Jacqueline J. Freudenthal, RDH, MHE, is a professor emerita and past chair of the Department of Dental Hygiene at ISU. She has almost 40 years of experience in dental hygiene education, administration, and providing patient care. Freudenthal continues to be active in research, community outreach, and professional service. Her professional areas of interest include prevention, risk assessment, local anesthesia administration, and expanded function procedures for dental hygienists. Freudenthal serves as the anesthesia expert for Dimensions of Dental Hygiene’s “Ask the Expert” forum.
One of my patients underwent replacement of occlusal amalgams on #3 and #4 with recurrent decay using a resin restorative material. The patient complained of swelling and bruising the length of her mandible that lasted about 2 weeks, along…
One of my patients takes clonazepam to address her anxiety and prevent panic attacks. She is scheduled to begin four quadrants of scaling and root planing, and I would like to provide anesthesia to make this experience more comfortable.…
In an office I recently worked at, the protocol for pain control during scaling and root planing was to anesthetize the entire mouth before beginning therapy. Is this an acceptable approach?