Dentist Staff: The Team You Can Rely On

Your dentist is the person trained to care for your teeth and correct any problems that do arise, but he or she is hardly alone in this pursuit. As you probably notice each time you visit your dental office, there’s someone else that plays a major role in keeping your mouth healthy.

A dentist has all the fancy degrees from prestigious schools, and it is his or her name on the door of the office you enter when you arrive for a visit. When something goes wrong with your teeth, he or she is the person whose opinion you trust in devising a solution.

Dentists, however, rely on someone to do their job as much as you rely on them to protect your teeth. With that in mind, it’s safe to say that your dental hygienist may be as important to your oral health as the doctor with the dentistry degree. Hygienists are licensed dentistry professionals in the field of preventive oral health. They are charged both with practicing oral hygiene and instructing and helping patients do the same on their own.

Most hygienists work for a dentist as part of a practice and are who patients spend the majority of their time with during a routine cleaning. They are essentially dentists’ top aides, but the crucial role they play individually in cleaning and testing your teeth during each visit is typically the most important aspect of the job. As part of a typical itinerary of the tooth-cleaning process, a hygienist usually brushes and flosses each tooth, performs scaling and root planing with specialized tools and executes treatments such as administering fluoride to help cleanse the mouth.

As part of his or her role as the dentist’s assistant, the hygienist also performs a number of tests and examinations to later be examined by the doctor. This typically includes taking tooth x-rays along with more basic visual examinations. More specifically, a hygienist’s role in a patient’s oral care is typically broken down into five broader steps.

The first step involves assessing the patient, including a visual exam, x-rays and a discussion with the individual about any problems he or she may be having in relation to any potential history of issues. The second step is a diagnosis of the state of the individual’s dental hygiene. This usually involves the examination of the mouth and the potential for any specific dental conditions that may be present. The final three steps are all related and involve the planning, carrying out and evaluation of a plan of care for the individual patient. This includes doing so both during the current visit and throughout that person’s lifetime.

If a more significant procedure is necessary, the hygienist’s role is usually that of the top assistant to the doctor and he or she is often present during the procedure to fill a number of capacities. He or she may also be licensed to administer anesthesia.

Rest assured that your dentist is certainly the most qualified individual when it comes to taking care of your teeth and has the education, qualifications and experience to back that up, but also know that he or she can’t do it alone.