Local Anesthesia Certificate

CPR card

The pursuit of lifelong professional growth and development through participation in and assuming leadership roles in professional organizations and continuing education planning

As I begin my journey as a dental hygienist, I believe that I could change the world of dentistry and the approach patients view dentistry, especially in hygiene. As a dental professional, I would do my best in providing the appropriate and necessary treatment that is needed for my patients so that they can have a better outlook on dentistry and the importance of why they should take care of their everyday for the rest of their lives! During this journey as a dental hygienist, I would become a professional member of the American Dental Hygiene Association and attend conferences across the country in expanding my knowledge in the dental hygiene field. There is always something new being invented or new techniques to improve productivity in the dental office. As I get closer to graduation from the dental hygiene program at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois, I would love to become a clinical teacher and help future dental hygiene students in their clinics so they are able to perform to their skill set as best as they can. I am looking forward to the challenges and goals to achieve as a dental hygienist and hope to make a change in someones life that they can stay healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The organization of community oral health activities

In dental hygiene, it is never too early to start teaching children how important it is to brush and floss their teeth. With local activities during health care events, dental professionals such as myself can educate children why they should brush their teeth everyday and show them how to brush their teeth by using teeth models and a toy brush. With the teeth models, I would place artificial plaque on the teeth and I would have the kids use the brush to remove the "dirt bugs" off their teeth so they would be nice and clean. After doing so, I would reward the children with a goody bag for doing a great job. With this experience, this would help enhance the learning and importance of why brushing your teeth everyday is important in everyday life.

Professional and ethical management of patients

In the medical field, especially dentistry, it is important to be a professional in all facets of the dental hygiene field. As a dental hygienist for every patient that comes to my office for their appointment whether it is a basic exam with cleaning or a serious case that involves scaling and root planing a quad, I would treat my patients with abundant respect and care so that they know I do care about their oral health care. Not only should we keep good records and inform patients, but we also should include them in the diagnosis and decision-making process with regard to the proposed treatment plan. By educating patients through proper mutual discussion, patients learn what their actual dental needs are and will be able to take part in their treatment plan’s decision-making process. Dental offices should also update the medical history at subsequent visits to ensure there are no changes that would update the planned procedure or treatment plan. A good set of radiographs and a thorough caries examination, which should include a treatment plan, are good ways to start record-keeping for risk management and are a basis for patient communication. Ethical dilemmas as they relate to patient care are an unavoidable part of health care as delivered by all types of practitioners. The change in health care has been the rise of allied health care providers. Instead of dentists making all of the ethical decisions for the practice, now it has evolved into the dental hygienists having some responsibility for assuming some additional decision making roles. This makes it even more critical to ensure these professionals have the adequate educational background to make sound and ethical decisions for their offices as well as their patients.

Non-surgical dental hygiene treatment, supportive dental hygiene procedures, and evaluation of care

My goal and responsibility as a dental hygienist is to make sure that I provide the necessary non-surgical dental hygiene treatment for patients who have deep periodontal pockets and to remove all calculus below the gumline with scaling and root planing. After the removal of calculus during the scaling and root planing procedure, I would advise my patient the importance of re-evaluation of the areas in the mouth that I have S&RP. If the areas remained the same or have gotten worse, I would administer atridox into the areas that are still infected and need further medication to prevent the area for worsening over time. Nonsurgical therapy can be successful for patients and rewarding for the office if everyone approaches it positively. How you educate your patients will determine a large part of that success. Learning the newest techniques to provide high-tech care in the 21st century is part of the success with any nonsurgical program.

Teaching individualized oral health education to the patient

The importance of patient education in dental hygiene is very crucial. There will be patients who will visit their dental hygienist and they'll ask questions as to why is it important to brush their teeth twice a day and why do they need to floss. As a dental professional in dental hygiene, I find it very important in educating my patients on those very topics of brushing, flossing and maintaining a healthy oral cavity. What I learned in dental hygiene school is the five basic principles of effective teaching to my patient. They are presenting small amounts of information at one time, letting the patient set their own pace, supervising the patient, providing immediate feedback, and using positive reinforcement. Assessing, communicating, educating, and motivating-these are the fundamentals that dental practitioners should employ to attain patient compliance. There are many factors associated with each category, and it is essential that the dentist and the dental team be well-versed in these areas so that their patients understand the importance of maintaining good oral health in their lives. 

Completing a dental hygiene treatment plan, which includes patients problems, the dental hygiene plan, and the dental hygiene appointment sequence

As a dental hygienist, it is my goal to formulate the ideal treatment plan for my patients so they will have the best cleaning and maintenance so down the road in their oral health future, their oral cavity will be in the best and healthiest condition. The treatment plan will vary from different patient cases. Such services include extraoral examinations, intraoral examinations (including oral cancer screenings), gingival and periodontal classifications, charting, comprehensive medical histories, plaque index via disclosing, detailed patient education, nutritional counseling, full-mouth series of X-rays, rechecking our work, and, of course, actual clinical care. The truth of the matter is that paying attention to the details about our patients' health should be the cornerstone of treatment planning. Without a baseline evaluation and proper assessment, we have nothing to measure subsequent changes in health. There is new information suggesting a link between oral health and systemic disease. This very crucial information calls for a more precise approach to treatment planning. hygienists should concentrate on the long term rather than short gains. It is this slow and steady methodology that will yield the best result for all involved. Treatment planning for life begins with the one small step of developing lasting relationships.

Infection and hazard control procedures

As a dental hygienist, it is my responsibility to make sure that after each appointment providing treatment to my patients is to dispose hazardous materials such as needles, bloody gauze, and used carpals of local anesthetic in their appropriate area of dispense in that none of the material would be exposed in the open should an incident occur in the operatory. My instruments would be placed in a ultrasonic shaker to remove blood and other remnants of calculus so that my instruments can be used again on my other patients after they are sterilized in the autoclave. After my patients leave the operatory, it is my duty to spray and wipe down the patient's chair and my control panels in preparation for my next appointment. Along with spraying and wiping down my operatory, I would also flush the water lines in my operatory to make sure there is no build up of microbes sitting in the water lines.