October is National Dental Hygiene Month, to celebrate the work our great dental hygienists and dentists do and to help raise awareness of the importance of maintaining good oral health.
Good oral hygiene results in a mouth that looks and smells healthy. This means your teeth are clean and free of debris, gums are pink and they do not hurt or bleed when we brush or floss, and bad breath is not an ongoing problem.
It is very important to practice good oral hygiene; it’s one of the most important things we can do to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
Healthy teeth enable a person to look and feel good, and make it possible to eat and speak properly. Good oral health is also very important to our overall health and well being. Daily preventive care, including proper brushing and flossing, will help avoid oral hygiene problems before they develop.
In between our regular visits to the dentist, which we all should do, we can take simple steps to greatly decrease the risk of developing tooth decay, gum disease and other dental problems. These steps include brushing thoroughly twice a day and flossing daily, eating a well balanced diet, using dental products that contain fluoride—including toothpaste—and if recommended by your dental care professional, rinsing daily with a mouth rinse. If we all follow these basic oral health recommendations, we will indeed maintain good oral health.
A dental hygienist is an oral health professional who works under the supervision of a licensed dentist. Along with teaching patients proper oral hygiene, they conduct professional patient assessments, perform oral examinations, and provide expert teeth cleanings.
Dental hygienists may work in either general or specialty dental clinics, and may also be employed in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities. Dental hygienists spend many hours at work standing or leaning over patients, as they provide expert care.
The typical degree required is an associate degree in dental hygiene. Dental hygiene programs focus on teaching the hygienist how to properly use dental software, various dental tools and special dental care devices, and their educational courses may include oral pathology, dental materials, radiology, infection control, pain management, community dental health, and pharmacology.
Dental hygienists also develop communication skills, which is very important as they work with patients on a daily basis and need to properly explain multiple dental procedures.
It is important that our dental hygienists remain compassionate, as they work with dental patients who may be in severe pain or may be fearful of dental procedures.
Thank you, dental professionals, for all you do for the oral health of so many people.