Dental Hygienist: Who are they? How can they help with professional check and clean appointments?

What is the role of dental hygienist, exactly?

Let’s jump in and take a closer look…

Most simply, hygienists provide full oral health care, focusing on the prevention and treatment of oral disease. A Dental hygienist is registered with the Dental Board of Australia. In line with all other dental practitioners, they need complete a minimum of 60 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities over a three-year period. They have also completed a 3-year degree at the University to enable them to undertake care for adults and children in the field of dental hygiene.

The Dental Hygienist has an integral role of an educator, helping you learn in-depth about your oral needs and dental goals. They can also advise you on lifestyle changes that can help you maintain a good dental hygiene. 

How do hygienists differ from dentists? 

At Riverlands Dental, both dentists and hygienists form part of an integral team whose focus is to help educate, treat and empower you about your oral health and its connection with your whole body health. Dentists have additional training to allow them to focus on the diagnosis and management of a whole range of oral and dental health. 

Many dentists have specialist areas of interest in fields such as endodontic (root canal therapy) orthodontics (braces and invisalign) as well as implant dentistry. In contrast, hygienists focus on providing services based on prevention and the hygiene of the mouth, teeth, and gums. They also play an important role in detecting and treating the early signs of gum disease. Good thing is that the dentist and hygienist both work collaboratively towards the optimal patient well being at Riverlands dental. 

What are the preventative benefits of Dental Hygienist? 

In consultation with the dentist, they work on each patient, to design and promote the dental health of teeth, gums and hence, overall wellbeing. Dental Hygienist takes wide selection of activities including helping with some emergency care and offering ongoing tips and techniques. Some of them are as outlined by the Australian Dental Association (ADA) are: 

• Assessing the state of a person's oral health and advising ways to treat gum diseases such as gingivitis (bleeding gums).
  
• Removing tartar, plaque and stains from teeth, as well as polishing them
  
• Educating people on the best ways to prevent the build-up of plaque and cavities
• Oral cancer screening and smoking cessation advice
  
• Applying fluoride treatments, gum dressings, dental mouth sheets and professional tooth whitening agents
  
• Administering and interpreting dental X-rays
  
• Use plaster models of the mouth to create customised mouthguards
  
• Designing and presenting treatment plans
  
• Counseling patients about good nutrition and its impact on oral health
• This non-exhaustive list, which includes a diverse range of activities, ensures no two days are ever quite the same
  

Looking after your teeth is extremely important in order to prevent oral health problems arising, such as tooth decay and gum disease. Prevention is great part of Riverlands Remarkable Care promise, which means empowering patients to engage in daily cleaning that includes brushing, flossing and using mouthwash. 

The benefit of preventative maintenance has been proven to reduce oral health problems that may end up causing unnecessary pain as well as time and money, If not maintained well.

A hygienist in your appointment can also detect early signs of decay as well as gum disease. A professional cleaning can also restore teeth back to health and leave patients with a clean slate so they can have a chance at good oral health. Bad breath is not only embarrassing but can also affect ones confidence. Bacteria that is most responsible for this is often hiding under our gum line in hard to reach spots. 

Our dental hygienist at Riverlands Dental uses modern technology and tools to help resolve this issue. A deep clean at your appointment will help reduce the problem. Dental hygienist is also able to do regular oral cancer screening to assess the early sign of disease. They also look at risk factor for oral cancer and how they can be minimised. The main risk factor is from smoking.

An attractive smile means confidence for most. Your hygienist can also help assess future options and treatment plans. Our dentist is actively involved in the process with the hygienist and is briefed to fast track your future needs that may be related to complex, ongoing dental issues, restorative or cosmetic work. The dental hygienist has undertaken extra training to carry out both in chair and take home teeth whitening.

Does every practice have a hygienist?

Not all practices have a hygienist or therapist. However, at Riverlands dental in Hawkesbury, we stand by our Remarkable care promise and making a difference in how we serve you. Our Dental hygienist is a great introduction for Hawkesbury locals to help us reinforce comprehensively, our values of prevention, community education and innovation. Hygienist is a specialist in Dental hygiene like the name suggests. 

This is what they do for work and do best. They have been extensively trained to carry out scaling and polishing and can spend longer with you. They are also excellent at teaching you how to look after your teeth and gums. Often the hygienist will spend a number of appointments getting the gums healthy ready for the dentist to restore the teeth with crowns and fillings. 

Will the treatment hurt?

Treatment including scaling and polishing is mostly pain free. However, if you experience any discomfort at Riverlands dental Hygienist can offer option of anesthetic creams or local anesthetic too that could help relieve discomfort. Always let the hygienist know at the time of your appointment so they can help with your pain. 

Whether you’d like to find out more about what a dental Hygienist is in NSW, or if you’d like to make an appointment, call the Riverlands Dental team today on (02) 4501 7930 and see how an experienced licensed dental hygienist can do to help you and your family.