Categories
01: Professionalism

Professional Collaboration

I recently completed assessments on a client in the community that had a liver transplant seven years prior. I was unsure if this client needed antibiotic prophylaxis prior to invasive dental hygiene treatment. I therefore took the initiative to contact his family physician. After several phone calls back and forth with the receptionist I finally was able to speak with his doctor. She was unsure if he needed the antibiotics, so he gave me the phone number to the clinic where the transplant was performed. I again left several messages with the receptionist and finally spoke with the specialist. She was very helpful and faxed me a review of the patient’s last liver evaluation (which is done monthly) and a document stating that this particular client did not need the use of the antibiotic prophylaxis treatment. I felt this was an important experience for my learning because not only did it enable me to communicate professionally and effectively with other practitioners, but it also allowed for me to embrace collaboration with other health care environments.

Categories
01: Professionalism

Hypertension

I have been providing treatment to a client for two semesters, who we will refer to as Mr. Smith that has controlled hypertension. His readings are consistently between 130-150 for systolic pressure and 80-90 for diastolic pressure. I spoke with his family physician and she assured me that Mr. Smith sees her on a regular basis and that his blood pressure readings are usually in the stage 1 of hypertension category. She also told me not to worry because he takes his medication regularly and has a check up once a month. Mr. Smith would also explain to me that he sometimes experiences the “white coat effect” and that because of this it could make his blood pressure more elevated. One evening during a clinic session I routinely took Mr. Smith’s blood pressure prior to debridement and it read 204/102 mmHg. I was definitely alarmed and took another reading after five or so minutes had passed. The next reading was still around 200/100 mmHg. I informed Mr. Smith of the situation and explained that I would have my instructor take his blood pressure to be sure. Mr. Smith did not seem too concerned with what was going on; even though he was well aware from seeing his physician so frequently that this was definitely a high reading. My instructor came and took it again and the reading was now 203/102 mmHg. I know that was in stage 3 of hypertension, and that Mr. Smith should definitely be escorted to emergency. I communicated my concerns to him in a very calm and collected manner so that I did not alarm him anymore then needed as he was already quite upset. He was aware that his blood pressure was too high to do any invasive treatment, but there was a disconnect pertaining to the importance of his overall health because of his high blood pressure. I informed him about the severity of this reading and because of this new knowledge he gained he reluctantly agreed to come to the UBC hospital with me. If I had not of communicated in such a calm and professional manner with my client while relaying the information to him, he might not have understood how potentially dangerous the situation actually was, and therefore may not have gone to the hospital either.

Categories
05: Personal Development Plan

My Dental Hygiene Philosophy and Primary Care Provider Definition

Dental hygiene is a service to the community in fulfillment of basic basic human needs of oral health, as well as systemic health including education, prevention, promotion of health, and treatment of oral disease. I will provide safe and effective dental hygiene care to help people retain and improve their oral health for greater quality of life. I will practice safely, ethically and with integrity. I will communicate effectively, utilize collaboration to assit in treatment, and always use evidence based critical thinking to reinforce the decisions I make. I will be culturally sensitive, and provide compassionate care at all times in the dental workplace.   

 

To explain what a primary care provider is, a few other terminologies much first be identified. The first of which is primary health. This is a type of care that takes into account the entire person as a whole and includes elements such as income, education, housing and environment. Next is primary care, which is the element within primary health care that focuses on health care services, including health promotion, illness and injury prevention, and the diagnosis and treatment of illness or injury. A Primary care provider is a patient’s first point of access to the health care system, and they provide on going care for maintenance and illness therapy (1).  They take responsibility for the overall coordination and implementation of the care of the patient’s health issues using community resources (1,2), and evidence based research. A Primary health care prodiver also takes into account health care should be based on practical, scientifically sound, socially acceptable methods as well as modern technology (3). Dental hygienists as primary health care providers should promote lifestyles that are conducive to health, educate the public and prevent disease through self-care and regular checkups (3), on top of treating a patient as a whole.  

 

References

1. Odrich J.Can dental hygienists affect the periodontal health of the nation? The dental hygienist: a primary health care provider. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 1985;45(2):64-9.

2. Monajem S. Integration of oral health into primary health care: the role of dental hygienists and the WHO stewardship. Int J Dent Hygiene. 2006;4:47-51.

3. Cobban SJ. A dialectical analysis of an art of dental hygiene practice. Int J Dent Hygiene. 2009;7:217-225.

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