Dental Hygienist
Meet our Hygienist
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Profiles of our Dental Hygienists can be found on our Meet the Team page.
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Who are Dental Hygienists?
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Dental Hygienists are specially trained to work with the Dentist in giving Dental care to the patients. They play a very important role and are mainly concerned with ensuring and maintaining total oral health.
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They undertake a two- year course to obtain a Diploma in Dental Hygiene. A three- year degree course is also available. The General Dental Council has approved the use of the letters EDH as a short title for Enrolled Dental Hygienists.
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Does every dental practice have a Hygienist?
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Not all practices have a Dental Hygienist. But more of them offer this service to patients, using part-time or full time hygienists. At our practice, due to the huge value seen by our patients, we find that our Hygienist preventative programme is extremely popular.
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Hygienists can now work when the dentist is not there, as long as the patient has been seen by the dentist earlier and a treatment is prescribed.
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What do they do?
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Dental hygienists help prevent dental disease. One of their skills is to carefully remove hard deposits of Calculus (tartar) and by coaching you to prevent it forming again. Dental Hygienists are also trained to recognise and deal with a host of other dental needs.
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Dental Hygienists have both clinical and health promotional responsibilities. Clinically they help to treat and prevent periodontal (gum) disease by scaling and polishing teeth, applying prophylactic and anti-microbial materials, they can take dental radiographs and undertake monitoring and screening procedures. Dental Hygienists are also permitted to apply topical fluorides and fissure sealants in order to reduce dental caries (tooth decay).
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Their Health Promotional role includes motivating and encouraging individuals and groups in oral health practices including oral hygiene and diet advice.
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A dental hygienist, under the written prescription of a dentist may:
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Monitor gum (periodontal) disease by using current indices.
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Monitor plaque scores
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Provide oral hygiene advice.
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Give specific preventative advice including nutritional guidance,advice and use of fluoride agents and the benefits of smoking cessation.
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Develop a home care plan for individual patients to maintain oral health.
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Perform scaling above and below the gum.
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Comprehensive hand scaling of the root surface (debridement)
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Provide a through polishing, which will include finishing and polishing of fillings if required.
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Apply fissure sealants
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Replace crowns with temporary cement in an emergency.
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Remove excess cement by instruments.
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Placement of local anaesthetic when necessary
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Placing of anti-microbial agents when necessary.
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Take radiographs provided they have undergone 'core knowledge' certificate.
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Take impressions.
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Administer inferior dental nerve block anaesthesia under the direct personal supervision of a registered dentist.
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Administer local infiltration anaesthesia without the direct personal supervision of a registered dentist.
The work of a dental hygienist is controlled by the Dentist Act 1984, and the Dental Auxiliaries Regulations 1986, as amended in 1991 and 2002. The regulations set out the work, which dental hygienists may carry out under the direction of a registered dentist who has examined the patient and issued a written prescription.
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Why is this treatment so important?
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Regular professional cleaning combined with coaching to improve your homecare will ensure huge dental benefits. A clean and healthy mouth improves your appearance and gives you fresh breath. However, research has shown that good cleaning significantly reduces the risk of filling replacement, new cavities, gum recession, food trapping and teeth drifting. Gum disease is also linked to Heart disease and there are concerns about poor gum health and pregnancy.
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Why doesn't the Dentist do this work?
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The dentists recognise that the Hygienist is specially trained for cleaning and will spend much longer with you. They are also experts in coaching and motivating you to correctly look after your teeth and gums.
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Will it hurt?
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Simple scaling and polishing is usually pain free. Patients who have not seen a hygienist before or have large deposits of calculus can experience discomfort.
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At Dental Clinique, we have taken extensive steps to reduce discomfort
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By increasing the appointment times, the procedure is slower, gentler and thorough.
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Special instruments have been imported to allow cleaning in a more gentle manner
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Oraqix® is a new powerful gel that is applied to the gums to make them numb. Dental Clinique were privileged to be among the first to use this gel after launch in the UK. We thank Dentsply (UK) for bringing this unique product to the market and for allowing our to sample it so soon.
How much does it cost?
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Our current charges are £140 for one hour and £70 for half hour, if applicable. This represents excellent value as we do NOT make any additional charges for the newer technologies and techniques that we employ.
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We recommend REGULAR dental hygiene care. All research demonstrates that a clean and healthy mouth is the simplest way to stop expensive dental repairs.
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How do I make an appointment?
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Please phone our practice on 020 8675 7307 for appointments.
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I am a new patient and I only want to see the Hygienist. What are the rules?
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Under current Dental legislation, Dental Hygienists have to work under a prescription of a Dentist. It is for this reason, we are not allowed to appoint with Dental Hygienists only.
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New patients have to register and be seen by a Dentist who will formulate a plan of treatment, which is presented to Hygienist.
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I am an existing patient and I want to see the hygienist in between my checkups?
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As you already have a prescription in your notes, you can make an appointment to see the hygienist directly. Please make an appointment in the usual manner with the hygienist.
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I am already registered with another dentist, but would like to only see the hygienist at your practice. What is the procedure?
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This is possible and quite simple. However, you will require a simple note from your dentist outlining what he wishes from our hygienist. We require this brief referral by law. Our Hygienist will send a report of her care to your dentist at the end of her treatment for his notes. The charges incurred are paid to our practice in the usual manner. You will not then need to be registered with a dentist at our practice.
"I also highly recommend Dr Joshi [and his practice]. Every time I have visited, the dentistry is first class as is the customer service. Additionally, the range of products and information shared is excellent. He also charges very fair prices."
Adam Boast