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    1. Dental Hygiene

    current event comments

    April 9, 2012
    Dental hygienists comment on current events, based on RDH eVillage survey.
    • There are too many dental hygiene schools pumping out students and not enough jobs to support them. I think dental hygiene should require a four year degree as well.
    • I would like to see Viagra get as much discussion as birth control did in the last several weeks. There is such a double standard. It would be interesting to see how many men who see their physician for E.D. would support having to prove they are heterosexual, in a monogamous marriage with a wife of childbearing age. Because if not, then we know that intercourse would only be for recreational purposes, not procreational purposes, and they could be labeled as a "male slut" or "male prostitute" and taxpayers would be paying for them to have sex. While "the pill" has medical purpose other than solely for contraception, I am aware of only one reason for Viagra. And we all know that the members of the GOP do not have sex other than with their married spouse (of the opposite gender) in order to have as many children as God gives them.
    • I support people to be together legally but don't really want to call marriage anything other than between man and woman. It could be called a legal union. A partner in a longtime relationship should have the same benefits as a spouse just really don't want the term "marriage" to be used for all the other partnerships.
    • I have patients in my practice that have had a long-term male domestic relationship. They are now older with one having health problems. Another long-term female domestic relationship (both secondary teachers) has one partner with health problems. In both cases, the support by the healthy one of the one with health problems is similiar to traditional relationships,
    • I will comment on the obesity. I believe that public schools even at the high school level should require a PE class of somewhat. At my kids public high school they have the option to play a sport and waive out of pe class. Perhaps maybe not a PE class but some type of health maybe nutrition which is always absent at this age level.
    • Obviously, I am no longer on birth control, but I was always peeved about the fact that my insurance would not pay for my birth control but would pay for an abortion. I am all about prevention, just like in dentistry.
    • Due to my age, I would not wish to change my job description, but I am pleased to know that change lies ahead in providing care for so many dental needy folks. I do volunteer work such as in Mission of Mercy or Touched Twice to fill this gap, but strongly feel that as a society we need to offer options to those unable to care for their dental needs. Dental pain is a distraction that alters every aspect of our lives, no matter the age.
    • Affordable health care, including oral health care, should be available to all Americans, not just the rich and privileged. I have never had health insurance benefits as a dental hygienist. Either because they did not cover it or because I have split full time work between two offices. My cost for coverage comes directly out of my pocket. I support Obama's Affordable Health Care Bill.
    • I wish there were more options for a dentist to take business classes while in dental school. They have a lot on their plate, manage the office, make sure it is producing, then do all the dentistry. The ones that I have seen are great dentists are not so good with running an office.
    • We have far too much government intrusion in our lives, stifling the entrepeneurial spirit and creating "cradle to grave" dependence on government.
    • The price of gasoline doesn't affect me because I walk to work and I can do a lot of my grocery shopping at the store across the street from the office.
    • It saddens me that dentistry seems to be taking the track of doing "cleanings" as fast as possible, with no value given to patient education and quality of care.The dentist I work for only values an opinion if you agree with him. Even when I have simply stated a change in law that he is violating, he threatens to fire me or any other employee that "goes down that path." What?? I have a licence to protect. I actively discourage young people from not going into dental hygiene at this time, and instead encourage another health fields. I can see why some of my fellow hygienists are leaving dentistry, and it is so sad. I have seen excellent hygienists just fired for the vague description of "insubordination" for sticking up for herself and her quality of care, and this is fully legal in my state.
    • I strongly support and have written my legislators AGAINST health insurance mandating paying for birth control.
    • I am confident that our educational systems are making an adequate effort to prepare students for the future whether or not I am "proud" of my younger patients. Educators cannot make children learn. Teachers cannot teach well when they are not properly valued by society; spend much of their time disciplining unruly (and in some cases dangerous) students without administration and parental support; and must keep meticulous records every day of each child's presence, participation, and progress. I am appalled by the number of young adults and children who lack social skills, basic spelling and grammar skills, and ethics and who possess an attitude of entitlement. I attribute these deficiencies to much more than our education systems: excessive use of technology for communication (texting with its disregard for grammar and spelling) rather than personal interaction; lack of good parenting skills and positive daily family interaction; lack of positive role models; influence of gangs, drugs, etc. It would require much more than adequate educational systems for me to feel confident about the future of our young people.
    • I am pursuing advanced practitioner status at every opportunity. I do believe in meeting the needs of everyone regardless of their economic position. I don't need the glitz and glamour of being "the dentist." I want the mid-level education to bridge the gap between those who can afford care and those who cannot. It took me four years of education and a bachelor's degree in addition to the additional certifications to be able to minimally improve the quality of care to those who need it most.
    • I strongly feel we have lowered the bar on education and what we expect from students. We coddle them, don't give them enough credit or challenge them enough, so yes, we are in trouble on this one.
    • I did not answer question #14 as I feel most dentist do a great job at providing services but many of them are over treating teeth. Their financial success of their practice depends on how much they drill, the more drilling the more money and less holes in the schedule. Plus, no one ever looks at the decay rates and restorative rates in dental practices which I find very interesting. My dentist is down to working 3 days a week because I am preventing restorative work by doing my job for my patients, they all know how to prevent cavities and want to now.
    • It seems like the newly graduated dentists are more "micro managers" and "dictate" more to the hygienists in lieu of collaboration or respect for their education.
    • I've lived here for almost nine years. It took me a long time to take a job offer. Hygienists do no give up jobs with the better dentists. I feel that many practices are close to fraudulent in diagnosing conditions. Hygienists are SRPing cases that do not require it. Dentists are diagnosing decay when it is not there. Hmmm, money, money, money.