Dental Hygiene Lecture Notes – Core Concepts and Practice

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the dental hygiene lecture notes.

What is Dental Hygienist

A licensed oral health professional who provides preventive, educational, and therapeutic oral health care services; scope varies worldwide.

What is a DHY - 3 types of Oral Health Care Services?

The three main categories of care provided by dental hygienists: preventive, educational, and therapeutic.

What is Preventive Services

Interventions aimed at preventing oral diseases and maintaining oral health (e.g., cleaning, sealants, fluoride). to stop something before it becomes problem

Educational Services?

Teaching patients about oral health, self-care routines, and lifestyle choices that affect dental health. Oral hygiene, risk factors, dental care, products, healthy habits

Therapeutic Services?

Treatments that restore or improve oral health, including debridement and periodontal therapies. Treatment behaviors like anxiety - so help them. manage or treat the condition

Dental Hygiene Diagnosis?

The professional determination of a patient’s oral health status based on assessment data, guiding care planning.

Dental Hygiene Care Plan?

The structured plan of dental hygiene interventions to address the hygiene diagnosis.

Professional Roles of DHY?

Clinician?

The professional who provides direct patient care in clinical settings. aka the main talk with the dentist

Professional Roles of DHY?

Public Health Educator?

• A hygienist role focusing on population-based education and preventive programs, teaching it

Professional Roles of DHY?

Public Health Researcher?

• A hygienist role focused on collecting data and studying outcomes to improve community oral health.

Professional Roles of DHY

Advocate?
Role that supports patient access to care, rights, and health equity, standing up for your profession

Professional Roles of DHY?

Administrator/Manager

• Role overseeing operations, budgeting, staffing, and program management in dental hygiene settings. “ team leader, planning outreach advocating others,

What can DHY do in OHIO?

Scale deposits

• Removing calcified deposits (calculus) from teeth during cleaning.

Polish the teeth

• Finishing step after scaling to smooth tooth surfaces for esthetics and easier cleaning.

Place and adjust sealants

• Applying protective sealant material to susceptible pits/fissures and adjusting as needed.

Desensitizing medications

• Agents applied to reduce tooth sensitivity.

Remineralizing medications

• Agents used to restore minerals to tooth enamel.

N2O (Nitrous Oxide)

• A sedative gas used to provide analgesia during dental procedures.

Local anesthetic injections

• Injections that numb a specific area of the mouth during treatment.

Interim Therapeutic Restoration (ITR)

• A temporary restoration placed to restore a tooth until definitive treatment.

EFDA

• Expanded Functions Dental Auxiliary; allows specific fillings to be placed/adjusted under supervision.

Practice Limitations in Ohio:

Direct Supervision

General Supervision

Medical Emergencies course

Medical emergencies course:

A required course to maintain competence for general supervision.

Direct Supervision

• Dentist is physically present during treatment.

General Supervision

• Dentist is not required to be on-site for every procedure; allowed after meeting requirements and training.

• After 1 year and Ohio 1500 hours work experience with MDE course

• Can treat patients without DD present for up to 15 days

Practice outside Ohio

States or countries with different practice restrictions for dental hygienists.

• Not all states allow local anesthetic N20

• Not all states allow the general supervision

What states allow more than ohio?

Colorado and Canada: own practice

• Jurisdictions where hygienists may own and operate their own practice and bill independently.

• Cementing crown or retainers etc: more restorative advance duties

• Billing on your own: The ability to bill patients directly as part of owning practice in some regions.

What are the six- step of DHY Process?

ADPIED

The six-step dental hygiene process: Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, Evaluate, Document.

Assessment

The data collection phase of ADPIED, including vital signs and medical/dental history.

Risk Assessments

Classifying a patient’s risk as Low, Moderate, or High to guide care planning.

Head and Neck Exam

Clinical examination of the head, neck, and soft tissues as part of assessment.

Periodontal Charting

Recording periodontal probing depths, recession, CAL, BOP for diagnosis.

Calculus Detection

Identifying calcified deposits on teeth during examination.

Sickle scalers

Dental instruments used for supra-gingival calculus removal (examples: H5/33, Nevi 1).

Universal Curets

Periodontal instruments used to scale all tooth surfaces (e.g., Younger Good 7/8, Columbia 4R/4L).

Gracey Curets

Area-specific periodontal curets designed for particular tooth surfaces (e.g., 3/4, 15/16, 13/14).

Pellicle

A thin film on the tooth surface that acts as an adhesion layer for bacteria.

Plaque Biofilm

A complex community of bacteria embedded in a matrix on the tooth surface.

Calculus

Mineralized dental plaque; hardened deposits on teeth.

Demineralization

Early enamel loss due to acid exposure, a precursor to decay.

Cavitation

Formation of a cavity due to advanced decay.

Debridement

Mechanical removal of dental biofilm and calculus above the gum line (supragingival).

SRP (Scaling and Root Planing)

Deep cleaning to remove subgingival calculus and smooth root surfaces for periodontal disease.

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; protects patient privacy.

Documentation

Recording treatment notes, signatures, and codes in the patient chart.

Informed consent

Patient agreement to proceed with proposed treatment after discussion of benefits, risks, and costs.