I regularly would tell my students in the radiology lab and even in clinic that “radiology is an art, not a science”. Do you agree with this? Seeing students try to understand the concepts of radiology and creating a 2D image of a 3D thing is tricky, and does need practice. We know that there is so much science involved with radiology, when it comes to exposure,  KVP, waves, etc. But, there is an element of art along with it- perfecting angles, sensor placement, patient comfort, and education to have the perfect exposure of a bitewing or periapical.  One of the trickiest parts of ha ..read more

Picture this. Your 10 am patient slumps down in your op chair, tired eyes and feeling overwhelmed. After some questioning, you get to the bottom of your patient’s body language. They have a teething baby! Nothing is harder than being over exhausted, and having a teething baby is no help when it comes to sleepful nights. Your patient looks at you and asks “What do you think about Amber Teething Necklaces?”. They are desperate to try anything to help their little one and in turn help their family. How do you answer them? For me, I love to follow up any question that I get from patients about th ..read more

This is part 2 of our series called Sharpening Stone 101. Find part 1 here! Sharpening Stone Shapes There are several shapes of stones you can purchase for your office and instruments. And most people learn one type and go with it for their entire career. I’m part of it! I learned about regular rectangle stones in school and honestly they are still my favorite, with the update of really liking a diamond card with the same shape. Here are the main shapes you’ll see in your distributor catalog: Cone Shape- Great for removing wire edges, good for concave edges, tapers to fit different instr ..read more

Ever opened your dental supply catalog and peeked at all the different sharpening stones? There are hundreds of combinations of sizes, styles, amount of abrasiveness, and price. Here on Hygiene Edge, we are breaking down this daunting task of getting a new stone to every day language.  Different Stones Arkansas Stone- This is a natural abrasive stone that has been used since dental hygiene was invented 100 years ago. It was one of the best for dental instruments for years due to how fine the abrasive powder particle size is. It’s perfect to have such a fine grit because our instruments a ..read more

I’ve been temping each week for the last few months. I’ve always filled in locally here and there during school breaks and when it worked out with my schedule. However, working each week in a new office has been a great experience to see what is out in my area on treatments, spaces, etc, but also learn new skills, softwares, and conversations. As I’ve been navigating this temping world (Full time temps are the real MVP), I’ve picked up a few things that I like to ask before even working there the first day to make the clinical day run a bit smoother. Here is my list of things to ask: If th ..read more

In the office I work at clinically, we run 4 chairs of hygiene during the week. A few weeks ago, one of the ops were having some hand piece/cord issues and for some reason, polishing wasn’t happening anymore. With the difficulties of having to switch out all the cording and figuring out next steps with the unit, the office decided to try a cordless handpiece instead. And honestly, having one in an office is a game changer! They are light, comfortable, have the power behind them like a corded hand piece, and there isn’t cord drag like a traditional hand piece. Now, having a cordless hand piece ..read more

I remember when I was a brand new instructor, one of my first days of being back to school I was asked to teach a group of students about instrumenting a furcation. These students have never even seen or felt a furcation before, so explaining something that was completely foreign plus  by working in a small area completely blind underneath the gingiva was so hard for me. I definitely felt overwhelmed and did not explain to them as well as I should have. I wish I had the PER 1027 model by Kilgore to explain this difficult concept. The best part of teaching these subgingival concepts with t ..read more

When hand held radiograph units were introduced to the world, I’ll be the first to admit that I was a bit weary of them. We had been taught that we need to run into a completely separate room, stay behind a wall, and stay there until the radiation had been completed. Now, I’m supposed to stand in the room with the patient while holding the machine?! Definitely a tricky concept to change in my brain. However, as research has been published and these hand held devices, like the Digital Doc unit, are commonplace in dental offices all over the world, I have literally and figuratively gotten behind ..read more

We have been so lucky enough to meet and get to know Amanda Trenerry, dental hygienist, entrepreneur, and mouth guard expert from Australia. Every time we chat to Amanda, we feel inspired and excited on what’s next in our profession, and how we as dental hygienist can be such a force for change in our patient’s lives. This a true testament of who she is since we usually have to meet in the middle of the night due to time zones! Learn a bit more about Amanda and what she’s doing now with her company Neomorph. Where you went to school? Mitcham Girls High School in South Australia, Australia. W ..read more

A few weeks ago, I showed up at my office and the front desk just came in to chat as I was setting up my room. After the morning niceties, she casually mentioned that someone who was applying to dental hygiene school would be there in 10 minutes to shadow me during the day. I’m not gonna lie. It took me a little bit off-guard as I was hurrying to set up my operatory for my first patient to now have someone coming in in the middle of an appointment to watch me during the day. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of shadowing days. I feel like I have to split my time between the shower and the pati ..read more