hygiene - the international C.E. magazine of dental hygiene

I 15hygiene 1_2012 C.E. article_ cross coding I _Have you lost the excitement? Are you con- tent with what you might now perceive as the same-old, same-old every day? Day after day you may be performing hygiene procedures over and overagain,allthewhileknowingyouarehelpingyour patientsbutperhapsyousimplydon’tfeelasthough you are truly making a significant difference in their overall health. If you feel that level of frustration, or evenifyoudon’t,butyouareinterestedinadvancing your career, then read on to discover some ways in which you can make a significant difference in the health of your patients. As you are aware, dentistry is becoming recog- nizedasamedicaldiscipline.Weinthedentalfieldare in a unique position to support our patients’ overall bodyhealth.Ourpatientswhomaintaintheirregular recare schedules are quite probably seen by us more frequently than they are seen by their primary care providers. “Around 39 percent of adults see their physicians in a year while 64 percent see their den- tists, which means we see 25 percent more patients than they do.”1 Hygienists can be key players in this opportunity. Bythoroughlyquestioningtheirnewpatientsandby providing and reviewing medical history forms that areupdatedwiththemostcurrentmedicalquestions, hygienists can begin an evaluation of their patients’ medical state. In addition, our established patients mayhavehadachangeintheirmedicalhistorysince their last appointment, so a recare update form is an efficient way to inquire about their health. If your practice is not familiar with recare update forms, please check my website to obtain a copy. Again, thorough questioning of all new and established patientsisanessentialcomponenttogettingthefull picture of your patients’ health. What is discovered from these questions can be a strong determining factor in how each patient is handled. Patient questioning should always be fol- lowedbydentalexams,X-rays,bloodpressurechecks and clinical observations. For those patients who may have a systemic disorder, your practice should becomeproactivebyreferringthepatientbacktohis or her primary care provider. However, because dentistry has evolved over the last decade, there are more ways that the dental practice can help make these determinations. With the frequency of patients’ visits and the availability of numerous cutting edge diagnostic tools, we have theuniqueopportunitytoadministerdifferenttypes of disease testing that, in the past, were performed only by medical practices. If you are unfamiliar with the types of medical testing that are available for dental practices to per- form, then the following information can make a big differenceinthequalityofyourpractice’streatment, and it may help to make a significant change in how you perceive your career. Firstofall,periodontaldiseasesandcariesarebac- terial infections, but the majority of dental practices diagnose these conditions through the use of peri- odontal probes and explorers. Have you considered that medical practices would never begin treatment withoutdeterminingiftheyaretreatingbacteriaora virus? In dentistry, we need to differentiate between aspirin sensitivity, blood dyscrasias, other diseases, fungus, yeast or a cyst; so bacteriologic tests should be performed.2 Microscopic tests, DNA tests, or bac- The power of cross coding: How hygienists can support their patients’ overall body health Author_Marianne Harper This article qualifies for C.E. credit.TotaketheC.E.quiz,log on to www.dtstudyclub.com. The quiz will be available on Oct.18. _c.e. credit part II