"Jane Doe RDH is popular with her patients. She is gentle, very friendly, scales and polishes in 10 minutes' time and rarely runs behind. She can even work on a 45 minute schedule and sometimes finishes her work in 30 minutes! She never complains, goes with the flow and is a good team player. Her re-care routine is the same with each patient and she chats away on lots of subjects while working. The only problem I'm having with Jane Doe is that her daily production is consistently low and there's never any scaling and root planning appointments on the hygiene schedule."

Chat-and-polish dental hygienists should be obsolete by now, but there are plenty out there, and they're keeping your daily hygiene productivity low.

That's not my only concern, however, so follow along, and I'll explain what I mean. Professional, health-dedicated hygienists are markedly different from chat-and-polish hygienists, and they take their clinical responsibilities very seriously. They assess each patient's needs before providing preventive services, continue their education without having to be coaxed, and make sure they have adequate time for each patient. In addition, their patients are well-maintained on a customized recall interval, and the dentist or employer trusts them to assess their patients' oral health status and to treat their dental health needs accordingly.

Professional health-dedicated hygienists can be described as follows:

• committed to continuing education
• independent thinkers
• fairly compensated based on hygiene excellence
• insists on and earns respect from the entire dental team
• committed to modern preventive therapies
• performs patient assessments to determine hygiene treatment plan
• committed to and active in their professional organizations

Can a dentist or employer recognize the difference between a chat-and-polish hygienist and a health-dedicated one? Sometimes the difference between the two is not too obvious. Consequently, a lot depends on the employer's interest and experiences in dental hygiene. Dental hygiene consulting is a relatively new and growing branch of dental practice management, because the hygiene department of a dental practice is becoming more sophisticated and complex in terms of services provided, maximizing operational performance and productivity quotas.

Patients today are not only looking to establish relationships with providers (dentists and dental hygienists), but also they are also sophisticated enough to assess a clinician's skills. Patients who find they can trust the hygiene-therapists feel more comfortable establishing compliance and treatment programs with appropriate recall appointments. Periodontal therapies like scaling and root planning are necessary preventive services that experienced dental hygienists can provide for their patients. Skillful hygienists take pride in the use of instrumentation that includes advanced ultrasonics with the new precision-thin inserts. Health-dedicated hygienists don't just talk about flossing and brushing while treating patients, but instead they customize oral hygiene self-care programs to meet their patient's special needs. Evidence-based protocols are implemented to treat dental caries and periodontal infections. In addition to being skilled clinicians, dental hygienists must have an adequate understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases, good communication skills in order to motivate and satisfy patients, and cutting edge treatment options.

As CEO of Perio C Dent, I will assess your hygiene team and coach according to each hygienist's area of weakness. Perio C Dent will equip your office with the tools needed to help provide long term practice success. Your team will be enlightened and instructed in advanced instrumentation skills, patient assessment, and periodontal therapy protocols.

Lynne Slim is CEO of Perio C Dent, Inc., a dental practice management company which specializes in maximizing hygiene performance in dental hygiene departments of general dental practices. Consulting services include achieving clinical and productive excellence along with the teaching of advanced clinical initiatives like non-surgical periodontal protocols, ultrasonics and local delivery antibiotics. Please visit Perio C Dent's website at: www.periocdent.com