Dental Hygienist at IB

Description

Dental Hygienist

Reports to:

Dental Director

Responsible for providing hygiene treatment to patients

• Review daily schedule with the administrative assistant for hygiene patients
• Work with administrative assistant to schedule hygiene patients with efficiency
• Review patient health and dental history forms and update as necessary
• Accurately chart each patient’s periodontal health
• Perform thorough and gentle prophylaxis for patients
• Perform scaling, root planning and selective polishing for patients as appropriate
• Polish restorations
• Administer local anesthetics, if allowed by dental practice act
• Place medicaments subgingival for periodontal disease treatment
• Take radiographs of patients as prescribed by dentist
• Apply cavity-preventive agents, such as fluorides and sealants
• Communicate with patients in an understandable and professional way
• Check on patient comfort during treatment and help allay patient anxiety
• Accurately and appropriately record provided treatment
• Teach proper oral hygiene techniques to patients
• Counsel patients on oral health, including the role of nutrition
• Perform other tasks assigned by the dentist

• Check treatment room for cleanliness and make necessary changes
• Check and turn on treatment room equipment
• Gather and review patient charts for the day
• Clean treatment room at the end of the day and turn off equipment
• Maintain a supply inventory for hygiene treatment
• Review, select and submit orders for patient education materials for the practice
• Submit supply orders to business manager once a month or as necessary
• Properly discard all disposable items from each visit
• Assemble soiled instruments and place in sterilization area
• Clean treatment room surfaces with disinfectant solution
• Pre-soak soiled instruments in a disinfectant
• Sort and package instruments by tray for proper sterilization
• Load, activate and vent the sterilization unit according to manufacturer’s directions
• Store instruments and trays in appropriate places

• Securely store and handle patient records in compliance with office policies and procedures and applicable legal requirements, such as HIPAA regulations
• Accurately record medical and dental histories
• Accurately file patient information
• Arrange patient charts
• Assist in the administration of the recall system

• Be an active participant in team meetings
• Promote team concept by interacting with others in the office

• Must be licensed to practice in state and meet other applicable state requirements
• Must have 2 to 5 years of experience in a dental hygiene position
• Must have completed at least 2 years of post-secondary education from an accredited dental hygiene program
• Experience providing prophylaxis and taking X-rays

• Good interpersonal skills to maintain effective rapport with patients, dentists and coworkers
• Effective verbal skills to communicate with patients and staff