Blog

My name is Laura Kearns and I am a dental hygienist at Seapoint Clinic. As a dental hygienist, I focus on the prevention of oral disease, by trying to motivate patients to care for their teeth by giving them the tools to do so with education on how to brush and floss properly. I can also treat particular types of gum disease, place protective sealants on the teeth and apply fluoride varnish to the teeth to strengthen them.

This is in contrast to dentists who tend to fix the problem once it has already occurred. Dentists then generally refer patients to the dental hygienist to try to prevent any further problems.

I started treating Jane (not her real name) when she was referred to me by one of our general dentists for treatment of gum disease. She was a student who was finding her course quite stressful and had neglected her teeth in the meantime. On first examination, I noted poor oral hygiene, the gums were bleeding profusely on gentle touch and there was early bone loss around the teeth. On discussing this with Jane and showing her an x ray of her teeth and surrounding bone, we decided to undertake a course of visits with me to decontaminate her mouth and get the gums back to good health.

She was very nervous so for the first visit we decided best for her to take oral sedation. This involved arriving a half hour early to take the sedation. This greatly helped with her nerves and, after the first visit, she decided that we would try the next visit without sedation. With each visit, she became more and more relaxed.

Each time Jane sat in the chair, I numbed the area I needed to work on to make everything more comfortable for her. I gave the teeth and gums a deep cleaning to remove plaque, bacteria and tartar, so the gums could have a chance to become healthy again. Good oral home care is also very important in cases such as Jane’s so I showed her some tips on how to get a better result from her daily dental care routine, just by making a few tweaks to her regular routine. Always in a good mood, she was a lovely patient to treat. She now attends the clinic regularly and her gums are back to good health, and the health of her gums is one less stress off her mind. I am happy to have played a part in getting her oral health up to scratch again!

The main point to note here is that prevention is the key. That is why dental hygienists are here and we are glad to help in any way possible. The more regularly a patient attends, the better chance of keeping problems at bay and we can give tailored advice to people on the best techniques to keep their teeth and gums in good shape.