Amber Is Asking: New instrument line brings harmony to hand scaling

    Oct. 6, 2020
    The majority of RDHs experience hand, arm, and shoulder pain throughout their careers. To create a truly innovative ergonomic scaler, HuFriedyGroup designed their own custom sensor technology and collected 2.8M data points.

    Due to new restrictions on power instrumentation in the dental operatory, many dental hygienists are hand scaling more than ever before. While hand scaling may produce fewer aerosols than power instrumentation, it carries with it certain challenges, especially occupational pain. Even before the pandemic, 70% of dental hygienists reported hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder pain at some point throughout their careers.

    The challenge in designing an ergonomic scaler is that much of a clinician's perception of comfort is subjective. To gather data for analysis, HuFriedyGroup turned to experts in many fields in the dental industry, and even designed their own custom sensor technology to collect information about pinch force and pressure. In the end, over 2.8 million data points were collected, and the Harmony Scaler was created. In this video, HuFriedyGroup Product Manager Erin Baumstark chats with Amber Auger, MPH, RDH, about what makes this instrument such an advancement.

    About the Author

    Amber Auger, MPH, RDH

    Amber Auger, MPH, RDH, is an international lecturer, 2019 Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction recipient, and creator of Thrive in the OP and the certified Functional RDH. With more than 24 years in the dental field and practicing hygiene since 2010, Amber empowers professionals through on-demand courses and coaching. She specializes in root-cause soft tissue management, practical protocols, and career development, inspiring clinicians to enhance patient care and achieve career satisfaction. Reach Amber at a[email protected].