needy demographics of society. This particular branch of dental hygiene can even expand into administrative duties.
Dental hygienists are important to society because they have the skills and expertise that society needs.
6. Perform Oral Cancer Screenings
Oral cancer is one of those cancers that are easy enough to spot because they are in a readily accessible area of the body, not tucked away behind a wall of meat. And yet they are often overlooked.
If not caught in time oral cancer can be very aggressive, causing the loss of parts of the face & jaw but more significantly, cause the loss of life as the cancer can spread to other parts of the body through the extensive lymph system found in the head and neck.
Dental hygienists spend a lot of time in the mouth, especially for routine maintenance of the teeth and gums. Although some dentists will check for oral cancer by having their patient’s stick out their tongue and move it from side to side, it really needs to take some time to really feel around the mouth structures as well as the head and neck.
There have been many a patient that has told me they’ve never had this check done on them before and/or as thoroughly as I was trained to perform it. And although I’ve never personally found a malignant growth associated with oral cancer, other hygienists have because they took the time to check!
Without a doubt dental hygienists are important to society.
7. Smoking Cessation Counseling
Although last on this list smoking cessation counseling maybe the #1 reason why dental hygienists are so important: they are in the best position to help someone quit smoking.
Why? Because it is during the oral cancer screening that the topic of smoking comes up.
The initial part of the oral cancer screening is composed of a risk assessment through questions: Do they smoke or use tobacco products? Do they drink heavily on a regular basis? Both involve basking the mouth and throat in toxic elements for extended periods of time.
Dental hygienists are trained to perform a smoking cessation procedure to assess the extent of the patient’s motivation to quit smoking or make a lifestyle change and to offer them resources to help them successfully quit their addiction.
Assessing if they even want to change is super important because otherwise the subsequent suggestions on how to quit will fall on deaf ears. But if they are ready to begin the process of quitting then the resources the hygienists can give them will set them up for success.
A dental hygienist can have a huge impact on a person’s life course just by noticing, caring, and asking.
Dental Hygienists Are Important
What would the world look like without dental hygienists? There would be one less group of professionals looking out for the well-being of others. One less group advocating and influencing for better overall health.
Dentistry would still be a reactive profession instead of a proactive and preventive tool to fight against oral disease without hygienists.
For all of the above mentioned reasons, dental hygienists are important to society.
