Category: Uncategorized

Ferris State searches for ways to initiate oral health as part of collaborative care

Jamie Freitag-Dooley, RDH, BIS, CLC

 

Providers and students from optometry, pharmacy, nursing, social work, and dental hygiene gather together at Ferris State University’s Interprofessional Wellness Clinic to discuss ways they can integrate oral health into an existing program that serves diabetes patients.

According to Oral Health in America: A Report from the Surgeon General, “all care providers can and should contribute to enhancing oral health.” Now that the medical community has finally embraced the oral systemic link as a care gap in their treatment, hygienists are being considered as affordable educators and disease screeners in health-care systems nationwide to improve health outcomes.

Confidence starts in school. What better place to prepare students to be part of the collaborative care model. Even so, are our dental hygiene program curriculums including this model in their teaching methods? How can current clinicians collaborate in their communities? There are exciting projects going on now that are making a difference in disease by integrating hygienists into collaborative care teams.

With videos, three hygienists highlight how dental hygiene continues to shape their destiny

 

Editor’s Note: Some of you may have arrived at this link due to a reference within the April 2018 issue of RDH magazine. If so, you are at the right place. The videos for the three award recipients are below. You may have read the article elsewhere, but please scroll down until you can see and play the videos. If you have stumbled across this article quite innocently, we hope you enjoy the article and videos.

 

By Mark Hartley

The “safe” environment in dental settings, oral health education in the hospital setting, and anecdotes about villagers in Uganda will receive some quality video time during the second annual Heart to Hands award this June.

In a ceremony during the American Dental Hygienists’ Association’s annual session, dental hygiene leaders will watch and salute the award-winning Heart to Hands videos submitted by Mandi Bauer, RDH, Dara McConnell, RDH, and Rachel Bellon-Roxas, RDH.

Bauer, a dental hygienist in Jonesboro, Ark., offered the most global view in her video, sharing how preventive care in Uganda struggles to overcome tribal traditions. Bellon-Roxas is a Canadian recipient of the award, and she explained in her video “the value of being proactive with dental care is a lot more valuable than being reactive.” The final recipient, McConnell, practices in Maryland, but on a monthly basis she dedicates time to providing care to underprivileged children in six Maryland counties. The trio described their visions in videos that were approximately two minutes long.

Patients are asking if amalgam removal would help

Nancy W. Burkhart, BSDH, EDD

Amalgam on #14. Courtesy of Carol Perkins, RDH, BA.

Your patient today is Jennifer, a patient of record who has been diagnosed with oral lichen planus confirmed through a biopsy. During your initial assessment, Jennifer asks the following question: “If I have oral lichen planus, should I remove my amalgams because of mercury leakage? I have seen postings on the internet and engaged in conversations on this subject suggesting that amalgam/mercury may be contributing to my oral lesions.”

This question is asked frequently by patients who have obtained information from various sources and are concerned about the long-term effects of mercury in the environment, particularly in their own mouths. Many patients want to know if removing amalgams will assist in improvements with oral lichen planus or their general health. Since lichen planus normally affects the adult population (mainly in age groups over 40 years of age), many patients with lichen planus also may have one or more amalgam restorations. Amalgam was the restoration of choice for many years in the United States. Many offices have stopped using amalgam mainly because better restoration materials have come on the market in the past several decades. With this said, many clinicians will tell you that amalgam is a strong material and, when properly placed, will last for decades.

Adopt an active role in the strategic prenatal development of our youngest patients

By Cathy Hester Seckman, RDH

As hygienists, we put a lot of focus on children. Dr. Alfred Fones’ original intent, after all, was for us to work with children in schools.1 We want to catch them early, train them (and their parents) in home hygiene, make sure they have fluoride available, and watch them grow into caries-free adults with healthy mouths.

But did you ever stop to consider how much we can help children toward that goal before they’re even born? Remember that deciduous teeth begin forming in utero, so a mother’s health and nutrition are vital to the proper formation of teeth. By educating mothers-to-be, we can provide their babies, who are also our patients, with the best possible start on lifelong oral health.

Presuming the mother is healthy, you might say the first step toward baby’s oral health is prenatal vitamins, which include important minerals such as folic acid, iron, iodine, and calcium.2 If the mother lacks certain vitamins during pregnancy, here’s what can happen during baby’s tooth development:

• Vitamin A deficiency: enamel hypoplasia and defective dentin formation
• Vitamin C deficiency: gingival hemorrhaging, improper dentin formation, and gingivitis
• Vitamin D deficiency: loss of lamina dura, enamel hypoplasia, cavitated ECC, and white spot lesions3

A lack of minerals during pregnancy can cause these problems for the baby’s teeth:

Dental professionals possess many resources
for spotting or limiting addiction to opioids

By Carly Scala, RDH

For decades, television has automatically plastered us with news updates about the latest drug bust. We still routinely view scandals and yet another mugshot. As television, social media, and the ability to have nearly anything and everything at our fingertips progresses, we also gain the ability to share helpful information about the current version of this disturbance across America—substance abuse.

I grew up in rural West Virginia. If you haven’t heard of our drug-umentaries, you should check them out. They are eye-opening. During my teenage and young adult years, substance abuse was on the rise in my area too. When I was in public school, it would be no big deal to see my peers drinking as barely teenagers (at high school football games, no less) or trying each other’s pills. At the time, it was called “partying.” My grown self would now like to correct my former self. What I was witnessing was “substance abuse,” and it was just the beginning of a very long and difficult journey in my community. Flash forward 10 years, in my home state of West Virginia, there is a hospital where one of every five babies spends its first days in agony. These helpless children were exposed to opioids or other drugs in the womb.

Trust for America (healthyamericans.org) released a report in 2013 of information gathered from 1999 to 2010 about all 50 states and statistics related to prescription drug abuse. Topping the list was wild and wonderful West Virginia, with 28.9 deaths by overdose per 100,000. From the low 4.1 to 100,000 ratio found in 1999, this new statistic shows a 605% increase between those 11 years. In addition to this, North Dakota ranked lowest at 3.4 per 100,000 in 2010.

How to rally from the gut punch to your career

By Carolyn Short, RDH, BSDH

“We’re going to have to let you go.”

“We’re moving in a different direction.”

“Your services will not be needed any longer.”

As you gather your personal belongings, usually with someone watching to ensure you don’t steal anything, your heart is pounding and your head is swimming. You’ve just been fired, and you’re not alone. It seems dental hygienists are finding themselves in this situation more often than ever. Most hygienists work with the assumption that doing a good job equals job security.

I’ve spoken with many hygienists who were gobsmacked when they got fired. Their patients loved them, they met their production goals, they built up the hygiene department from nothing, and they had good relationships with their coworkers. They were professional, hardworking, and responsible. The sad truth is that someone can be the best and still get sacked. The reasons are as specific as the individual and his or her workplace.

Does the doctor have staff problems, personal problems, money problems? How many experienced RDHs have been replaced with younger graduates who will work for less money and shorter appointment times? Yes, it’s harsh, but it happens. Dismissal from work ranks in the top 10 list of stressful life events, according to the Holmes and Rahe scale.1

Elizabeth Grillo, RDH, proudly shows us the two operatories where she practices in the San Francisco area.

Elizabeth Grillo, RDH, works in two dental offices in the San Francisco area. For almost 10 years, she has worked for Glen Park Dental for three days week. The dental office is across the street from a subway (B.A.R.T.) station just off Interstate 280 in the south part of San Francisco.

“Glen Park Dental is amazing as far as the architecture of the office. It is the only bi-level office I know of in San Francisco that has a waterfall in the office,” she said. “They have a laser, intraoral camera, digital x-rays, and they are a completely paperless office.”

She also works one day a week at the Pacific Sky Dental office in Daly City. She recently started the position at Pacific Sky, working there on Saturdays.

“It is a pretty new office with incredible equipment to use,” Grillo said. “I wanted to work on Saturdays for half a day just to pick up extra cash. I didn’t get the job initially. So I temped for them for a while. They have at least four hygienists working for them.”

Proud of your op?
Are you proud of the operatory where you treat patients? Correspond with us to share details about the great place where you work. Send an email to MarkH@PennWell.com, and insert “Proud of my op” in the subject line. Warning: We actually enjoy looking at photos, so we’ll probably ask you to take some pictures too.

Treating pediatric patients can be challenging, but it helps if you use a few child-friendly techniques

By Sarah Lawrence, RDH

As we all know, dealing with children in a dental office can be tricky. Sometimes they are crying, scared, or generally don’t know what to expect in the dental setting. Everything is new to the child—the sights, sounds, and even the smells. Not only are children nervous, but they might be accompanied by an anxious parent, which can make managing the patient even more challenging. But by implementing a few tricks, you will be on your way to creating a positive dental experience for your youngest patients. 

First impressions matter

When you first meet your pediatric patient, you must keep in mind that you have one chance to make a positive first impression. Getting down to your patient’s level, making eye contact, and offering a big smile can do wonders for a child’s mood. Imagine being in your patient’s shoes: a new place, new people, new sounds, and being greeted by someone who is two to three times your size can definitely be intimidating to a child. 

Another thing that often helps lighten the mood is to comment on something your patients have brought in with them. Younger kids may have a toy or stuffed animal they brought with them from home.

Introduce yourself to their favorite toy and let them know that you might even be able to count the number of teeth that their teddy bear (or another stuffed animal) has! This helps children relax, and then they will usually get excited at the possibility of looking at their special stuffed animal instead of focusing on their fears. If they didn’t bring a special toy, see if you can find a character on their shirt, sparkles on their shoes, or perhaps a pretty necklace they are wearing. Find something to comment on that will make them feel special and show them that you are paying attention to them.