As a dental hygienist intra oral procedures are of main importance for us.

Daily we perform

cancer screenings, probing, scaling, and polishing. We also perform local anesthesia and ultrasonic

procedures. Because we are mainly focusing on the oral health of our patients it is important that we are

able to perform these actions efficiently and properly.

Every day in clinic we perform a cancer screening which includes intra oral and extra oral

examination. In oral pathology we were taught to ask our patient is experiencing any pain in their mouth

such as aching teeth, cheek bites or food burns before performing an intra oral exam. We learn how to

identify variants of normal such as tori, Fordyce granules, ankyloglossia, and geographic tongue to name

a few. We also learned how to identify things that are abnormal such as ulcers, petechia, candidiasis, and

other lesions.

We are often times the first people to see any abnormalities in our patients mouth that even the

patient may not be aware of. Because of this its so important that we thoroughly examen our patient so

we can put together our treatment plan accordingly. During the first couple semesters I would often

times miss simple things that my instructor or doctor would notice, it could be really frustrating that I

wouldn’t notice these things. Towards the final semesters of the program, I became more efficient at my

intra oral exams and would be able to properly convey oral findings to my instructors and doctors.

Other intra oral procedures we would perform is instrumentation, ultrasonic, polishing and local

anesthesia. Throughout my time as a student, I’ve found all of these things frightening and wasn’t sure if

I’d ever become competent in any of them. Each day I learn new and better ways to perform these skills

so I can help improve my patient’s oral health. Now I look forward to clinic and improving my skills each

day, I am so thankful for each instructor’s guidance throughout the program.

 I want to continue to provide the best care I can for each of my patients. Performing these intra

oral procedures for my patients can make such a huge difference in their lives. I will continue to learn

and improve my skills as a dental hygienist. I’ll continue to take everything I’ve learned from this program

and keep applying it to the way I care for my patients in the future.