It’s A Tale of Two Hygienists’ student roundtable episode, which means Andrew and Michelle have invited a roster of guests to educate student listeners on a chosen topic. This month’s topic is on restorative hygiene and how the hygienists who practice it train to make teeth look as good as they did the day they first burst out of the gumline.
Melisa McCannel is the dental hygiene program director for the Pima Medical Institute in Seattle. Andrea Leach is tenured faculty and the restorative lead at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA. Ann Mora, RDH, has worked in restorative hygiene since graduating from Pierce College in Washington.
In this episode, our guests discuss how little known restorative hygiene actually is, break down the education process semester by semester, and delve into their own hands-on experience.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
Interview starts: 4:02
– The surprising lack of knowledge about restorative hygiene throughout the industry.
– What do restorative hygiene programs look like throughout Washington state?
– Ann describes her hands-on experience learning about restorative hygiene in school.
– Melisa lays out the decreasing number of errors restorative hygiene students are allowed to make during the course of their education.
– Ann’s first restorative hygiene patient: her boyfriend.
– Walking us through the steps for getting licensed as a restorative hygienist.
– Melisa discusses the benefits of working in private practice as a restorative hygienist.
QUOTES:
“If you want to be the best that you can be, don’t pick and choose your skillset.”
“Training the eye as well as the hand is a huge part of what we instill in our students.”
“I’m not worried about their grades, I’m worried about the outcomes.”
“I feel like most of the class went into it very well-prepared—nervous, but prepared.”
“A restoration is a restoration, so the only thing that’s different is preparing them.”
“It’s insane what you can do when you add a restorative hygienist to the mix.”
LINKS:
Melisa’s email – mmccannel@pmi.edu
Andrea’s email – aleach@columbiabasin.edu
Ann’s email – akmorardh@outlook.com
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