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This month, Claire Berry and Faye Donald explain the life cycle of biofilm and share the secret to winning this ongoing ‘battle’. I like to think of biofilm as a nemesis rather than an enemy. An enemy is one you have the possibility to overcome, whereas a nemesis is impossible to defeat. Why is it…
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This month Claire Berry and Faye Donald discuss the additional and unexpected skills you may find you need to be a contemporary hygienist. How many of you have been here? You finally qualify as a hygienist and you excitedly embark on a career that is promised to be rewarding and fulfilling. Only to quickly realise…
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The role of the dental hygienist has shifted massively from the days of scale and polish. This month, Claire and Faye discuss the range of services hygienists can offer, highlighting the importance of maximising their potential. The scope of practice for a 1950’s hygienist, when the profession came to be, was literally scale and polish.…
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This month, Claire Berry and Faye Donald discuss the importance of learning styles, what each one is, and how understanding them can significantly improve patient communication. Ever noticed how you can give identical oral hygiene instructions to two different patients – one absolutely gets it and the other comes back seemingly confused about the very…
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How assertive are you? This month Claire Berry and Faye Donald discuss the benefits of developing an assertive communication style as a hygienist. Our first study club kick started with a mindset topic and we focussed our attention on assertiveness. Why? Because assertive people get ahead, are found to be less stressed/anxious and are happier.…
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To elevate your status and command respect, the Contemporary Hygienists discuss the importance of switching your mindset from ‘working for someone else’ to being an associate hygienist. Despite the majority of UK registered dental hygienists being self-employed, many still adopt a ‘working for someone else’ mindset. As such, they are treated so by practice owners,…
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To try and bridge the gap between the two professionals, Claire and Faye discuss referral pathways between hygienists and periodontal specialists, including how to go about them and how to feel confident doing it. The power lecture topic for the next phase of Contemporary Hygienist study clubs is going to be about referral pathways to…
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This month, Claire and Faye discuss how to cope with pressure in the changing, high-pressured environment of dental hygiene. The landscape of dental hygiene has changed so much in recent years. Particularly, the role that dental hygienists and therapists play in practice has changed. Having a higher standing in the dental community is something we’ve…
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Claire Berry and Faye Donald kick off a new column by opening up about why a hygiene department is crucial to a thriving practice. You may be asking, why even consider establishing the hygiene department as the cornerstone of a practice? If you have to ask that question, you are most probably someone who still…
