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.…

I learned during a recent continuing education course that the use of ultrasonic scalers is no longer contraindicated for patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Per universal precautions, I understand…

Is the appropriate interval for fluoride varnish application among patients at average or slightly elevated caries risk every 3 months to 6 months? If so, what is the protocol for patients at high risk? Would applying varnish every 72 hours…

I recently moved to a new area that is 90 minutes away from the dental office in which I have worked for 18 years. I found a position close to my new home, so I gave my employer, who recently purchased the practice, a letter of resignation…

The dental assistants I work with open the cassettes or take contaminated instruments out of the cassettes before they put them in the ultrasonic cleaner. I informed them that the point of the cassettes and the ultrasonic cleaner is to…

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?

How often does a patient's medical history need to undergo a comprehensive update?

I have been practicing dental hygiene for 11 years and am right-hand dominant. I try routinely to sit properly, adjust my body throughout the day, and use magnification, yet I suffer from right shoulder stiffness and sometimes pain by the…

Can dental hygienists recommend vitamin supplements to patients? Are there limits within dental hygienists' scope of practice on providing nutritional counseling?

I have more than 30 years of experience as a clinical dental hygienist in Massachusetts. I thought that diagnosis and treatment planning were outside of dental hygienists' scope of practice and that these duties were the purview of dentists…