The dental hygienist: who is what he does, the duties. Children's dental hygienist

We have been visiting the dentist since childhoodsinking heart. What will the doctor do in a white coat now? Will it hurt? Even the modern achievements of medicine can not completely eradicate these fears. It is psychologically easier for a patient to cross the threshold of the clinic if he knows that a dental hygienist is waiting for him, who will assess the condition of the oral cavity, determine the existing problems and direct them to the right specialists. However, this is not all of its functions. In fact, a dental hygienist is a special specialist who can both lead an independent reception and work together with an orthodontist.

The situation in dental clinics

To date, almost all clinics (forexcept for private practitioners) have these specialists in their staff. A dental hygienist is very often mistaken for an assistant. The matter is that polyclinics accept them in staff as an assistant to the dentist, and they are additionally loaded with administrative duties. As part of this article, we will reveal some of the functions that a dental hygienist should perform to ensure you know exactly what to expect from this specialist.

First of all, this is a graduate

Indeed, in a good clinic can notwork a person without a specialized education. The dental hygienist must necessarily take a course of study and get a license. Without this, access to patients will be closed to him. Performing various duties for oral care of the patient depends on the level of education of a young specialist.

Training of hygienists takes place inspecialized dental schools. Most of them have a two-year training program. As part of this training, the student studies the anatomy of nutrition, periodontology, pharmacology and much more. This determines the level of preparation that the dental hygienist has. Duties can be very different for him, since he is much more professional than the dentist's assistant.

The hygienist is only the first step

Someone is quite comfortable with his level, and he is all overconscious life is working in the position of a "dental hygienist." What this specialist is doing, we will now talk in more detail. But not everyone remains at this step. A hygienist can come to dentistry and get a starting experience. After that, you can go on to further training and master the dentistry, become an orthodontist or surgeon. Training in dental schools is quite expensive, so somewhat delaying it in time and giving yourself the opportunity to save not only experience, but money, will be very useful.

Main responsibilities

So, who is a dental hygienist? What does this doctor do and what to do with it? As we already mentioned above, this is the first instance when visiting a dental clinic. Its first and main task is the prevention of dental diseases among the population of all age groups. That is, this specialist should examine the oral cavity, tell the person about the existing problems, methods of treatment.

Directions in work

All hygienist activities consist oftherapeutic and preventive and sanitary-preventive directions. Let us now disclose in more detail the duties that the dental hygienist performs. Who such, we already told, now we will pass directly to its functions:

• This is the primary reception and examination, during which the patient's card is filled, the condition of hard tissues of teeth, periodontal, mucous membrane and the ratio of dentition is recorded.
• The doctor assesses the hygienic condition, teaches the rules of oral care, individually selects hygiene products.
• In many clinics, he performs the duties of assistant dentist, when you need work in 4 hands.
• In parallel, he maintains the necessary documentation and necessarily conducts work with the population. This is a direct examination and questionnaire.
• The hygienist's responsibility is to implementpreventive procedures. This can be a coating of teeth with fluorine and fluoride. That provides a slowdown in the process of demineralization of teeth and stops the destructive work of caries.
• Professional removal of dental plaque is another priority area.

Important team member

Only at first glance, patients may wellDo without visiting the office of such a specialist. The fact is that while the hygienist does not only combine dental duties with the duties of an assistant dentist, but often also an administrator or cashier. But the prevention of diseases is a very important front of the medical work. Professional oral hygiene can prevent a large number of diseases.

Timely disposal of plaque, stoneand accumulation of bacteria prevents the destruction of enamel and tooth tissue. Therefore, remember that a hygienist should be visited at least twice a year. Before the intake, make sure that there are no wounds and sores in the mouth, signs of other dental diseases, caries and bleeding gums. The hygienist is not engaged in treatment, and he will first direct you to specialists to solve the relevant problems, and only then he will invite you to a professional hygiene procedure.

Visiting hygienist from A to Z

Of course, in our time professional servicesdoctors are not cheap. However, in order to obtain a good result, it is desirable to regularly undergo a full range of measures for cleaning the oral cavity from bacteria. This work takes place in several stages. We will tell you in detail about each of them, so you know exactly what awaits you in the hygienist's office.

• At the first stage, the specialist conducts an examination of the oral cavity with the application of a dye composition, which allows to accurately detect plaque spreading areas.
• Now begins direct work,which the dental hygienist is called upon to perform. What does he do (photos of his work) at this stage? Identifies areas covered with a soft coating, and removes it using a special technology Air Flow.
• At the next stage comes the turnaround of tartar. In the first place, ultrasound is used for this.
• If the previous procedure proved ineffective, then mechanical removal of the stone by a dental instrument is carried out.
• The last stage is polishing the surface of the teeth and coating with fluoride varnish.

Hygienist consultation

After the termination of procedure the doctor necessarilywill give a lecture to the patient and will consult how to maintain hygiene of the oral cavity independently. Often people for years incorrectly brush their teeth and do not even know about it. In the office, the hygienist usually has special models, on which you can easily demonstrate the technique visually.

During the conversation, the doctor will tell you what measures you can take and what means to use to visit the dentist as little as possible. However, that's not all.

• An experienced doctor will show you a special technique for cleaning hard-to-reach areas of teeth.
• Teach to use dental floss.
• Will recommend therapeutic toothpaste and oral care products.

Children's dentistry

Probably the most important work performed by children.dental hygienist. After all, it is at a young age that all oral care habits are cultivated. In addition, chronic dental diseases are the breeding grounds of bacteria that cause various inflammatory processes.

There is a myth in society that caring forbaby teeth may be minimal. They will still fall out, and healthy and strong teeth will replace them. As if not so. A molar tooth, starting to grow among carious neighbors, has every chance of becoming ill itself, even without fully completing its growth. This is really a big problem, therefore, every dental clinic today has a dental hygienist. What makes a child hygienist, we now consider more.

Preventive events and conversations

Children are not able to carelessly treat theirhealth, but they may simply not know that oral care is extremely important. That is why outdoor activities play an important role when hygienists visit kindergartens and schools, conduct examinations, and also tell children about the basics of dental care. Statistics show that in regions where such work is carried out regularly, the number of visits to dentistry is reduced. The habit of caring for the oral cavity since childhood gives its results.

Hygienist job when sitting in his chaira child is somewhat different from the one he does with adult patients. Here, first of all, it is necessary to determine the amount of damage to the teeth by caries and the possibility of treating these teeth. We remind you that the hygienist is not engaged in dental treatment, for this you will need to contact your dentist

After treatment it is very important to go again tohygienist. It will cover your child’s teeth with a special compound that will prevent their destruction and demineralization. This will give the opportunity to keep your teeth healthy up to the replacement with the root ones.

Instead of concluding

Dental hygienist is very importanta doctor who is undeservedly forgotten by us. We only come to dentistry when something hurts. And the treatment in this case requires a lot of time and money. If you take care of the condition of the oral cavity in advance, you can then seriously save on treatment.