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I think you will all agree with me when I say that Dentistry is an art that requires a person to have a lot of patience and self-control. I am very passionate about Dentistry and anything teeth related but there are still some things that just drive me crazy. So being a mom and a full-time Dental Hygienist of course I had tons of time to be "extra" and give a full Confession of my 5 biggest Dental Hygiene Pet Peeves. In no specific order because these all drive me insane.

 When Patients Scrunch Their Lips

Maybe I should be doing this list in "stress level" order because this one is so annoying. I'm scaling #22-#27 and then boom, it begins. The lip fighting. I usually say: "Relax your lips." This obviously never works and I spend most of the appointment hunched over, standing on my head to clean 6 front teeth. Somebody, anybody leave me some advise.

 When Patients Refuse To Lay Back

 Think about this? How are they sleeping? I am a very caring person but it makes no sense why some patients cannot lay flat for an hour. Of course there are some medical issues but in most cases an hour is fine. What really gets my gears going is when that same patient allows the Doctor to lean them all the way back! Am I crazy?

 Frequent Rinsers

 I love my patients but if you need to rinse more than 4 times during a cleaning then it makes my Pet Peeves List. Use the suction that is what it's there for! I have had patients that refuse to use the suction and asked to rinse, Drumroll please................ 15 times. I counted. How can I stop this madness in patients that refuse the suction?

 The Habitual Latecomer

Every practice has one or a few. They come late and in many cases want to leave early. How is this even mathematically possible? If you eat up 15 minutes of a one hour appointment and want to leave 15 minutes before the hour is up, then I have 30 minutes! I cannot take radiographs, do a proper Dental Hygiene prophylaxis and have the Dentist give an exam in 30 minutes.

 When Patients Insist They Floss But Poor OH Is Evident

This one, is just plain ridiculousness. Why lie to the health professional? I can clearly see undisturbed, generalized plaque and my probe does not tell tall tales. Just confess and let's agree that you need to improve.

Hold on!

I want you to know that I have a passion for Dentistry but can we all agree that everyone has things about their career that is frustrating? Please feel free to leave your tips and comments below. Extra points and an Instagram shout out for everyone that shares this blog post, just tag me @ddsconnections so I know you shared it!

  Written by: Avalene Roberts R.D.H

I am a Mom, Dental Hygienist, wife, snowboarder, Cavity Smash player and Lover of everything teeth. Please subscribe to my blog and feel free to contact me about Dental Collaborations. Check out my Podcast available on itunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud. Subscribe to my youtube channel and don't forget to follow on Facebook and Twitter!

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