Alginate Impression Help

Impressions can be difficult because they are so time sensitive. Need help brushing up your skills? Watch our latest video on the proper way to mix alginate since a good mix is the key to a great dental impression. Perfecting your skills will make you more valuable to your office and build your resume!

How To Clean a Denture With An Ultrasonic Scaler

We have several new videos up that may be helpful to you. One of my favorites is the one on how to clean a denture with an ultrasonic scaler. YES, even dentures can build up calculus. This is something I never learned in hygiene school, did any of you?  I did learn to put the denture in 2 Ziploc bags, fill it with tartar cleaner and place it in the instrument ultrasonic for 15 mins. However, I noticed that most often the calculus was still present on the denture after this process. Luckily,  as an assistant, I worked for a dentist that gave me some instruction on how to remove the calculus from a denture. Check out the video below to see how to do it for yourself. Let us know how it goes in your daily practice.  

---

Check out some of our other new videos on our channel HERE.

Naturopathic Remedies for the Oral Cavity

Ever have a patient mention a new oral hygiene technique that you have never heard of? With the increasing popularity of naturopathic remedies, we explain some of the popular techniques that are circulating the internet right now.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal Silver has been used for 200 years to help fight infection and inflammation all over the body. The idea first was presented because royalty used silver utensils to eat and rarely became sick. Now, Colloidal Silver can be ingested in a capsule, used as a topical lotion or spray, or rinsed in a liquid.  The most common method to use Colloidal silver for gingival or tooth infection is a three step process. First, a small amount of liquid silver is brushed on the infected area. If there is generalized bleeding present, the entire mouth is brushed with it instead of just the localized area. Next, a 10-minute rinse of fresh colloidal silver is used. If the patient is having pain or visible exudate is present, then the patient increases their oral dose until the pain is gone.

The thing about colloidal silver is that it’s silver! It can cause dark rings of stain along the gingival margin, as well as generally turning the teeth blue or brown.  It is strong too, and usually becomes intrinsic and can be hard to whiten over. Based on these risks, discouraging patients to use this method and try other natural methods is always recommended.

Tea Tree Oil

Tee treat oil has been used for hundreds of years due to properties that are antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral. It can be found in toothpastes and mouth rinses, with the most common being Therabreath. To use the oil to treat gingivitis or periodontitis, patients put 1 drop of oil on their toothbrush and brush for 2 minutes. This oil is strong, and can cause numbing in the gingiva and tongue.  It also has a very strong clove flavor, so it takes the right type of patient to use this technique regularly.

doTerra OnGuard Toothpaste

doTerra is an essential oil company that specializes in already combined oil mixes to make using essential oils easy. One of their biggest selling products is their OnGuard Toothpaste.  It contains wild orange, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint, and xylitol. These essential oils have been known to help decrease inflammation, improve breathe, and increase circulation.  It does not contain any fluoride.

Oil Pulling

Oil Pulling is a technique that comes and goes every few years but has been in practice for hundreds of years. Traditionally the technique used sesame oil but with the increasing popularity of coconut oil, most patients today use that. The technique of oil pulling is simple- swish with 1 tablespoon of oil for 20 minutes at least 2 times a day. Some patients think that this is enough, and brushing and flossing are completely stopped as the oil pulling routine is started. Some use it as an addition to their regular oral hygiene techniques.

Now the next time a patient mentions their new oral hygiene routine, you can have the perfect background information to help educate!

Have you heard of any other naturopathic remedies that your patients use? Have you tried any yourself?

Blood Pressure Guidelines for the Dental Hygienist

Happy Love Day, Hygiene Friends!

What better day than to talk about the heart and blood pressure than today? We know we all learned how to take blood pressure in school, and were required to take it also every appointment on our patients. Do you still follow that protocol your office? Though it does take an extra minute or two of an already packed appointment, the act of taking a patient’s blood pressure reading could be life saving. Most patients see their hygienist and dentist more often than their physician, so screening for blood pressure could change someone’s future.

So you have decided to start taking blood pressures at your office! Now what? Here is a quick chart for reference to know what is normal, and what to do if it isn’t.

Top Number (Systolic)     Bottom Number (Diastolic)     Category               
   in mm Hg                                     in mm Hg

Below 120                             Below 80               Normal Blood Pressure    

Recommendations: Maintain healthy lifestyle, Monitor annually

120-139                                   80-89                    Prehypertension                

Recommendations: Maintain or start living healthy lifestyle, Monitor at each appointment, limit epi

140-159                                   90-99                  Stage 1 Hypertension          

Recommendations: Refer patient to see  medical doctor, monitor at each appointment, limit epi


160 and Over                        100 and Over     Stage 2 Hypertension          

Recommendations: Defer treatment, refer to medical doctor and possibly ER, monitor at each appointment when under control, limit epi.

We love being in a profession that is live changing and life saving. We hope you do too!
 

!

TIP: Use an automatic wrist blood pressure cuff like the one you see here.  It makes taking blood pressure quick and easy. Taking blood pressure is the standard of care now and your license could depend on it in case of an emergency.

Joint Pre-Medication Update from JADA

We are no longer required to pre-medicate for joint replacements. If your patients request this, refer them to their orthopedic surgeon for any pre-medication prescriptions, questions or concerns.  Here is a quote from the conclusion in the recent article in JADA.

"using antibiotics before dental procedures is not recommended to prevent Prostetic Joint Infections"

View the article in the link below
http://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(14)00016-6/fulltext

Mandibular Cross Innervation-What Should I Do?

We have all been there before, as you approach #24/25 you are bracing yourself for the potential patient "jolt" as they experience pain from cross-innervation from the opposite quadrant. About 30% of the time I see this in practice so it is good to have a clear understanding of your options in this case. The video below gives a suggestion on how to deal with this situation. Other options are to hand instrument the area (instead of using the ultrasonic,) give a PDL injection, give a papillary injection or as a last resort give an IA in the opposite quadrant.