As a dental hygienist, I have a lot of roles in my patient’s lives.

Arguably, the most

important role is the preventative role in educating my patients on how to be proactive in taking

care of their oral health. One procedure that I can do for my patients is placing sealants. By

placing sealant material on teeth with deep pits and fissures, I am giving my patient an advantage

against potential caries that could form. Sealants are a great option for pediatric patients with

deep pits and fissures in their teeth. By placing the preventative material, we can save the child a

lot of stress in the office that might come with getting a cavity filled.

I have included my sealant placement proficiency in my portfolio. I successful completed

the sealants on this patient in clinic. The patient had all eight molars treatment planned for

sealants. I chose to be graded on two maxillary and two mandibular so that my skills could

accurately be judged by my instructors. I missed one point on the sealant placed on #18. I had

overfilled the material, causing the patient to feel like it was a bit high. The patient waited to

have the sealant adjusted just a bit by Dr. Carl while he was on the clinic floor that morning.

My first sealants I placed on a student partner were very overfilled. With practice and

patience, I have learned that a little bit of sealant material goes a long way. In my most recent set

that I placed on a patient, she had #2 and #15 planned for sealants. An instructor gave me some

great advice on how to add the material to the tooth. She suggested that instead of dragging the

material from the distal to the mesial surface, to start adding material on the mesial surface so

that it is pulled naturally by gravity back toward the distal surface of the maxillary molar. This

technique helped me accurately place the material without having an overfill that needed

corrected by the doctor on the clinic floor. Being able to provide this service for my patients is a

wonderful preventative tool for them.