A Tale of Two Hygienists Podcast

Our monthly student roundtable discussion episodes are dedicated to help you navigate the at-times turbulent waters from graduation to internship to full employment in the hygienist industry. This month, we've invited on two hygienists who regularly go on mission trips to bring dental care to the less fortunate throughout the world. Mary Jensen (previously heard in ATOTH 78) works as a dental hygienist for HyLyfe, LLC in the Greater Chicago Area and is Alliance for Smiles' lead hygienist, mentoring the dental professionals and students who go on these mission trips. Dorothy Ferreira has been practising dental hygiene for over three decades and is a volunteer hygienist for Alliance for Smiles and has 17 mission trips under her belt, with her 18th coming up this fall. In this episode, Mary and Dorothy discuss their personal histories with charitable dentistry, explain how to best go about funding and preparing for these mission trips, and relate some of their favorite experiences. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 3:07 - How Mary and Dorothy got involved in mission trip work and why Mary views dental hygiene techniques as "portable." - How dental hygienists on mission trips overcome the language barrier, and the touching bonds they form in the process. - Our guests' tips for vetting the different organizations that offer mission trip opportunities. - Why time zone can be a major factor in how well one may adjust to a mission trip. - The reason a little bit of dental hygiene education can go a long way in more remote communities. - What Dorothy and Mary think you should be sure to pack for a mission trip, and other helpful preparation tips. - How you can go about securing funding for your mission trips. QUOTES: "It's life-changing for the child, but it's life-changing for the volunteer as well." "Speaking to someone firsthand, I think, is way better than just looking at their website." "This individual has never been in the dental chair... You have to show, tell, do every step of the way." "In this day and age, people want to feel that they're going somewhere where there's care." "When I'm on a mission, I'm an ambassador for the organization, I'm an ambassador for the United States and I'm an ambassador for the dental hygienists of the world." LINKS: Mary's email: [email protected] Dorothy's email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episode! Be sure to thank the sponsor for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Kara Vavrosky (Kara, RDH) and Ben Buzbee return to the show to tell us about some exciting new updates going on including their new podcast! www.TodaysRDH.com https://www.todaysrdh.com/dental-hygiene-podcast/ Listen on any of your podcast apps!

These TIPisodes keep getting better and better! Teresa gives us another round of great advice and in this tip, she is talking PPOs Teresa Duncan, MS is such a wealth of knowledge. Please visit her website and enjoy her awesome resources! For more info from Teresa, see below! Teresa Duncan: Speaker on insurance and management, Podcaster, Author of a book and contributes to several magazines and the ADA's publications! Book : http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ use code TALE for $3 courtesy (offsets shipping) Site:OdysseyMgmt.com Podcast: http://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com

Continuing our series on dental-adjacent issues, we're tackling a scenario that every dental hygienist should be prepared for, however unlikely it may be: your patient having a medical emergency under your care. It's easy to fret over the thought of seizure or allergic reaction happening in your own office, but with some knowledge and training you'll know how to handle any situation promptly and professionally. Susannah Trammell is a paramedic, flight medic, "all around badass," and one of Michelle's best friends to boot. She has hands-on experience with dealing with a wide variety of medical emergencies and in the course of her casual but educational chat with Michelle she explains how you can deal with any emergency without that may pop up when a patient is in your chair. For this episode, Susannah gives you the low down on what steps you need to take if a patient passes out under your care, discusses what should be in your dental office's medical emergency kit, and gives you a refresher on CPR. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 11:41 - Susannah lays out her experience working as a medic in different capacities. - Looking back on the occasions when Michelle had to send patients to the hospital! - What information paramedics need when tending to patients in dental offices (and most places, for that matter). - Reviewing the ASA Physical Status Classification System. - What you should do if a patient passes out in your chair. - The different kinds of stimuli paramedics use to test alertness. - Distinguishing between allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock, and how to treat each. - What you should include in and how you should maintain a medical emergency kit. - Defining hypoglycemia and what we can do for the patients that have it. - The wrong way to administer oral glucose. - Why a wooden spoon should NOT be used when a patient goes into seizure. - What you can do to prevent or deal with airway collapse or obstruction. - Dealing with chest problems, strokes, and other serious ailments where you might need to administer medication. - A quick refresher on CPR basics for those worried that they might actually need to do it but have no recent practice. - Michelle's experience accidentally dropping an object down a patient's throat QUOTES: "If you don't feel a pulse and you don't see breathing just go ahead and start CPR." "You can have an allergic reaction but it not necessarily be anaphylaxis." "Definitely check their blood pressure before you give them another dose." "When there's an emergency going on, people love to be told what to do. They need a job, so give them a job." LINKS: American Dental Association - https://www.ada.org/en Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Noel Brandon-Kelsch. Do we need to really clean AND disinfect? Noel answers a listeners question on this week's episode. Medicom sponsors this episode. Head over to their website and learn more about their SafeMask to keep you and your patient protected https://www.medicom.com/en Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an exciting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com

A Tale of Two Hygienists continues its series on dental-adjacent issues that can impact ourselves and our patients. This week, Andrew and Michelle have invited someone on the show, who has professional and personal experience with dealing with suicidal thoughts, and who can provide everyone in our industry with valuable knowledge that can save lives. Randi Jensen is a counsellor and educator specializing in suicidality—suicidal thoughts, suicidal planning, and the harmful act itself. Drawing from her own experience with traumatic and suicidal thoughts, she is the author of Just Because You're Suicidal Doesn't Mean You're Crazy: The Psychobiology of Suicide and teaches suicide prevention courses at Cascadia Training in Seattle. In this episode, Randi discusses her own struggles with depression and suicidal ideation, explains how dentists and dental hygienists get to know their patients better than some other professionals, and suggests ways you can reach out to troubled patients. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 6:39 - How Randi dealt with darker thoughts during the more turbulent times in her life and came to realize she could help others as well. - The unique relationship dental professionals have with their patients that other medical specialists may not. - How a dentist's sympathy turned things around for one of Randi's patients. - Why a resistance to flossing and other methods of tooth maintenance may indicate troubling thoughts in a patient. - Defining "suicidality" and the three different types of suicide. - What signs and symptoms of suicidality dental hygienists can look for when treating patients. - Looking at the epidemic of suicide among the native American population and the "conspiracy of denial." - What you should NOT say to a suicidal patient and why it's important to catch up with those who've previously expressed those thoughts. - How many suicidal people adeptly hide their feelings and symptoms from public eye. - The little ways you can reach out to and comfort patients who have lost loved ones to suicide. - Why our approach to treating suicidal individuals needs to change and sooner rather than later. QUOTES: "I've had several careers in my life and the current career is probably my mission for the rest of my life." "You probably have more of a span of time with these individuals than anybody! "You have the input from people that other health care providers don't really have!" "Once you share your empathy and your compassion, you can't say the wrong thing after that." "Compassion can't make things worse." "You just need somebody who cares enough to say 'I care and I don't want you to do this'." LINKS: Jensen Suicide Prevention Peer Protocol - https://jsp3.org/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week Dr. Odiatu is talking about total body health and that our job is more than being concerned with P. gingivalis. Dr. Odiatu is a practicing dentist, certified trainer, author, speaker, and repeat AToTH guest. He always brings us content that we can use to make us and our patients happy and healthy. Be sure to check out the many episodes with Dr. Uche and head over to our YouTube channel and watch the videos Dr. Uche and Michelle did to help you stretch and take care of your body! Contact him! http://www.druche.com/ www.facebook.com/odiatu [email protected] Instagram: @fitspeakers Book: The Miracle of Health

Vaping is everywhere these days, to the point where it's difficult to go for a walk without spotting someone puffing from a vape pen of some kind. But while it's been touted as a healthier alternative to smoking, vaping still presents significant health risks that dental professionals should address with their patients. Edie Gibson, RDH, is the CEO and founder of EGibson Consulting, which trains dental teams across the country, as well as an author and international speaker. Edie began her dental career when she was 15, and since then has worked in just about every position a dental office has to offer—though hygienist remains her favorite role. She specializes in implant dentistry and has familiarized herself with the dental risks of smoking and vaping. In this episode, Edie breaks down the negative effects of vaping, reveals how pervasive the habit has become among the younger generation, and explains how dental professionals can impress the risks of vaping to their patients without coming off as judgmental. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 6:02 - The correlation Edie has noticed between smoking cigarettes and harder drug use. - Looking at the various chemicals found within cigarettes that are toxic both in tandem and in and of themselves. - Examining how tobacco companies tried to reach people before it was widely known how dangerous cigarettes were. - How the levels of nicotine in modern vape pods equate to those in packs of cigarettes. - What is respiratory distress and how can vaping cause it? - The reason vaporizer devices themselves can pose a major dental risk. - How to open a conversation about vaping and its dangers to your patients, especially younger ones. - Why it's so essential that dental professionals not take a judgmental stance when discussing the risks of vaping with patients. - Modern kids' "Shawshank Redemption" approach to covertly vaping at school. - How you can determine if your patients have been vaping or smoking. - A list of resources you can use to educate yourself, your patients, and your children on drug abuse and misuse. QUOTES: "If you want to kill a bug, use nicotine from your cigarette." "They knew that nicotine was addictive and they knew that cigarettes caused cancer." "If you have a vape pod... the nicotine in that one pod is equivalent to one pack of Marlboro Reds." "There isn't enough science behind or studies behind vaping to make it truly safe." "If you see eight patients a day, you're going to average four to five of them are vaping, or have tried it, or use it regularly." "I don't think it's ever too early to have the conversation about drugs, because nicotine is a drug." LINKS: Edie's homepage - https://www.ediegibson.com/ Edie's email: [email protected] National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens - https://teens.drugabuse.gov/ National Institutes of Health - https://www.nih.gov/ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - https://www.samhsa.gov/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Claire Jeong is the founder of StudentRDH.com, dentaltoaster.com, smarterDA.com and now https://wakeupmemory.com/ She has also created Wake Up Memory tips to help us remember the 3 drugs that cause gingival hyperplasia. We have all seen patients struggling with this, but sometimes remembering the exact drugs isn't so easy. Claire is here to help us. In this episode, Claire teaches us the 9 foods to help our brain and the Wake Up Memory technique to remember those brain foods. Check out her website, dentaltoaster.com for more info and other great CE courses, including one by Michelle!

This week on A Tale of Two Hygienists, we're digressing from our usual technical discussions to shine a light on an unpleasant but very important subject: the abuse and mistreatment some of our most vulnerable patients experience, and especially what hygienists can do to mitigate these situations. India Chance, RDH, is a consultant for and owner of Learn2Prevent, which provides dental professionals with continued education, and also works as a trainer for the nonprofit organization Mid-Atlantic P.A.N.D.A. (Prevent Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness). She has worked in dentistry for the past 23 years and spent a significant portion of her career focusing on public health. India is passionate about ensuring that underserved populations receive quality care, especially victims of parental and intimate abuse, as well as victims of the sex trafficking trade. In this episode, India discusses her role and the role of other dental professionals in identifying signs of abuse, explains how to distinguish intentionally harmful cases from accidental ones, and reveals what health care professionals do to reach out to victims of the sex trade. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 8:01 - How India became involved in both public health initiatives and child abuse awareness. - What are Mid-Atlantic Panda's three R's, and why dental professionals play pivotal roles in identifying abuse. - The reason pediatric dental offices will regularly weigh young patients. - What it means to be a "mandatory reporter." - What happens if you report a potential abuse case and there doesn't turn out to be any evidence mistreatment? - How reporters distinguish between signs of abuse and what are most likely genuine accidents. - Some resources and training you can use to familiarize yourself with signs of abuse and reporting protocol. - Know that abuse and mistreatment can occur in any community regardless of how they fare socially or economically. - The particular difficulty in trying to aid an adult patient stuck ina an abusive relationship. - What are "shoe cards" and how they can be of assistance to victims of sex trafficking? - Knowing the difference between a child who show behavioral signs of abuse and one who just has a fear of going to the dentist. - Why a child having very poor teeth isn't necessarily a sign of neglect. - Some of India's upcoming courses to look out for. QUOTES: "Through this training, we try to educate and equip dental professionals to recognize signs of abuse." "I made the decision to move forward because this was somebody's family member and they needed to be safe." "You really have to look at the whole picture before you jump right to abuse." "[Abuse] knows no socioeconomic status." LINKS: Learn2Prevent homepage - https://www.learn2prevent.com/ Learn2Prevent on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Learn2Prevent/ Learn2Prevent on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/learn2prevent/ Learn2Prevent email: [email protected] Mid-Atlantic Panda homepage - https://midatlanticpanda.org/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Andre Shirdan and he talks to us about consistency. We have to be consistent with our findings and how each team member is documenting their observations. Listen now to see what he suggests to make us all consistent! Andre is an author, inspirational/motivational speaker, certified software and CAD/CAM trainer. He is a co-creator of the non-surgical periodontal protocol Stat-Ck and imaging protocol Array. For more than 25 years Andre has worked with thousands of practices helping to create systems for treatment planning, staff training, goal attainment, internal and external marketing, and computer systems integration. He has spoken internationally to hundreds of audiences and through his workshops and seminars, he has enlightened and entertained audiences. He's been interviewed and published in magazines, Podcasts and has interacted with thousands of dental professionals. Website: www.thecrewprocess.com Email: [email protected]

Our monthly student roundtable discussion episodes are dedicated to help you navigate the at-times turbulent waters from graduation to internship to full employment in the hygienist industry. For this installment, we're speaking with three hygienists who've actually innovated and invented products used throughout the industry. Lee Emmons has worked as a hygienist for 15 years, having migrated to the profession from aerospace engineering. He is the president and co-founder of Nu-Bird Design & Manufacturing, which released its patented suction mirror. Katie Melko has been a hygienist for the past decade. She works primarily in public health, instructs students at Goodwin College, and launched publishing house 12 Paws Publishing, through which she released her children's book Paw Elementary: Roxy's Adventure to the School Dentist. Debra Dencek has worked in every possible sector of dental hygiene from public, private, to corporate. She's more recently the inventor of CordEze, a line of ergonomic dental products. In this episode, Lee, Deb and Katie describe what moved them to invent, innovate and create, break down how they navigated the world of patents and publishing, and explain how dental hygiene innovators listening to this episode can get started making their ideas realities. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: - What led each of our guests to start their own companies and launch their products? - How they refused to let failure dictate their path and kept on pushing forward. - The first step a potential innovator or inventor in this industry should take. - Some of the obstacles they encountered getting their products to market and how they dealt with these obstacles. - Trade show etiquette: dos, don'ts, and PLEASE don'ts. - What it's like to go through the patent/trademark process and what kind of research you should do ahead of time. - The guests' final words of wisdom for those wanting to think outside the box and innovate within our profession. QUOTES: "The fear of the unknown is what led to me creating a book." "You're going to make mistakes, but just because you make a mistake doesn't necessarily mean that you failed." "I don't believe there are any failures, just lessons." "If you have the necessity the invention will follow. Your passion will drive you through into the business side of it." "If you have a great product, word of mouth is the best." "There are people looking for new, innovative products and people are out there to help you get your product out there and make people aware of it." "Use the outlets that are available to you for you to share your voice." LINKS: Nu-Bird homepage - https://nu-bird.com/ Cordeze homepage - https://cordeze.com/ Deb's email: [email protected] 12 Paws Publishing homepage - https://www.12pawspub.com/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episode! Be sure to thank the sponsor for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Noel Brandon-Kelsch. Extracted teeth, what do we do with them? Can the patient take them home? Can we throw them in the trash? Learn the answers to these questions and more on this week's TIPisode! Medicom sponsors this episode. Head over to their website and learn more about their SafeMask to keep you and your patient protected https://www.medicom.com/en Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an exciting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com

First, we want to thank Premier for sponsoring this mission trip and letting us use the AeroPro cordless handpiece. This was a first for both Michelle and Daniel. Offering the feeling of smooth, clean teeth is something many had not experienced, and we were grateful to be the ones who did that for them. You have heard Daniel Lopez on the podcast before. This marks their third trip and third country together! Daniel is a dental hygienist in NYC, and he and Michelle bring you a daily journal from their time in Costa Rica with One World Health. We hope you enjoy this recap! If you feel inspired to do a mission trip or any charitable dentistry, reach out to us! This episode does not qualify for CE Thank you to Zirc for another great promo! This week when you buy a 12 pack of Crystal HD mirrors, you get a FREE Mirror Magic trial kit! Use the promo code TALEMAGIC. Don't settle for fogged mirrors; use this code today! Thank you again to Premier. Learn more about their new Cordless handpiece at https://www.premierdentalco.com/product/hygienepreventative/cordless-handpieces/aerorpro-systems/aeropro-cordless-handpiece-system/

This week Dr. Odiatu discusses the healthy food paradox. How can food that is good for our body be bad for the mouth? Dr. Odiatu tells us why and how we can have those conversations with patients Dr. Odiatu is a practicing dentist, certified trainer, author, speaker, and repeat AToTH guest. He always brings us content that we can use to make us and our patients happy and healthy. Be sure to check out the many episodes with Dr. Uche and head over to our YouTube channel and watch the videos Dr. Uche and Michelle did to help you stretch and take care of your body! Contact him! http://www.druche.com/ www.facebook.com/odiatu [email protected] Instagram: @fitspeakers Book: The Miracle of Health

Andrew and Michelle are launching a new mini-series on specialty, this week is part 2 on orthodontics. At first glance, this topic doesn't seem to have a lot of apparent crossover with dental hygiene, but listeners will be surprised to learn how really does relate to the field. This is a must listen for dental teams and front office staff too! Bryan Green, DMD, is an orthodontist based out of Boiling Springs, SC. Bryan has been practicing orthodontics for the last decade, and prior to that worked in periodontology for three years. He believes that patient compliance is essential for braces to be effective and that hygienists are the first line of defense in treating orthodontic issues. In this episode, Bryan explains how his periodontology background has been a boon to his current orthodontic work, discusses why it's better to delay orthodontic treatment rather than start too early, and tells us if Invisalign is all it's cracked up to be. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 4:15 - The added benefit Bryan believes a combined periodontology-orthodontic background brings to the table. - What kind of different residency programs are there for orthodontics and what can you learn from each? - The surprising longevity of orthodontics and why it's so important in dentistry. - Why wouldn't one pursue orthodontics? - The processes that cause tooth asymmetry and create a need for orthodontics. - How early should children be brought in to address orthodontic concerns? - The assessments Bryan makes during a patient's typical first orthodontic appointment. - The confusing that arises from dentists' and orthodontists' differing tooth numbering systems. - Why all the orthodontic treatment in the world won't matter if patients aren't willing to comply with your instructions. - The reason teenagers prove to be more difficult patients than children. - Weighing the merits and drawbacks of brackets vs. trays/aligners. - Do as-seen-on-TV aligners like Invisalign actually work? QUOTES: "I never understood why all dentists are not considered DDS's or DMDs... but at the end of the day it doesn't matter; you're all dentists." "Nobody ever died because of crooked teeth." "Hygienists are like our first line of defense." "I've never been sorry for waiting with treatment, but I've been sorry that I started too early." "If you want to be successful in orthodontics, you've got to have compliance." "The [kids] that are breaking brackets, they typically have poor hygiene." "Communication is the key." LINKS: Bryan's email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Claire Jeong is the founder of StudentRDH.com, dentaltoaster.com, smarterDA.com and now https://wakeupmemory.com/ She has also created Wake Up Memory tips to help us remember pathology, pharmacology, and so much more. In this episode, Claire teaches us the 9 foods to help our brain and the Wake Up Memory technique to remember those brain foods. Check out her website, dentaltoaster.com for more info and other great CE courses, including one by Michelle!

Andrew and Michelle are launching a new mini-series on dental specialty. For this first episode, they aim to give hygienists the knowledge they need to help patients understand the importance and procedures related to endodontics. . Theodore (T.R.) Ravenel, DMD, is an endodontist and the assistant director of the postgraduate endodontic program for the Medical University of South Carolina's College of Dental Medicine. Prior to taking up residence at MUSC, he worked for years in private practice. He's a self-described "jack of all trades" and also works with Michelle at Our Lady of Mercy's outreach program. In this episode, Dr. Ravenel gives us the detailed low-down on endodontic diagnosis, discusses how pulp inflammation occurs, and explains just exactly how a root canal is carried out. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 9:00 -Dr. Ravenel breaks down his step-by-step procedure for diagnosing endodontic issues. - The right and wrong way to use percussion on a tooth. - What is a "tooth sleuth," and how do you use it? - The great degree of sensitivity with which patients are able to distinguish different kinds of pain. - The process for determining how inflammed a tooth's pulp is. - What are the different symptoms for a cracked tooth vs. irreversible pulpitis? - What a tooth that's sensitive only to heat and not cold can tell us about its pulp. - How to perform an electric pulp test (EPT), and how accurate is it? - What hygienists can do to help dentists speed up the endodontic diagnostic process. - The role bacteria plays in inflammation and endodontic issues. - Theodore describes how a typical root canal procedure is carried out. - Why would a root canal need to be retreated? - What hygienists should—and should NOT—say to a patient to prepare them for their root canal procedure. - Which other kinds of inflammation get confused for pulpitis? Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, and many of our episodes, Zirc! www.zirc.com Zirc believes in helping you work smarter, not harder through organization and tools that allow you to perform your job to the fullest! Listen for the promo at minute 5:11 of this episode! The special offer for this episode is: $7 OFF a 12pack of Crystal HD Mirrors TALEHD Zirc, Because Time is Everything. https://www.zirc.com/products/dental-mirrors QUOTES: "Lightly tap on those teeth; the worst thing you wanna do is send them jumping out of the chair." "The older an individual gets, the more prone they are to the wear and tear of teeth." "If someone comes in, on average, and says 'I've got heat sensitivity that's killing me when I drink something hot,' usually their tooth is for all intents and purposes dead." "If the electric test went all the way to the maximum value, well typically that means that something's not right." "If the root canal is done properly, your success rates are in the 90 to 90% range." "You CANNOT sterilize the inside of the tooth." "If you're hearing someone talk about doing a root canal on somebody's lower molars and they're only finding three canals every time that they do it, well odds are they're probably missing some." LINKS: Dr. Ravenel's email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

For this bonus episode—powered by Crest+Oral B—we're happy to invite back on our show Josefine Ortiz Wolfe, who's continuing our latest series on public health initiatives in the dental profession. Josefine Ortiz Wolfe, Ph.D., RDH, is the director of oral health at the Texas Health Institute. She also writes and educates online and in person as The Informed Hygienist. Recently, she and her team at THI completed a long-term study examining the treatment of non-traumatic dental conditions throughout the state of Texas over a ten-year period. In this special episode, Josefine discusses in detail the study she conducted with her colleagues, emphasizes the importance of systemic change throughout our field, and explains why you should always go to a dentist's office before a hospital for any dental issue. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 1:51 - Josefine dives into the longitudinal study she conducted at the Texas Health Institute. - What is a non-traumatic dental condition? - Why it can be very dangerous for a patient to admit themselves to the wrong kind of medical facility for their condition. - How Josefine and her team were able to collate the information for their study. - The system issue Josefine discovered after they finished reviewing the data. - The shocking rise in cost of admission over the course of a decade. - How many people have actually died due to dental issues in this ten year period? - The importance of "system change" as opposed to simply improving treatment of individual patients. - Why hospitals aren't really set up to treat dental issues. - Is the dental profession beginning to respond to the conclusions of Josefine's study? - What Josefine hopes her report will achieve in the long term, and what she and her team have planned in the future. - Why she sees this report as an opportunity to tell a story about Texas, and why students listening should consider going into public health. QUOTES: "We're actually talking about those patients that actually showed up and their dental condition was so severe that the medical professional felt it necessary to immediately admit them into the hospital." "13% of Texans over the age of 65 have no teeth at all, so we know that directly affects their ability to manage other chronic diseases." "The problem is not just localized to one particular population. This is truly a systemic issue." "The majority of the conditions that folks were going into an in-patient setting for could have been treated at a dental office for a lot less than $37,000." "We really need to be getting these stories out into the hands of the public." "Behind all of these numbers, there are stories." "We have the opportunity here to explain how a healthy mouth will impact and improve every aspect of our lives and save lives." "I always say statistics are stories with the tears wiped away. Let's bring those tears back." LINKS: Josefine's email: [email protected] Texas Health Institute - https://www.texashealthinstitute.org/ The Informed Hygienist on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/theinformedhygienist/ The Informed Hygienist on Twitter - https://twitter.com/JosefineWolfe Thank you to Crest+Oral B for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

These TIPisodes keep getting better and better! Teresa gives us another round of great advice and in this tip, she tackles the new Perio Classifications! Teresa Duncan, MS is such a wealth of knowledge. Please visit her website and enjoy her awesome resources! For more info from Teresa, see below! Teresa Duncan: Speaker on insurance and management, Podcaster, Author of a book and contributes to several magazines and the ADA's publications! Book : http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ use code TALE for $3 courtesy (offsets shipping) Site:OdysseyMgmt.com Podcast: http://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com

Our monthly student roundtable discussion episodes are dedicated to help you navigate the at-times turbulent waters from graduation to full employment in dental hygiene. For this installment, we're shining a light on hygienists who've devoted a significant part of their careers working in the public health and nonprofit sectors. Kyle Isaacs, who previously appeared in episode 87 of A Tale of Two Hygienists, has three decades' experience as a dental hygienist. She's spent the last five years working in the public health field as part of Miles 2 Smiles, which provides dental hygiene to patients who normally have difficulty accessing it. Amy Hazelwood has worked in dental hygiene for over 40 years and started the nonprofit Dr. Angie's Dental Health Exchange, which offers care to uninsured, unemployed and low-income patients. Jennifer Hasch graduated from her hygienist program six years ago and has worked both publicly and privately. Currently, she's the dental services manager for the Shawnee Christian Healthcare Centre in Louisville, KY, where she provides care to communities negatively impacted by segregation. In this episode, our enthusiastic roundtable guests discuss what drew them to professions in the public health sector, explain why public and nonprofit services are so vital, and make a case for why you should consider a career outside of private or corporate practice. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 3:08 - What experiences and values motivated Kyle, Amy and Jennifer to work in public health. - How Amy's nonprofit uses community service to build credit for its dental care. - Are there any barriers preventing graduates from obtaining a position in public health services? - The hurdles Amy had to clear in order her own nonprofit, and the challenges graduates interested in nonprofit work should consider. - Jennifer defines what an F.Q.H.C. is, explains what services it provides and lays out the guidelines it must abide by. - Kyle relates her new role working in an integrative office and what she hopes to achieve there. - Which populations do each of their clinics specifically cater to? - The range of benefits graduates can expect from private, corporate and nonprofit practices. - Diving into the connections and experiences that volunteer work can provide. - Why you should give public health work genuine consideration as a career path. QUOTES: "When I graduated from hygiene school I went right away to that same place where I had gotten care as a child and volunteered." "I went into public health because of the need that I saw." "I was fortunate enough to go to the dentist every six months as a kid, so I didn't really connect that people could suffer from a lack of access to care." "It's kind of one-stop shop for health." "[F.Q.H.C.] gives folks a stake in their own health care, which I think is important." "It's gonna take just as much time to correct these issues as it did to create them but we're definitely committed for the long haul." "I feel like I'm very well paid for the work that I do and it's definitely a rewarding position." "Do not underestimate the potential of your impacts in this career." LINKS: Dr. Angie's Dental Health Exchange - https://www.drangies.com/ Dr. Angie's email: [email protected] Amy's personal email: [email protected] Miles 2 Smiles - http://milestwosmiles.com/ Kyle's email: [email protected] RDH On a Mission - https://rdhonamission.com/ Jennifer's email: [email protected] or jennifer.hasch Be sure to thank the sponsor for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Noel Brandon-Kelsch and is a great reminder about our surface disinfectants! Medicom sponsors this episode. Head over to their website and learn more about their SafeMask to keep you and your patient protected https://www.medicom.com/en Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an exciting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com

It's the final installment of Andrew and Michelle's four-part cariology series! To cap off our journey with caries, we're stepping away from private practices to learn how dental professionals in the public health sector deal with all things related to tooth decay. Sharity Ludwig, RDH, is the Director of Clinical Innovations and the Director of Community Dental Programs for Advantage Dental, which provides dental care to Medicaid recipients throughout Oregon in partnership with DentaQuest. Sharity and her team work specifically with expecting mothers and parents of young infants to ensure dental health and caries prevention from a young age. She and her colleagues wish to debunk the idea that cavities are inevitable for young children. In this episode, Sharity discusses the differences between public and private dental practice, explains how she and her team perform community outreach, and reveals her technique for silver fluoride application. Mouthwatch is the official sponsor the Cariology Series this month. They are offering an extra 10% off every MouthWatch intraoral camera order using the code "ATOTH" You can save an additional 10% when you buy more than one! EVERY HYGIENIST SHOULD HAVE A CAMERA IN THEIR OPERATORY! Head over to their site to find out more!https://www.mouthwatch.com/ Offer heard at minute 7:40. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 10:55 - How Sharity sought out segments of the patient population who weren't getting proper preventative caries treatment. - Sharity explains what an Expanded Practice Permit is, how to get one, and why you would want to. - Why Sharity's virtual setup allows for greater collaboration amongst dental professionals. - What's WIC, and how was Sharity able to improve their level of service? - How working in community dental care greatly differs from working in a private practice. - Sharity's specialized method for identifying—if not necessarily diagnosing—signs of caries. - The many ways Sharity and her team liaise with patients, resources and other professionals in the community. - The materials Sharity uses for temporary restorations. - Her team's experience with early adoption, how it's backfired for them, and how they've made better use of it for the future. - Sharity explains her "dry, apply and say 'bye'" approach to using silver fluoride. - The signs of success that Sharity and her team have started to see over the last couple years. - Sharity's big tooth decay prevention tips and tricks, and why circumstances can make these strategies more difficulty for some. - What students should research if they're contemplating working in the public health sector. QUOTES: "A lot of folks don't necessarily understand that connection between the bacteria and the nutritional components in addition to their oral health." "The one thing in dentistry we can agree on is that if you've had a cavity in the past, you're likely gonna have a cavity in the future." "You always need to at least see your dentist on an annual basis for follow up to care." "Each patient is handled on a case-by-case basis based off of what their level of disease is and what resources are available in the community." "We're trying to stabilize them until they can get back to a dentist to have more comprehensive care." "There's more research needed to know what's right." "The first thing that we do is try to establish a relationship and understand where they're coming from so we can give them tailored information and help them set self-management goals." "When you have your Why and your Passion as a hygienist and anything you do in life it will keep you on your path and help you go far." LINKS: Sharity's email: [email protected] Advantage Dental - https://www.advantagedental.com/ Advanced Dental Information Network (ADIN) - https://www.adinfonet.org/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

It's part three of four of Andrew and Michelle's cariology series! As we near the final stretch, this episode's specific focus is on the tools and methods used to figure out if that little recess is a cavity or something else. Paresh Shah, DMD, has been practicing privately in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for nearly three decades. Outside of his clinics, he's a prosthodontic instructor at the University of Manitoba Dental School and an editor for the Canadian Journal of Restorative Dentistry. Paresh's years running a clinic have taught him the importance of using the latest diagnostic tools and listening to the input of his seasoned hygienists. In this episode, Dr. Shah weighs the pros and cons of different caries diagnostic methods, reveals how he's learned to spot false positives, and explains why he takes a collective approach to his clinic staff. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 12:00 - Dr. Shah explains how he fosters a collaborative environment in his practice and what lengths his team goes to in order to identify caries. - Some helpful tips for visually identifying caries during examination. - Why Dr. Shah and his team still stand by tactile exploration during caries diagnosis. - Newer clinical tools that get the patients themselves more invested in the diagnosis process. - How hygienists can more effectively 'hand off' patients to the dentist for caries diagnosis. - Why time and experience are the best experience for dealing with false positives. - The reason Dr. Shah will still swear on a caries dye after all these years. - The wide array of diagnostic tools Dr. Shah and his staff use at his clinic. - Why Dr. Shah values his hygienists' clinical judgment and encourages them to speak up. QUOTES: "A lot of hygienists can be more than tooth-scrapers." "Our traditional way of looking at caries is through visual inspection and tactile sense." "If it sticks, we're treating it. It's as simple as that." "If there's something I feel is not necessary to treat, I make sure I let the patient know the why of not wanting to treat it." "You have to stretch your mind and you have to work collaboratively." LINKS: Dr. Paresh Shah's homepage - https://www.drpareshshah.com/ Dr Shah on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drpareshshah/ Mouthwatch is the official sponsor the Cariology Series this month. They are offering an extra 10% off every MouthWatch intraoral camera order using the code "ATOTH" You can save an additional 10% when you buy more than one! EVERY HYGIENIST SHOULD HAVE A CAMERA IN THEIR OPERATORY! Head over to their site to find out more!https://www.mouthwatch.com/ Offer heard at minute 6:35. Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, and many of our episodes, Zirc! www.zirc.com Zirc believes in helping you work smarter, not harder through organization and tools that allow you to perform your job to the fullest! Listen for the promo at minute 9:50 of this episode! The special offer for this episode is: FREE MR. THIRSTY SAMPLE when you buy a 50 pack of Linguafix CODE: TALESAMPLE Zirc, Because Time is Everything. https://www.zirc.com/products/isolation/lingua-fix-50pk Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week Dr. Odiatu is joined by Mahsa Bakhshandeh, RDH. They chat about how we can enhance our chairside conversations and help our patients make better lifestyle choices! Dr. Odiatu is a practicing dentist, certified trainer, author, speaker, and repeat AToTH guest. He always brings us content that we can use to make us and our patients happy and healthy. Be sure to check out the many episodes with Dr. Uche and head over to our YouTube channel and watch the videos Dr. Uche and Michelle did to help you stretch and take care of your body! Contact him! http://www.druche.com/ www.facebook.com/odiatu [email protected] Instagram: @fitspeakers Book: The Miracle of Health

This week Michelle and Andrew continue their 4-part cariology series, where they consult with the experts on how to properly diagnose, treat and prevent cavities that makes up so much of our profession. Returning for part two is Pam Maragliano-Muniz, Editor-in-Chief of Inside Dental Hygiene, the owner of Salem Dental Arts, and an experienced prosthodontist/hygienists. In this episode, Pam breaks down how she categorizes and treats patients by risk, discusses the importance of documenting each patient, and explains the counterintuitive impact sealants have on caries. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 8:07 - What signs to be on the lookout for when determining caries risk. - Why we need to encourage patients to take responsibility for any dental issues they may have. - The different kinds of relationships Pam forms with high-, moderate- and low-risk patients. - Why Pam recommends fluoride varnish for all of her patients and also thinks you should give its chlorhexidine counterpart a shot. - How patients can not only fail to notice xerostomia but unwittingly adapt to it as well. - Baking soda: the tried and true method for increasing oral pH. - Why clear, accessible documentation is key in tracking patient risk. - How the sealants we used to celebrate may have actually worsened some caries. QUOTES: "I can't express enough that we have to get patients to own their problems." "Whatever is something that is doable for you—every single patient, every single appointment—I say just do it." "If you are using arginine as part of your protocols and you're having amazing luck with, I say do it!" "If they're subconsciously drawn to beverages, snacks, foods, it's oftentimes the body seeking more salivary flow." "At the end of the day if the patient says 'no,' we really need to document that." LINKS: Pam's email: [email protected] Pam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drpamela_maraglianomuniz/ Inside Dental Hygiene: https://idh.cdeworld.com/ IDH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidedentalhygiene/ Mouthwatch is the official sponsor the Cariology Series this month. They are offering an extra 10% off every MouthWatch intraoral camera order using the code "ATOTH" You can save an additional 10% when you buy more than one! EVERY HYGIENIST SHOULD HAVE A CAMERA IN THEIR OPERATORY! Head over to their site to find out more! https://www.mouthwatch.com/ Offer heard at minute 4:30. Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

For this bonus episode—powered by Crest+Oral B—we're happy to invite back Tom Viola, R.Ph who appeared in another bonus episode earlier this January. Tom Viola is a speaker, writer, consultant, and expert in the field of dental pharmacology. When it comes to the anesthetics that keep dental patients from feeling pain during even the most invasive procedures, Tom is THE go-to guy. From Benzocaine to Xylocaine to good old fashioned (if out of fashion) Novocaine, he has the word on dosage, acidity, and side-effects. In this special episode, Tom discusses the wide variety of anesthetics used in dentistry, the simple tool you can use to prevent complications, and why everything changes the moment your patient is a child. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 1:50 - Tom explains why Novocaine fell out of use as a standard anesthetic in dentistry. - A breakdown of some of the most commonly used topical anesthetics. - How do you choose which anesthetic you use with each patient? - The hazards of mixing anesthetics with acids. - Which is the best topical compound? - Figuring out which type of local anesthetic you should use for a given situation. - Sulphur, sulfa and sulfite: don't confuse the three, especially when it comes to allergic reactions. - Why needle trauma can play as much of a role in paresthesia as anesthetic does. - Basically everything we know about anesthetics changes when administering to children. - What can go wrong when administering anesthesia and how can we prepare for it? QUOTES: "We're applying a highly acidic gel to the patient's already inflamed and potentially infected mucosa. What kind of sadist would do that? Well it would be the entire profession of dentistry." "We can do a lot to allay that discomfort by just using a different topical if they're truly feeling that benzocaine burn." "I believe patients get more epinephrine sitting in a traffic jam, waiting to get to the office than they get in the office." "If there was an anesthetic that dared to be different it would be Carbocaine." LINKS: Tom's homepage - http://www.tomviola.com/ Pharmacology Declassified - http://www.tomviola.com/welcome-to-the-pharmacology-declassified-blog/ Thank you to Crest+Oral B for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! https://www.cezoom.com/taketest/?courseid=3705&testid=1315 Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Claire Jeong is the founder of StudentRDH.com, dentaltoaster.com, and smarterDA.com She has also created Wake Up Memory tips to help us remember pathology, pharmacology, and so much more. In this episode, Claire helps us to remember the MRD or maximum recommended dose, for local anesthetic cartridges. Check out her website, dentaltoaster.com for more info and other great CE courses, including one by Michelle!

Interview starts minute 7:55 Cariology Series Part ONE Be sure to buckle up because the next few weeks of A Tale of Two Hygienists Podcast are going to be a rollercoaster of knowledge. This is the first episode in our new cariology series. Dental caries are among the most pervasive oral ailments and their treatment is core to dentistry and dental hygiene, so we've invited a few seasoned professionals who have insight into how they come to be and how we can best treat them. Our first guest in this series is Pam Maragliano-Muniz. Pam is the Editor-in-Chief of Inside Dental Hygiene, the owner of Salem Dental Arts, an experienced prosthodontist and a hygienist even before that. We also previously had on for Episode 92! Her years in the dental field have honed her insight into the natural and unnatural ways teeth break down. In this episode, Pam discusses the primary risk factors leading to dental caries, explains how hygienists themselves can cause lesions by accident, and breaks down saliva's important contribution to keeping gums, teeth and tongues in good shape. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: - How exactly dental caries occur? What are the three major risk factors? - Why orthodontics and prosthodontics play a role in the proliferation of tooth decay. - The reason why patients with even partial dentures should make more frequent hygiene appointments. - Why hygienists should stock up on articulating paper for their offices. - How improperly contoured teeth can cause lesions in the long term. - Saliva's essential role in maintaining oral health and what happens when its effects are neutered. - Weed may be legal where you live, but it still impacts your oral health. - Exploring different categories of higher-risk patients. - Which tools are effective at clearly communicating tooth plaque to layperson patients. QUOTES: "If I don't really understand what's going on here, how am I seriously going to be able to help this patient prevent recurrence of disease?" "We really need to think about the environment in which these teeth live." "Saliva really does it all!" "The role of the hygienist when it comes to preventing tooth decay is so important." LINKS: Pam's email: [email protected] 8:54 Pam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drpamela_maraglianomuniz/ Inside Dental Hygiene: https://idh.cdeworld.com/ IDH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidedentalhygiene/ Mouthwatch is the official sponsor the Cariology Series this month. They are offering an extra 10% off every MouthWatch intraoral camera order using the code "ATOTH" You can save an additional 10% when you buy more than one! EVERY HYGIENIST SHOULD HAVE A CAMERA IN THEIR OPERATORY! Head over to their site to find out more! https://www.mouthwatch.com/ Offer heard at minute 3:00 Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, and many of our episodes, Zirc! www.zirc.com Zirc believes in helping you work smarter, not harder through organization and tools that allow you to perform your job to the fullest! Listen for the promo at minute 5:10 of this episode! The special offer for this episode is: $7 off of a 50 pack (normally $50) CODE: TALE7 Zirc, Because Time is Everything. https://www.zirc.com/products/isolation/lingua-fix-50pk Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

We are excited to have this TIPisode presented by Andre Shirdan! He was on the podcast before! Andre is an inspirational and motivational speaker, executive coach, and a certified trainer. Since 1989, Andre has worked with thousands of practices helping to create systems for treatment planning, staff training, goal attainment, internal and external marketing, and computer systems integration. Andre founded Systems Practice Management, Inc., a dental practice management, training and consulting firm. He created Building Blocks Scheduling, Countdown Confirmation, SELL Training and the PracticePar Analysis. He co-created the non-surgical periodontal protocol Stat-Ck. Andre is best known for creating The CREW Process - a better way to define practice philosophy, bring consistency to treatment and gets the entire office in alignment. Practices working with Andre have found great personal success while getting to know his genuine, frank, and devilishly funny personality. You can find more about Andre and the Crew Process at andreshirdan.com.

Our monthly student roundtable discussion episodes are dedicated to help you navigate the at-times turbulent waters from graduation to internship to full employment in the hygienist industry. This month's episode specifically focus on the positions with Dental Service Organizations that are available to hygienists and other dental professionals across the country to. Not sure what a Dental Service Organization (DSO) is? Well thank goodness we have three guests who know what they are inside and out. We have three very qualified guests on board to discuss these employment opportunities: Rafael Rondon is a member of American Dental Partners and has been a hygienist for nearly three decades; Tammy Filipiak is the Vice President of Clinical Development for Midwest Dental and also specializes in compliance, having been a member of the organization for 15 years; and Ashley McCauley is another hygienist who joined Tru Family Dental in 2017 and has been their Director of Clinical Development for the past two years. In this episode, our guests define what a Dental Service Organization is, discuss the short- and long-term benefits of working for one, and why you might want to consider working for one as opposed to going straight for a private practice. Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episode! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 3:12 - What exactly are Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) and how do they fit in with clinics across the country? - Breaking down why DSOs and corporate dentistry are different and why the former are so effective at enforcing clinical standards. - What new hygienists can expect working with DSOs vs. working in a private practice. - Some key facts students should be aware of before interviewing for DSO or private practice positions. - Rafael gets into some of the long-term opportunities available for a hygienist employed by a DSO. - What kind of benefits are available to hygienists working for a DSO as opposed to a private practice? - Debunking some of the biggest misconceptions students have about DSOs. - Looking toward the future of DSO opportunities and investments. - Rafael, Tammy and Ashley dish out their biggest pieces of advice for hygienist students entering the workforce. QUOTES: "[DSOs] give us the opportunity to offer patients the best standard of care, the best materials, because we're getting them at a cheaper rate." "It's hard to keep up with the pace of change and I think that clinician support helps to do that." "If you want to grow and learn, a DSO's gonna help you with that." "There's a lot of opportunity for growth within a dental support organization." "I would like us to be stronger advocates for the care that we provide." "If you're not just a little bit afraid you're probably not challenging yourself enough." LINKS: Rafael's phone number: 781-606-2130 Rafael's email: [email protected] Tammy's phone number: 715-456-2194 Tammy's email: [email protected] Ashley's phone number: 715-207-9798 Ashley's email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episode! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Noel Brandon-Kelsch and is a great reminder of how vital our masks are and what not to do with them! Medicom sponsors this episode. Head over to their website and learn more about their SafeMask to keep you and your patient protected https://www.medicom.com/en Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an exciting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com

Continuing our themes of health and nutrition from the last few episodes, Michelle and Andrew have invited a guest who isn't just critical of our society's intake—she has reason to believe it's the key ingredient in our public health and nutrition crisis, one that needs to be reassessed if we're to all live cleaner lives. Karen Davis is a practicing dental hygienist, author, consultant, and founder of Cutting Edge Concepts, where she uses presentations to provide dental teams with inspiration, guidance and the tools they need to succeed. Her latest course is on the negative and pervasive effects of sugar in our food and drink and why we need to cut down on sugar consumption across the board. In this episode, Karen discusses the personal experiences that prompted her campaign against unnecessary sugar, explores the cover-up that led to so much sugar being pumped into our food to begin with, and suggests ways patients and health care providers alike can reduce their sugar intake. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: - How Karen's husband and daughter prompted her to focus on the effects of sugar for her latest course. - Why it takes constant effort and mindfulness to avoid sugar. - Becoming a "label detective" so you can stay on top of ingredients that might negatively impact you. - Why of all the sugars, you need to watch out for Fructose the most. - How the low-fat craze of the 1970s ended up putting even more sugar into our diets—and the cover-up behind it! - The challenge of getting people to give up sugar, and the simple way you can start tapering down yourself. - What measures are being taken to regulate sugar intake? - Karen's method for managing sugar intake with her own patients. - Find out which conferences you can meet up with Karen at this year. QUOTES: "If you ask me why I teach on sugar it's because I learned the hard way." "With one choice at the beginning of my day I was already exceeding the sugar recommendations." "Sugar is a toxin, it's poisonous to our health." "You don't have to search very far to find some alternatives if you want to 'spice up' your water." "I just encourage everyone to start somewhere and by all means, health care professionals, we gotta start with ourselves." "We really can step into that space and make a difference patient by patient." LINKS: Karen's homepage: http://karendavis.net/ Karen's email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

This week's TIPisode is with Dr. Uche Odiatu as he discusses why poor sleepers are poor healers. Dr. Odiatu is a practicing dentist, certified trainer, author, speaker, and repeat AToTH guest. He always brings us content that we can use to make us and our patients happy and healthy. Be sure to check out the many episodes with Dr. Uche and head over to our YouTube channel and watch the videos Dr. Uche and Michelle did to help you stretch and take care of your body! Contact him! http://www.druche.com/ www.facebook.com/odiatu [email protected] Instagram: @fitspeakers Book: The Miracle of Health

While Michelle, unfortunately, wasn't able to sit down for this show's latest episode, the similarly named hygienist Machell Hudson (previously heard on Episode 128) has kindly stopped by to help Andrew interview a fellow hygienist who knows just how important the link between oral health and healthy pregnancies is. Katy Cameron hails from Bozeman, Montana and has been a dental hygienist for over a decade. She met Machell through the Productive Dentist Academy and specializes in laser treatment. Katy as a real thirst for knowledge and always keeps up with the latest dental and hygiene research. In this episode, Katy and Machell discuss pregnancy, genetics and nutrition, how they all tie into oral health, and what you can do to optimize your health and the health of your soon-to-be newborn going into pregnancy. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 6:20 - Why preparing for pregnancy requires as much care and consideration as preparing to run a marathon (for men, too!). - Which genetic factors can affect your future child—and which ones can you change? - Responsibly managing stress to prevent negative long-term and natal effects. - Why are pregnant women at an increased risk of gingivitis? - Katy's top recommendations for vitamins and supplements women can take during pregnancy. - The reason pregnant (and pre-pregnant) women should get tested for Vitamin D and K2 levels. - Liver: the REAL superfood. - We all know cod is healthy, so what's the best way to consume it? - The role Vitamin C plays in building oral-facial structures. - Figuring out which oils are good for you, and which are bad. QUOTES: "These pathogens are opportunistic, so they see a window of time to get in there and do their thing." "I'm not suggesting necessarily that people just cook up a big ol' beef liver." "Grain-fed animals aren't going to be as nutrient-dense as grass-fed animals." "You need to space out your Vitamin C consumption throughout the day." "I would even go as far to say that the consumption of sugars and bad oils is even worse than smoking cigarettes." LINKS: Productive Dentist Academy - https://productivedentist.com/ Katy's email: [email protected] The Weston A. Price Foundation - https://www.westonaprice.org/ Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

For this bonus episode—powered by Crest+Oral B—we're happy to invite back Sherri Lukes, who previously appeared on episode 103. Sherri M. Lukes, RDH, MS, FAADH, has been a dental hygienist for 38years. She holds advanced degrees in education. She is associate professor emerita, Southern Illinois University, where she taught oral pathology, public health, and multicultural dental hygiene. Her research was concentrated in migrant oral health, pathology, and public health issues, resulting in multiple peer-reviewed publications. She is an approved speaker of and holds a pathology fellowship in the American Academy of Dental Hygiene and is a past president of the Illinois Dental Hygienists' Association. Honors include community service, research, and teacher of the year awards while at SIU, IFLOSS Coalition/Illinois Department of Public Health Oral Health Champion Award, and the Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction. In this special episode, Sherri discusses why she thinks stannous fluoride is the bomb! We discuss the many ways stannous fluoride can help your patient: antimicrobial, anticaries, its ability to interfere with gingival inflammation, and gene expression in pathogens like S. mutans. LINKS: Sherrilukes.com https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy-v.musc.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022034517737027 https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/ce-courses/ce579 dentalcare.com Thank you to Crest+Oral B for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Click here for your test link for CE credit Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Claire Jeong is the founder of StudentRDH.com, dentaltoaster.com, and smarterDA.com She has also created Wake Up Memory tips to help us remember pathology, pharmacology, and so much more. In this episode, Claire helps us to remember the eight steps to chart an oral lesion. Check out her website, dentaltoaster.com for more info and other great CE courses, including one by Michelle!

We're excited to have Ann Marie DePalma, RDH, back on our show again (previously heard on episode 90)! We met up with her at the Yankee Dental Congress in very chilly Boston where we got to talking about how your office can stay on the up and up with technology and health care compliance. The big topic this episode is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which dictates how patient information is directed throughout the American health care system and protects that patient information from theft or fraud. Any dental office that processes patient medical and insurance information—so literally every dental office—needs to be compliant with HIPAA to ensure our patients are secure and that charts are properly archived and transmitted. In this episode, Ann Marie discusses the dos and don'ts of HIPAA compliance, how you can make your office as cyber-secure as possible, and making sure your fellow staff are fully trained on the software they're using. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: - Getting used to and properly using computer technology at the office to prevent accidental exposure of patient or clinic info. - The utmost importance of keeping patient-related emails encrypted when sending. - Get a professional for IT in your office, and why you should consider setting up two separate networks. - Some of the security violations Ann Marie has seen in her time and why they happened. - Why offices frequently fall behind technology training. - Should your office go paper-free or chart-free? - WATCH OUT FOR THE HIPAA POLICE. QUOTES: "Most practices are surviving in their software; they're not using it." "They're only using a very small portion of what technology can provide." LINKS: Ann Marie's email - [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! Email us - [email protected] or [email protected] A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

These TIPisodes keep getting better and better! Teresa gives us another round of great advice and in this tip, she tackles the 4355 code Teresa Duncan, MS is such a wealth of knowledge. Please visit her website and enjoy her awesome resources! For more info from Teresa, see below! Teresa Duncan: Speaker on insurance and management, Podcaster, Author of a book and contributes to several magazines and the ADA's publications! Book : http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ use code TALE for $3 courtesy (offsets shipping) Site:OdysseyMgmt.com Podcast: http://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com

Most people don't truly receive proper instruction for how to write a résumé, least of all one tailored to dental hygiene. Thankfully the new panel of guests for this month's student roundtable is discussing all things related to job hunting: putting together your résumé, assembling references, and nailing the interview. The Panel - Doug Perry helps both new and seasoned dental hygienists optimize their résumé, network, and find new jobs through his website GetHiredRHD.com. Teresa Duncan is a 20 year veteran of the dental industry, a speaker, and former consultant who assists dental professionals with their job search at Odyssey Management, Inc. Kimberly Gallagher has been a dental hygienist for more than a decade and helps dental hygienists and other members of the industry network through her Facebook group Carolina Smiles. In this episode, we discuss resumé-building and how to ace an interview at length. Paradise Dental Technologies (PDT) has once again sponsored this roundtable as they strongly believe in quality education and that students are the future of our profession, not to mention the people we'll all be working alongside in the upcoming years. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 3:10 - Why résumés are still relevant in the modern era of social networking and LinkedIn. - The must-haves and must-NOTS of every solid résumé. - Why it's never worth it to fluff up a résumé beyond your actual skills and positions. - Deciding whether or not to go with a picture on your résumé. - Doug, Teresa and Kimberly dish out interview pro-tips and play fashion police. QUOTES: "Don't fluff your résumé on things you've never really done." "It's 2019 and people still don't know how to format a résumé." "If you want your résumé in the right hands, you need to have an introduction in the body of your email." "Skimmability really is the name of the game." "Trust your instincts; if you don't feel like this is a good fit, it's not going to be a good fit." LINKS: GetHiredRDH.com - https://gethiredrdh.com/ Job Hunting & Résumé Building course - https://www.dentaltoaster.com/courses/Job-hunting-Resume-building Odyssey Management, Inc. - https://www.odysseymgmt.com/ Carolina Smiles Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/carolinasmilesgroup Kimberly's email - [email protected] A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an interesting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com Thank you to Medicom for sponsoring Noel's TIPisode. Visit Medicom.com/en to learn more about their products!

Following the thread from last week's discussion, we're taking a close look at how hygienists get paid and, most importantly, how they can get paid well. Rachel Wall (who previously appeared on episode 109) was kind enough to stop by again to discuss how compensation can be most efficiently and fairly distributed throughout any clinic's hygiene department.Rachel Teel Wall, RDH, BS, is the founder and owner of Inspired Hygiene. Through coaching and seminars, Inspired Hygiene aims to maximize the profit and productivity of every dental team's hygiene department with a particular focus on compensation models. Her two decades of experience in the industry encompasses her time as both a hygienist and an office administrator.In this episode, Rachel chats with us about the importance of everyone playing their role in a dental practice and what she thinks makes for an ideal compensation model. Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, and many of our episodes, Zirc! www.zirc.com Zirc believes in helping you work smarter, not harder through organization and tools that allow you to perform your job to the fullest! Listen for the promo at minute 7:11 of this episode! EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 8:16 - Looking at the different compensation models available to hygienists. - Explaining the 3:1 compensation model. - Understanding everybody's responsibilities in a dental clinic. - Making the most of your time, your dentist's time and managing patient relations. - What Rachel believes is the best compensation model for everybody involved. - Finding that right balance between overtreatment and undertreatment. QUOTES: "I think everyone should at least be open to adapting and learning new ways." "A business owner has a responsibility to make sure the business is profitable, and then we as hygienists have the responsibility to at least be aware of that and know where we stand." "I think everybody should have the opportunity to be on the other side of that table at least once in your life because it's quite sobering." "I wanna learn more about your treatment philosophy so that I can do a better job of recommending treatment that matches what you would recommend." LINKS: Inspired Hygiene Return on Hygiene book - Use promo code TALE to pay only $12.95! 3:1 video https://inspiredhygiene.com/hygiene-compensation-is-it-a-win-win/?fbclid=IwAR0A20kvE-H-VXWi1EF6CwANAHGsdDdhiCWvape6f6jAZichvtJ6XIJspKk https://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2018/10/hygiene-production-as-percentage-of-total-production.html?fbclid=IwAR3y3uoXAcg_VPTdqCqNhVWnhax6e7JrL6HsUB70muJo23V1clOcb-BQEV4 Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! https://www.cezoom.com/events/?test=yes&courseid=3404&testid=1298 Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

If you have heard Dr. Uche Odiatu on the podcast or have been lucky enough to have seen him present, you know he has a ton of energy! We wish he would bottle it up and give us each a drop. He gives us some inside tips on how to find our energy on this week's TIPisode! Listen to more great episodes with Dr. Uche on the podcast and also find him at druche.com. He can be found on Facebook and Instgram @fitspeakers

We're ecstatic to have dental compliance expert Olivia Wann, RD, JD back on our show again (hear her previously on episode 82)! The founder of Modern Practice Solutions is here to tackle a topic that becomes more and more important to cover the closer we approach tax season: employment status. Depending on how you were hired, it's possible that you're not an actual employee of your clinic but a long-term contractor. This discrepancy can severely complicate how much you owe the IRS come April 15, so Olivia wants both you and your boss to ensure that both you have proper employee status, just in case of an audit. Related to this, her clinic also offers the Intense Office Manager Course at her office in Tennessee one Friday per month. In this episode, Olivia breaks down the difference between being an employee and being a contractor, argues why you and your employer should be pushing for the latter, and explains how you can get everything in order for tax season. Thank you to Zirc.com for a great deal for ATOTH listeners! Listen to get your promo code for the Pink Petal or follow us on Instagram. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: - What technically separates an employee from a contractor, and why you need to figure out which category you're in. - Getting the 411 on the 1099 (form). - Why more hygienists qualify as employees rather than contractors. - The constructive way hygienists can ensure their clinic has hired them as an employee. - What you should do during tax season if you realize you've been misclassified - Make sure to get. Everything. In. Writing. QUOTES: "If the temp agency is employing the hygienist then the hygienist would be an employee of the temp agency, not the doctor." "That onboarding process needs to be evaluated to make sure that we're handling it correctly." "It's important that we sharpen our skills in office management and running businesses to be sure we're not violating any of the laws." "That 1099 is an independent contractor, and it involves a level of control the payer has or does not have over that worker." LINKS: Olivia's Homepage Dental Compliance, TN Email: [email protected] Thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies aka PDT for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 Be sure to thank the sponsor for CE for this episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Claire Jeong is the founder of StudentRDH.com, dentaltoaster.com, and smarterDA.com She has also created Wake Up Memory tips to help us remember pathology, pharmacology, and so much more. In this episode, Claire helps us to remember all the details about Pyrogenic Granulomas. Check out her website, dentaltoaster.com for more info and other great CE courses!

As you can tell from the background chatter, The Voices of Dentistry conference was a blast, and it was made even better by this episode's guest: a dentist with strong feelings about, well..... everything! We will be at Voices of Dentistry again next year so check out the website www.voicesofdentistry.com and we will see you there! Tarun Agarwal, DDS, is the founder of 3D Dentists, which provides a series of workshops focused on helping dentists make the most of their practices' resources and giving them a much-needed competitive advantage. Tarun also hosts the podcast T-Bone speaks, where he discusses skills, leadership, and business with other dental professionals. In this episode, Tarun discusses how he encourages an innovative culture in his practice and argues why perio treatments are overly prioritized.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Thank you to our sponsor for this episode, and many of our episodes, Zirc! www.zirc.com Zirc believes in helping you work smarter, not harder through organization and tools that allow you to perform your job to the fullest! Listen for the promo at minute 7:13 of this episode! The special offer for this episode is: $5 off of the 50 pack of Pink Petal Promocode: TALEPINK Be Sure to use this code by March 31st! Zirc, Because Time is Everything. Interview begins: 8:40- Why Tarun believes hygienists will have to change to go with the flow of modern technology and business practices. - The best way for hygienists to make full use of their skills and talents in a clinical setting. - Why Tarun advocates for having fewer dedicated hygienists on staff. - How he fosters a pro-educational culture in his office. - Turnover: more beneficial to maintaining an innovative office than you might think. - Why he thinks the focus on perio treatments is overrated. - Making the changes for ourselves so corporate doesn't make them for us. - Finding the right number of hygienists per doctor.QUOTES:"If you don't change, your profession's gonna have a slow death." "My bottom line is that hygiene is more than scaling." "Make yourself indispensable." "You gotta give every patient the chance to say yes to the best." LINKS:3D Dentists - https://3d-dentists.com/ T-Bone Speaks podcast - https://3d-dentists.com/podcast/ Tarun on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tbonespeaks/ Tarun on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tbonespeaks Tarun on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tbonespeaks A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

For this bonus episode—powered by Crest+Oral B—we're happy to invite back Susan Wingrove, who previously appeared on episode 21. Susan is a registered dental hygienist, speaker, published author and CEO of Wingrove Dynamics, specializing in dental implants and instrument design. She has taken the time to stop by and illuminate us on her chosen topic for a recent New York meetup, "Just for the Oral Health of It," which focuses on home care and implant maintenance. In this special episode, Susan discusses the necessity of oral probing in diagnosing inflammatory conditions, how to deal with the insurance gap, and what techniques and tools patients can use to maintain their implants at home. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: - Why dentists and periodontal specialists should be working hand-in-hand with physicians to diagnose and treat inflammatory diseases. - The importance of doing a full-mouth probing in preventing and maintaining inflammation. - The extra steps people should take to clear your mouth of biofilm daily. - How technology can put a risky buffer between a patient and proper treatment. - A by-the-numbers breakdown for inflammatory treatment. - Taking the smart approach to probing dental implants. - Looking at the new types of home care available for implant maintenance. QUOTES: "We should be working hand-in-hand with their physicians as to why do they have this inflammation." "We're really the first responders to see what's going on in the mouth." "If there's bone loss to go with the inflammation, we're looking at periodontal disease." "You're always going to have some stain retained on plaque if you don't eliminate all the biofilm. LINKS: Wingrove Dynamics - http://www.wingrovedynamics.com/calendar.html Susan's email - [email protected] Thank you to Crest+Oral B for providing sponsorship for this episodes CE credits! THIS EPISODE COUNTS FOR CE! - but read the disclaimer below as it might not count for your state. Go here to take the test and get your CE Credit! https://www.cezoom.com/taketest/?courseid=3245&testid=1293 Approved Pace Program Provider FAGD/MAGD Credit Approval Does Not Imply Acceptance By A State Or Provincial Board of Dentistry Or AGD Endorsement. 1/1/18- 12/31/19 Provider #373236 A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Teresa Duncan, MS gives another great tip on dental coding. Why would hygienist need to be fully aware of dental codes? Teresa explains why our documentation can make or break dental claims. For more info from Teresa, see below! Teresa Duncan: Speaker on insurance and management, Podcaster, Author of a book and contributes to several magazines and the ADA's publications! Book : http://odysseymgmt.corecommerce.com/Book/ use code TALE for $3 courtesy (offsets shipping) Site:OdysseyMgmt.com Podcast: http://nobodytoldmethat.libsyn.com

It's a special roundtable episode, focusing on how you soon-to-be graduates can find a healthy balance between confidence in your own abilities and understanding you still have limits. We're joined by Cape Cod Community College faculty member Marianne, Idaho State University graduate faculty member Joanne, and Hiwassee College faculty member Eva. Paradise Dental Technologies (PDT) has once again sponsored this episode, as they strongly believe in quality education and that students are the future of our profession, not to mention the people we'll all be working alongside in the upcoming years. In this episode, our wonderful guests discuss issues that will quickly come up for recent graduates entering the dental profession, and how they can make the transition from student to resident to veteran as smooth as possible. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Interview starts: 3:01 - Getting to know today's roundtable guests, faculty members Marianne, Joanne and Eva! - Finding the time to take a breath and reassess each stage you're at throughout your education. - Making sure to take full advantage of the resources available to you and any faculty assistance. - The benefits of fully engaging with group work and reviewing each other's knowledge. - Always remembering that even your teaching work is improving people's oral wellbeing. - Getting yourself a grace period between graduating and jumping into the workforce to appreciate what you've achieved and figuring out three things you want to accomplish in the following month. - Respecting the time of the dental hierarchy and being willing to offer your capabilities. - Handy interview and salary negotiation tips! - Overcoming any apprehension of using technical terminology in front of patients and building the right clinical relationship. - How to speed up your work without trading away quality and thoroughness. - Teaching students about dental insurance so they're better prepared upon entering the profession. - Preparing for offices that aren't as technologically up-to-date as where you may have been trained. - Pitfalls current students should avoid after graduation. - Remembering that the job market is tough and that you may not get your ideal job right out the gate. - Why clinical expertise takes active work and doesn't simply develop with experience. - The bottom line: get involved. QUOTES: "Even if it's old technology, it's still valuable." "Relax a little bit and know that you're where you're supposed to be." "Everything we're doing as educators is preparing you to be the best that you can be." "You know more than you think you do." "Be realistic about what you can do and you might surprise yourself." "Experience doesn't mean 'excellent,' it doesn't mean 'better.' It's what you do with that time." "Your dentist is your employer, but you own your license to practice." "Don't diminish what you have learned—demonstrate what you have learned." LINKS: Joanne's contact info - [email protected] or (208)240-1443 Marianne's contact info - [email protected] Eva's contact info - [email protected] or (865)214-2211 Be sure to thank the sponsor for sponsoring this special Student Roundtable episode by heading over to www.PDTDental.com and picking up a new instrument or telling them thank you in person at one of the conferences! A Tale of Two Hygienists homepage - https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/ AToTH on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aTaleOfTwoHygienists/ AToTH on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ataleoftwohygienists AToTH on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/atoth/?originalSubdomain=ca

Noel Brandon-Kelsch is an international speaker, writer, Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice and Director of Cabrillo College Dental Hygiene Program. She is passionate about oral health and has the uncanny ability to motivate and enlighten audiences through her unique humor and cutting edge information. She takes the tough subject matter and presents it in such an interesting way that it becomes thought-provoking even to those not involved in her industry. Noel is an infection control guru and is going to bring us tips that can make use more informed clinicians! Check out her webpage noelkelsch.com Thank you to Medicom for sponsoring Noel's TIPisode. Head over to medicom.com/en