Reporter Shirley Whyte speaks with two Invercargill dental hygienists about their job educating people to look after their teeth.
Open wide. No longer do dentists have the sole job of educating people on dental care. The number of dental hygienists working in New Zealand is slowly growing.
In Invercargill there are two hygienists who started out part-time and are working their way to fulltime positions.
A hygienist works with a dentist and assesses and evaluates a patient's oral gum disease status, scaling to remove plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces and the underlying bone that supports the teeth.
Toothworks hygienist Donna Bell graduated as a school dental nurse in Wellington in 1983 and returned to Southland to work for three years before she did her OE.
While living in England she discovered the dental hygienist service.
"We didn't have them practising in New Zealand and I had never heard of their work before."
She then studied in the United States for three years to become a hygienist and, after graduating in 1992, worked in Auckland.
About 10 hygienists, the bulk of them overseas trained, formed the initial core of what is now the New Zealand Dental Hygienists Association, which has more then 300 members.
Hygienist Sheila Kerr started working two mornings a week for dentist Larry Dougherty in 2006. She has now developed that into a fulltime role.
Mrs Kerr graduated from the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School in 1994 and immigrated to Invercargill in 2004. "It always delights me if my patients return with a better degree of oral health the next time I see them," Mrs Kerr said.
Research showed a link between advanced gum diseases might give patients a higher risk of delivering premature, low-birthweight infants, lung and heart disease, she said.
"I like to tell my patients that my job is to teach them how to look after their mouth to the best of their ability."
Gum disease is the No1 reason for tooth loss in New Zealand, with 87 per cent of New Zealand adults having some form of gum disease, whether it is gingivitis or the more advanced periodontitis.
"The dentist will refer patients to us but patients may also self-refer themselves to us. We get them walking in off the street," Mrs Kerr said.
New Zealand Dental Association Southland branch president Dr Larry Dougherty said a hygienist's role was vital in his practice।
"They are very often better and gentler than dentists at cleaning teeth because they clean teeth exclusively.
"They're allowed more time to do so and educate their patients on their cleaning practises. Dentists usually don't allow themselves the same time to perform these procedures."
Dr Dougherty said Southland needed more hygienists. "This could help ease the dentist-patient burden in Southland and improve dental services."
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