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My first visit to a dentist
Chapter 1 the professional dental hygienist
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Today was quite a nice experience. There were a lot of volunteers in the office so it's kind of hard to have a lot of one-on-one time with patient. I ended up working closely with the hygienist for most of my time there. She showed me her day to day experiences and some techniques she uses to calm patients. It’s important to experience working with every dental professional. As a future dentist I'll be interacting with the entire dental team including the hygienist, so today I decided to stick with the hygienist.
The hygienist was a very nice woman. She did express her concerns about the amount of student volunteers that make their rounds through the office day in and day out. She mentioned that having a well versed staff in essential to an
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I interacted with a man who explained to me that he had never had a good experience at the dental office. He told me that he always had pain when dealing with the dentist and that they never stopped the procedure when he was in pain. He explained how they never gave enough anesthetic, so he felt everything. Immediately he went into comforting himself by putting some earphones on and just talking to me. We held a good conversation. When the dentist came in to see him she immediately noted that the patient had very thick skin. He was a deeper toned person with dense bone. She knew that she was going to have to use a special technique to anesthetize the patient enough to where he wouldn't feel it. She was nice enough to have explained to me the procedure she was going to use and that it was better for patients like him. I was a little confused as to what she meant and some of the terms she used were little tricky to understand but as the procedure went on it became very evident of what she was trying to say. The patient was in tears, not out of pain, but out of sheer joy because he had never experienced a procedure that was as painless as he experienced today. I've never seen a grown man cry like a baby so hard, it was just the most rewarding experience. This experience solidified even more that I am definitely going into the right field. I've never felt so sure of anything before. His tears almost brought me to
An elderly woman came in on her scooter and said she needed help while she was losing consciousness. We had to take her to one of our room immediately and the second she was put in the room she was asked a bunch of questions she couldn’t answer at the time. As I nervously watched another emergency happened down the hall and my mentor had to run to that, emergency, she turned to me and said “You can handle this right? You went through all the training so you should be good!” before I could say anything she closed the door behind her. It was that moment I realized I wasn’t trained on what to do in emergencies.
Dental hygiene is amongst many professions that come with an increased risk of injury. In fact, evidence suggests that the incidence of dental professionals acquiring musculoskeletal disorders is reaching 96%. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), these complications are a result of “repetitive motion or awkward posture for more than 2 hours at a time, unassisted frequent manual handling (eg, scaling an area using the same strokes), and unassisted forced manual handling (eg, heavy calculus removal using hand-activated instruments)”. These complications not only affect the quality of life for the
Washing your hands properly with soap is one of the most important things you can do to reduce the number of germs, or infections you can spread. The issue that needs to be addressed, is how can we promote good hand washing habits efficiently, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. For this reason, Kohler will be introducing the “Hygieia” in Q3 of 2016. The Hygieia is a hands free motion detecting sink that dispenses water, and soap simultaneously.
I enjoyed reviewing the seven professional roles of dental hygienist, and rediscovered the how we can fulfill the administrator’s role. I expanded my vocabulary with the word of “paradigm” since it was unfamiliar with the meaning of this word. In addition, as I was reading about the conceptual models, I was comparing them to what I am doing at the dental office. I realized how much more I could be doing to maximize my potentials. Furthermore, learning about professional dental hygiene organizations was beneficial because I wasn’t clear about what each one is stand
Out of all the careers in the world, a dental hygienist probably has one of the most interesting and flexible jobs. Not only is this career interesting and flexible, but it is also very helpful towards others and usually pays pretty well too. Many people become dental hygienists because of the easy education requirements and high demand for their jobs. These days, dental hygienists are more respected and being hired more rapidly due to the fact that more and more people are keeping and taking better care of their teeth. They also say that at the end of the day they feel accomplished in knowing that they helped improved their patient’s health, even if only in the slightest way (“Interview with a Professional”).
A dental hygienist is a very important role in any dental office. As stated by a dental assistant, “Dental hygienists work closely with the dentist as well as hands on with the patients. They assist dentists with operative procedures such as fillings and extractions, and making molds of patients teeth” (Wilson, Jennifer). A large part of their job is teaching patients proper dental care to ensure a lifetime of healthy teeth. This includes proper brushing and flossing techniques. According to the job out look, a day as a dental hygienist can include taking x-rays, cleaning and scaling teeth, charting treatment plans, putting sealants on teeth, taking impressions of teeth and completing information about the patient’s oral and medical history (Summary). In some states dental hygienist are allowed to give local anesthetic and place and remove sutures (Delivering Local Anesthetic). According to advantages of becoming a dental hygienist, hygienists spend more hands on time with the patients than the dentist does. These are some of the instruments that dental hygienists use on a daily basis: toothbrush, scaler, mirror, ultrasonic scaler, explorer, suction, computer, salvia ejector, rubber cap polisher, dental models, x-ray machine and probe. The dental hygienist uses a toothbrush to remove soft plaque from the teeth. Plaque is a soft coating on the teeth that contain bacteria. The bacteria can cause tooth decay and gum disease. The amount of plaque on the teeth gives the hygienist an idea of how well the daily brushing and flossing of the patient’s teeth are completed on a regular basis. The scaler is used to remove hardened plaque or calculus from the teeth. The mirror is used to look closely at the surfaces of the teeth a...
The more I shadowed my orthodontist and dentists, the more I realized that the practice of dentistry is more than angles, amalgams, and arch wires. I noticed that Dr. Bowers brought her dog to work every day so that younger patients could find comfort during frightening procedures. Her interaction with kids reminded me of my experience as a dance instructor for younger students, helping them overcome their stage fright before a dance performance for a large audience. I observed Dr. Watkins treat a wide array of patients while developing personal relationships with them as he went along his busy day. In my youth service group at my temple as the public relations officer, I approached patrons on numerous occasions in order to spread awareness about our community service events and our culture. Interacting with people and being able to establish meaningful relationships with them has further motivated my interest in the
Although I had always considered medicine a potential career from hearing my mother’s frequent inspirational recounts as a dentist, it was my volunteer work that awakened my sense of responsibility to the world and my desire to help patients heal. As a volunteer at the UCSF Medical Center, I dashed through corridors with a patient rushing to find his wife in the maternity ward, minutes before she delivered. Witnessing the newborn with the family was a heartening experience, and fostering trust with patients at UCSF Medical has enriched my life immeasurably. Such interactions enhanced my ability to build strong interpersonal bonds, and I was awarded the HEARTS Award from UCSF for exemplary patient care. The hospital became my second home and I realized that I might enjoy working in a health care setting.
...he reality of the real world and that there are tough situations a nurse has to face, like not being able to better a person who is in need. I found out things I never knew about a nurse. She really helped me understand that to be a nurse one really needs to be dedicated to the patients they are seeing. I realized on that day that a nurse is more than just a job. I want to study this occupation as I attend college and hopefully continue on to the next steps on fully becoming a nurse practitioner. I think it will benefit me in all the ways that I saw her benefit her patients. After researching and learning all new information about this occupation I now know that a NP is a worthy and much needed job in our country and I know that given the opportunity and time I can achieve all the goals I am going to set in my future in order to be a certified nurse practitioner.
I believe that with every experience, there is a lesson to be learned. While volunteering, the nurses taught me how...
During, my visit at your facility I had such a great experience and one in particular with Nurse Dianne Cooper. I'm a returning patient to the Piedmont Physician's office and I left a few years ago due to the awful customer service at your other location. Dianne, was not only professional but kind and informative. She was very attentive , patient and just exemplified what someone in the healthcare profession should. I was so impressed with her I asked the front office if there was anyway to leave a patient review for outstanding service.
Consequently, I came over and introduced myself. We started talking and after a few minutes, I was able to help alleviate her fears. She mentioned how oblivious she was towards her own dental care. We discussed the advancement and the exponential growth in the field of dentistry and dental hygiene over the past decade. When she inquired why I desire to have a career in dentistry, I told her a story of how I started working as an assistant and was fortunate to have Dr. Bass as my mentor. Dr. Bass would always take the time to explain the surgeries and his techniques by usually starting with a discussion of how x-rays are used to locate the cause of the pain or discomfort. During the surgery, he would go step by step, explaining his surgical methods. Although tooth decay, and the different techniques to extract a tooth may be offensive to some, I find the steps to take care of them intriguing. He made me realize how much I love working with patients and how happy I would be to pursue a career as a
It was an exciting opportunity to watch them set up the vac, and have an opportunity to interact with the doctors. I felt good during this situation, the doctors made me feel comfortable while in the room with them, that I was able to even move in and get a better look at the wound, as well as confident to ask questions. Throughout the situation I kind of felt bad for the patient, he was definitely in some pain during the dressing change, and the doctors didn’t really address it. However they did include the patient and did not treat the patient like he wasn’t even there. Overall I felt good about this learning experience, it was a great opportunity I was glad to be a part of especially to be able to watch the doctors work. I also enjoy watching dressing changes like these to compare them to what I have been taught in my clinical lab. While I had little knowledge about the vac dressing, I did watch to see if the doctors follow all of the sterile field and sterility rules I had been
During my experiences working in the medical field, I quickly learned that medicine is not just about the intricacies of the body or prescribing medications to fix the body’s shortcomings. There are many more challenges and difficulties that are involved in healthcare that involve many interpersonal skills. This summer I have volunteered with the medical director at Glenaire Retirement Community in Cary, North Carolina. After a few weeks of shadowing, the medical director asked me to see a patient to discuss her primary complaints before he joined me. I went into the patient’s room, introduced myself, and waited for a response. After multiple attempts and no recognition from the patient, the physician came in to join us.
I began job shadowing dentists in a Federally Qualified Health Center where previously I had been a patient in Shasta County, California. While shadowing, I watched as the dentists treated a homeless man, who had waited in a standby line for hours seeking relief from his abscessed tooth. The doctor worked quickly, yet magnanimously to provide the relief the man longed for. After healing him, his demeanor was noticeably different. Before he had been irritable and overwhelmed by the pain he felt; whereas, after receiving care, the man's eyes filled with tears as he expressed his sincere gratitude to the doctor and staff. Witnessing this dramatic change only increased my desire provide primary care services to the underserved members of our nation.