Importance of Dental Tools for Dental Hygienist: A Reflection

Reflection Essay
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
January 20, 2021
Understanding the importance of various tools used in line with the dental practice is important for a dental hygienist. It allows him to have a better understanding and appreciation of how the use and care of such tools relate to the overall practice, whether it be in the provision of care or the trust-building process with the patient. In line with this, I would like to focus on one of my experiences that taught me the proper use of dental tools in my practice.
Case Overview
The patient in the case that I handled came with a chief complaint that his teeth have become more sensitive after having braces. During the initial examination, we found out that there has been a generalized decalcification on the facial surfaces of his teeth. There was also apparent radiographic decay on #30 and #19, which we believed contributes to the causes of decay. A dietary analysis reveals that the patient enjoys drinking soda as well as brushes only once a day. His plaque index was 50% and his teeth show deep pits and fissures. Finally, his caries risk assessment reveals that the patient is high risk.
Clinical Learning Outcomes
This case helped us learn a lot about our future practice as a dental hygienist. Aside from the objective and medical knowledge that we learned from this case, we were also able to (1) learn how to correlate the principles of applied dental materials to preventive patient care and (2) explain the value of chairside techniques with dental materials for safe patient care.