We’ve all heard it: “I’m here for just a cleaning.” The Standards for Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice are not “just” anything. Dental hygienists assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate, and document individualized care while screening for disease, evaluating risks, and educating our patients.
This month on A Tale of Two Hygienists, join us as we discuss how those standards provide a framework for evidence-based, patient-centered dental hygiene care and reveal the depth of our education, judgment, and responsibility.
So this Dental Hygiene Month, let’s celebrate hygienists as clinicians, prevention specialists, educators, and advocates are so much more than “just a cleaning.”
— Jessica Atkinson, MEd, BSDH, RDH, FADHA, cohost