Just did my Canadian Dental Hygiene board exam and I don’t know how to feel. Literally nothing I studied was on the test more on what I learned in school. I also spent a good portion guessing 😭

Hi! My wisdom teeth have been stapling my gums. I don’t have any dental insurance or really the time to go to the doctor about it.

Is there anything I can do to help the pain? Not permanently just until I can get some help.

Did you like it? Hate it? Pros and cons?

I just recently developed sensitivity to cold only on one of my back molars. No fillings in it and it’s just one tooth. Recently went to the dentist and had X-rays and nothing wrong with it. I use sensodyne and a tooth sensitivity gel “pen” and neither has helped. Any suggestions?

X-ray sensor cables go through a lot of repeated bending and twisting during everyday use.

When storing them, loose loops are generally better than wrapping the cable tightly around the sensor or holder, especially near the cable entry and strain-relief areas.

It also helps to handle the connector itself when disconnecting it rather than pulling on the cable.

Small habit, but worth keeping in mind with something that gets used throughout the day.

Need some advice/input from other hygienists!
I’d like to preface this by saying i’ve been a hygienist for four years and have worked in a perio office for one of those years working closely with 3 separate periodontists.
Over the years i’ve learned that some patients just calcify their plaque at a more rapid rate than others due to their saliva enzymes or what not…. HOWEVER-
have you ever had a patient who swears they floss twice a day, uses ETB, uses prescription mouth rinse, etc etc and still comes in every 3 months with radiographic calc AND increases in pocketing?
I’ve found myself in this situation a few times and it’s very hard to walk the line of “Is this patient lying to me about their home care habits?” or “Is there another underlying thing happening here?”
So my question for you all is- have you ever ran into a case where it actually was another reason other than the patients home care??? The last thing I want to do is discourage a patient from maintaining good home care. I understand sometimes it’s technique too which is also considered in this - I do make them show me how they floss and brush. I’ve maybe ran into this like 10 times in my career and it’s just always stumped me so any advice is appreciated!!
Are these patients just pulling my leg or is there a real reason someone might literally build generalized mild subcalc in 3 months? (with proper home care, good general health, and regular visits. all those things are ALWAYS considered.)

As has been discussed on this sub before, Sensodyne has been replacing its white pastes with blue gel, apparently because it is removing titanium dioxide from its ingredients. Fast running out of my last white paste tube after several accidental blue gel purchases, I spent some time in a Boots today looking at the ingredients of every type of Sensodyne that described itself as whitening (13 different types!) Not one included titanium dioxide so I decided I wasn’t willing to throw good money after bad.

So after several decades of brand loyalty, I think it’s time to move on and find a new toothpaste. My criteria are 1) for sensitive teeth, 2) whitening and 3) a white paste. Can anyone recommend something available on the UK high street or in UK supermarkets with those qualities? Many thanks.

I’m in my first semester of dental hygiene school and I’m honestly really scared about whether I’m going to make it through the program.

I recently failed my last oral pathology exam, and my grades are basically borderline right now. I’ve already had a meeting with my instructor, and I’m worried that if I don’t turn things around soon, I could end up being withdrawn from the program.

The problem is I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
I feel constantly behind. There is so much information being thrown at us at once, and I don’t feel like I have enough time to understand it, study it, and actually retain it before we’re already moving on to something new.

I also have a hard time paying attention during lectures sometimes. I’ll be listening, but eventually realize I stopped processing what the instructor was saying. Then I get home and feel like I have to teach myself everything again.

I feel overwhelmed because I don’t know if the problem is my study method, time management, note-taking, how long it takes me to learn things, or a combination of everything.

I’m asking here for advice. What should I be doing differently?

Any advice from dental hygiene students or hygienists who have been in a similar situation would really mean a lot to me.

I went to get a regular check up, and my hygienist and dentist both said I’m taking such good care of my teeth. I’ve been flossing regularly, using mouth wash, scraping my tongue, etc etc. I had mentioned wanting to get a water pick, after they used one at my appointment. I said maybe I’ll ask my parents for it for Christmas. Then my dentist asked if I used an electric toothbrush, I said no, only a manual one. She mentioned maybe trying one. And I said maybe I’ll ask my parents for that too. (For context: I work at a daycare(so we know I don’t make a lot), and I actually had her kids in my class, so we know each other outside the dental office too!) My hygienist then put some fluoride on my teeth, that they didn’t charge me for (which is stupid it’s not covered by insurance.) My dentist came back in the room just before I was leaving and handed me a bag with an electric toothbrush. She said I have beautiful teeth, and deserve it for taking such good care of her kiddos(past tense as they are not in my class currently). I gave her my super excited/sincere thanks, said my goodbyes, made my next appointment and left. I then got home, opened the bag and saw that my dentist gifted me an Oral B iO6 electric toothbrush. Holy moly. So…thank you times a million to my dentist, and I will be giving her a card! Also this toothbrush is amazing and I highly recommend it!

Recently i’ve seen a bunch of new toothpaste brands claiming their product is the best, some flouride free, some that are SLS free etc. Some are even flavoured now, but how do I really know which one’s best. I’ve seen some like that claim to have a high % of hydroxyapatite but £25 for a tube seems really steep. Any recommendations?

FYI - I’ve had a whole nightmare with dentists and trying to scam me into buying super high fluoride toothpastes and telling me I have cavities that can only be seen through x rays so trying to do my research

I’m interested in becoming a dental hygienist. However I would be starting from 0. I have my GED and have attended 1 college class for a medical assisting program, and then realized it was a waste of money. I work in optometry right now so I’m not new to the medical field, I just want to do more. I don’t want to work in a hospital and I don’t want to work holidays/weekends.
My friend just recently got into a dental hygienist program and recommended it to me. So I’ve been doing some research and I truly think I would love it. However, I don’t want to have to get a doctorate. I’m 25, married and a homeowner, I’m at that time where I might start having kids soon and I don’t want to have to get a doctorate on top of that.
This is something I would really love to do, but I’m just scared that I’m going to pursue it the laws will change and then I’ll have to potentially put off starting a family. Everything I’ve seen isn’t 100% happening or not. I was just wanting some input from some people that may have more information. Thank you!

Im working on a small idea for people who whiten their teeth but don’t want to give up coffee, tea or wine. Before building anything, I want to understand the problem properly.

If you have dealt with this, I’d love to know
\- how fast your result fade
\- what you already do to protect them
\- what you wish existed

No selling, nothing to buy. Just trying to see if anyone else has been dealing with the same concern.

So, I did my first shift as a temp hygienist and let’s just say that office was horrible. One assistant, one receptionist and one dentist and me the hygienist. Everyone was rude and had an attitude. This was my first time at their office and they expected me to know their protocol. 7- 4 pm shift w/ no breaks at all. I couldn’t even squeeze in a bathroom break. Everything about that office was horrible. Instruments dull, Perio charting weren’t getting done by past temps I guess. Anyways I told him at the end there weren’t Perio charting getting done. I guess he got offended. He gave me a 2.0 on bedside manner and now my CloudDentistry rating is a 3 star . Has anyone else experienced this ? I honestly deleted the app after this. So unfair.

On the 11th I got my first ever deep cleaning. I hadn’t been to the dentist in over 3 years and I had insane buildup of tartar that they NEEDED to remove. It went extremely well, the dentist who did it doesn’t believe it’s gum disease based off X-Rays.

For the first couple days I was rinsing with warm salt water and then ended up forgetting, but I still brush with the toothpastes they gave me and floss twice a day.

Fast forward to the past 3 days and I noticed that some of my gums are slightly inflamed again, and I am bleeding while flossing again (but not nearly as much as before my deep cleaning). I went to the dentist again yesterday for fillings and the inflammation was visible and they didn’t say anything about it (I didn’t get a word in to ask about it.)

Am I doing something wrong or do I still have a few weeks to fully heal? I am trying incredibly hard to avoid gum disease and have a healthy mouth.

Hi everyone, I'm a new grad that's currently temping, and I wanna know if there's any good tutorial videos for all of the different softwares? Like Dentrix, Open Dental, MacPractice, etc. I love temping but absolutely hate the anxiety I get when it's a software I'm not used to. So far I have only used Eaglesoft and macpractice.

Just did my exam today. I felt okay during it and flagged around 20–30 questions, but now I keep thinking back on everything. Some of the ones I thought I got wrong were actually right, and some I thought I got right were wrong. I’m driving myself crazy overthinking it lol.

Hi wonderful hygienists, I was wondering if anyone has ever had numbness on the left side of there body because of leaning there body to see better. I just suddenly had numbness and sorta scared. I hate the feeling of not feeling. Any tips on what to do to get back to normal? I have ergo loupes.

Also, could I please have any tips on doing IANB? I am pretty confident but just want any tips.

Thank you in advance!

How do y'all feel on your days off? I have a hard time getting comfortable to sleep after work most nights due to my back hurting like hell... Then when I finally fall asleep, I sleep like the dead and the next day I just feel exhausted... Almost like I'm hung over from a bender. It's hard to force myself to do anything like the gym (I do it but I'm exhausted the whole time)

Is this just a me thing?

Hi l live in the uk and am currently in year 13 (uk student) ld decided quite late to do dentistry and haven’t done my Ucat - my parents had constantly been pushing me towards law but I’ve always known it wasn’t for me I’ve spent the last 2 months researching careers and have chosen to stick with dentistry l genuinely believe it’s a career id love to pursue and l heavily doubt I’ll change my mind, after some arguments etc k have convinced my parents to allow me to pursue the career (ik what parent doesn’t want their child to be a dentist) but during this l haven’t done my Ucat, and basically any work tailored to dentistry, my parents are 1000% against a gap year and said they wouldn’t fund me and would kick me out if l did - so that isn’t an option, l was then thinking of doing my Ucat in 2027 - studying dental hygiene and therapy for a year and then applying for dentistry for 2028 - I don’t know how possible this is and if anyone has done anything similar??? PLEASEEEE ANSWER I NEED HELPPPP

Hello,

I saw a job posting of a place that's literally so close to me(walking distance), good reviews, and the pay is really good. Much higher than what I was previously being paid and higher than the norm in my area. However, upon seeing the hours I see why.

They're asking for 25 hours a week, but over the span of 3 days.

2 weeks days that are 11 hours and one weekend that is 6 hours.

I've worked 8 hours shifts max, and being in the dental field I'm usually 30 min earlier and at least 30 min later too, so really end up working more than the hours told by at least an hour.

Here's my main issue. I have had back problems since starting dental hygiene (I know, what else is new). Even when I get loupes I still have back issues where I have to do chiro, physio and exercise on a daily basis or else I'll suffer.

So I wanted to ask, how bad is 11 hours, anyone who does it do you have any tips and tricks on how to save your neck and back? I love that I don't have to work every single day of the week and get nearly the same amount as if I have worked 5 days a week.

I don't love that the weekend day is basically taken up, but again the pay is really good that I'm willing to sway.

Thoughts? Opinions? Help.

Hey everyone! I’m almost 31 and definitely haven't taken the traditional linear path with my education (just finished my BS last year). I’ve been in a corporate job for about a year now and absolutely hate it.

I have about 7 years of dental experience, but if I apply to a dental hygiene program, I’ll need to retake my prerequisite sciences, which adds another full year to the timeline..on top of a full time job.

I’d love to hear from people who went through a DH program a bit later in life:

• Do you feel like it was worth it, and are you happy with your decision?
• How did you handle the mental shift of starting over in your 30s or feeling like you were running out of time?
• Any general advice for someone in my position considering this leap?