I was placed at Broadway Pentecostal Lodge (BPL) in the first semester of fourth year. This was probably one of the biggest learning experiences I had encountered since I started dental hygiene because I barely had any experience providing dental hygiene services in an elderly nursing home.
Generally, the population consists of elders with a variety of characteristics, as opposed to the population at OHC in UBC, the population would have similar characteristics and demographics.
Clinical therapy includes assessments and treatment such as extra-oral and intra-oral exams, dental exams, deplaquing with a manual toothbrush, debridement with hand scaling, denture care, application of fluoride and personal self care either with the elder or with care aids on the floor.
Moreover, it was challenging for me to adapt when implementing dental hygiene services. Sometimes because of the variety of illnesses, medications and conditions would make it difficult for me to communicate with them, as well as just providing care. As a result, I felt that I grew more patient. In addition, it was hard to provide care bedside. It was such a challenge to follow ergonomics! I try my best to maintain a straight back while debriding but most of the time it cannot be achieved and by the end of the day I would end up having a sore back.
Overall, it was a challenge but a good challenge – I also learnt to communicate with other health professionals, especially during Care Conferences, improved on paper charting and definitely gained more knowledge and skills on doing dental hygiene services in this type of population.