Who is the Dental Hygienist?
Dental hygienist in theory is a licensed oral health practitioner who uses his knowledge to prevent oral disease and promote health by:
- Assessing: Gathering information regarding clients health
- Diagnosing: Identifying clients oral problems and deviations from normal
- Planning: Settlement of goals for the patient
- Implementing: The process that involves meeting of the clients needs designed by Dental Hygienist during planning.
- Evaluation: Involves measuring of the clients achievements specified during plan care
Dental Hygienists should be able of decision making as well as responsible in identifying and resolving clients problems within the scope of Dental Hygiene profession.
Three are Dental Hygienists responsibilities
Preventive: To prevent oral disease by any methods that they are professionally trained.
(Applying professional fluoride or dental hygiene education sessions)
- Therapeutic: Arresting oral disease that can compromise clients health in the future by controlled acts. ( dental scaling, root planning, gingival curettage etc)
- Educational: Involves methods of explaining and educating clients about oral health management, aiding tools and their techniques, learning reinforcements, (E.g. tooth brushing and flossing techniques)
A Dental Hygienist in United States and Canada works in association with a dentist or as an independent oral health clinician.
Carrier opportunities as a Dental Hygienist
- Clinical practices (independent or in association with a dentist).
- Manager of oral care programs in hospitals.
- Research projects.
- Public health programs.
- School/daycare health programs.
- Faculty in dental and dental hygiene schools.
- Developer in government or private health care agencies.
- Private dental companies.
- Army.
- Educational institutions.
Dental hygienists play an enormous role in helping clients maintain a healthy oral environment. . They are without a doubt the key success in healthy white teeth and happy bright smiles.
Dental hygiene as a profession continues to change depending on the society demands.
Researches show that 1 in 3 people seek dental hygiene care at least twice a year in North America. This is one of the reasons why the prevalence of dental caries in this population continues to decrease.
Dental hygienists are #1 steep in preventing any dental problems