I always educate my patient on the best tx, show them their bone loss, their probing depths and tell them the difference between a prophy and srp. If they still insist on a prophy, I tell them to be mindful that the infection will not be removed and only worsen. I have them sign a perio refusal and inform them the next time they come in, we will go over the same steps and if they refuse again, we give them two options. They can see a specialist or find another office. Yes, it sucks to lose a patient but it is supervised neglect to have them come in for prophies each time.

At my office an FMX is 18 xrays and a pano is a pano.
When patient is due for 1yr xrays we take 4bw and 3 anterior pa’s (0220,0230,0230)

I am new and run into this issue. Makes me feel like a crappy hygienist but at the same time, how can they expect me to be so thorough? I have to fill out swot and cambra, take pictures, xrays, chart, perio chart including gm furc and mobility if any,the cleaning, dr exam, put the tx plan together and make next appt. I’m sure one day it’ll be possible but right now, it’s not.

I don’t think it’s fair to cut your time. I’ve been working for two months now and want to be the best hygienist that I can be. I’m full time and I work for a large company, so patient care and production is a must. I make sure xrays are current, Velscope exam is current (oral cancer screening due once a year),Arestin placed if needed, SRPs,prophies, periomaint and fluoride.
If anyone else has other ways, I’d love to hear also. I am also looking for ways to increase and tips on becoming an even better hygienist. Educating my patient and seeing them smile, is my passion. 🙂

A friend of mine was offered a job before her license, they just didn’t let her work until she obtained it. I think it’s okay to say you will be receiving it in July. I have an interview tomorrow and I told her I would recieve it in June.

Our office sees HMOs and PPOs. I obviously new nothing about how insurance worked until now and I’m still learning. our office only sees 3 HMOs for cleaning and 8 PPOs for cleanins. HMOs 30 min for their and PPOs 45 min. Her reasoning is because we don’t make money from HMOs. The office is definitely fast paced and even the dentists schedule is back to back. I don’t think the patients get enough time to ask questions or get educated. My Dr is all about $production$

I’ve watched a youtube video on it. The purpose is to remove stain and whiten teeth. I haven’t personally tried it.

First time I’ve heard of these. I just watched the video on the link and they look awesome! Thank you for sharing!

Great advice! Thank you so much and those pamphlets are awesome!

We have a patient in our office with rampant decay and refuses to have any tx because “the enamel will grow back” according to him. I don’t know how many times the dentist has informed him that it won’t. There’s also a new fad called oil pulling which from my research, is suppose to work and be “natures chlorhexidine.” A lady on youtube states she no longer has pain or tooth decay and her teeth are whiter. Her dentist was even shocked when she went for her recall. I don’t get it? I guess I need to do more research.