by Maggie Vivoda, RDH
1 Talking constantly about yourself, your life, or your problems. The focus during the appointment time should be on the patients, their welfare, and their dental education.
2 Obnoxiously lecturing patients on dental care. There is a nice way to get your point across. It is more effective to make diplomatic suggestions than to badger a patient.
3 Filling the hygiene operatory with family members. This is unacceptable because it is unfair to the patient and unfortunately can be distracting to you and the work you need to do.
4 Giving away products or services for free to select patients. Although it is difficult not to have favorite patients, it is unacceptable to give products or services to select patients and not to others.
5 Having conversations with patients to the point that you keep the next patient waiting unnecessarily. Keep your conversations on track and pertinent to the reasons that the patient came to the office.
6 Allowing cell phone use in the operatory. Patients should be advised that cell phone use is not allowed in the operatory. At the same time, dental hygienists should not be answering cell phone calls during the patient's hygiene appointment.
7 Discussing your salary with other staff members. This is never a good idea for obvious reasons.
8 Allowing patients to come late to his or her hygiene appointment. A dental hygienist who sees a patient who comes to his appointment late is setting a precedent for the future. The dental hygienist is rewarding bad behavior and most likely, this behavior will continue.
9 Presenting your team members in a negative light in a multi-hygienist practice. A dental hygienist is a team member. Unfortunately, there are dental hygienists who choose to make unfavorable comments to patients concerning their teammates. This reflects poorly on the individual and the practice as a whole.
10 Discussing other patients or individuals who reside within the community with patients who are in your hygiene operatory. This is unacceptable behavior on the part of the dental hygienist. Remember that it is a small world. Concerning this bad habit, two words immediately come to mind, HIPAA and slander.
It is important to remember why we became dental hygienists in the first place. Dental hygiene is a profession and the behavior must remain professional.
Maggie Vivoda, RDH, is the owner and founder of Dental Concepts, Inc. based in Orlando, Fla. Ms.Vivoda is a contributing writer to RDH magazine. Ms. Vivoda is working towards her doctorate of management degree in Organizational Leadership. She is a proud member of the Speaking Consultant Network. She is also a real estate broker-associate in Orlando.
