 Hello, Andrea here with dental L. Let's talk about the unmet human needs in the dental hygiene process of care. So whether you are a dental hygiene student, you've just learned about the unmet human needs and you're super confused, or you're a student but about to graduate and you're going to work in an office and you're wondering how do these millions of unmet human needs apply to the real world? How do they apply to the dental office? How do I write them in the chart? What happens if a patient has heavy plaque, heavy charter, gingivitis, they want their teeth whitened? All of those I have to address but which unmet human needs do those go under and what comes first? So that's what I'm going to talk to you guys about today. So let me just share my screen here. So I'm keeping it simple. So I do offer a full course, the Board Exam Prep Academy where the unmet human needs and the dental hygiene process of care is a full module because there's so many things to talk about. But in the purpose of this video, I'm just going to summarize it for you to make it easier to understand, okay? So these are the unmet human needs. Depending on the textbook you read, they might separate these ones a little bit more. So you have 11 and not eight, but don't get hung up on the numbers too much because in most cases, if you're working in a practice, you're going to have this in a template anyway and then you have to fill it in on your own. So these are the unmet human needs. I'm just going to go through them briefly with you. So you have the wholesome facial image, protection from health risks, biologically sound and functional dentition, the skin and mucus membrane integrity of the head and neck, freedom from head and neck pain, freedom from anxiety and stress, responsibility for oral health, conceptualization and problem solving. So let me just give you one example for each one, okay? So the wholesome facial image, this is when the client expresses their concern about their appearance. They might say to you something along the lines of, I've always wanted straighter teeth or I've always wanted wider teeth or I don't like how my teeth stain so much. This is their appearance. Protection from health risks. Some of these examples would be during the medical history, you note they haven't seen a doctor in 10 years. They haven't had a physical in 10 years. They say they're healthy, but how do they know that? They haven't been to the doctor. They might not be taking any medications but maybe they have high blood pressure. They wouldn't know because they haven't been to the doctor or on the other side of things. Let's say you take their blood pressure today because it's their new patient exam at the dental office and it's very high. That's a protection from health risks. Biologically sound and functional dentition and skin and mucus membrane integrity of the head and neck are similar, but how you can separate them is the biologically sound and functional dentition is the hard tissue. So think the teeth, the enamel. If they have composite fillings that are 20 years old and need to be redone or if the margins are leaking a little bit on ameldum fillings or maybe they clench their teeth and their teeth are halfway gone because they've been clenching. Those are some examples. The skin and mucus membrane integrity of the head and neck is looking at the soft tissues. So looking at do they have gingivitis? Do they have periodontal disease? That isn't necessarily their teeth but it's going to be the soft tissue around the teeth. What if you suspect they have a cold sore on the tongue that isn't going away? It's been three weeks, that would be an issue. The next one, the head and neck pain. So this would be kind of what it states. Do they have a toothache? Do they have cold sensitive teeth and they're in pain? Maybe they have a lymph node on their neck that when you're doing the extra oral exam, it's quite puffy and quite sore to the touch. That's where that would fall under. And then anxiety and stress. This is a big one. I probably deal with it every day. Where clients admit to you, I haven't seen the dentist or the dental hygienist in 10 years because I'm terrified. I got yelled at when I was a kid for not brushing and I haven't been back since, just an example. So are they anxious to see the dental hygienist for a cleaning? Are they nervous that they're going to get yelled at because they don't brush properly or they think they don't brush properly? The next one for oral health. This is there and everybody's responsibility. If they admit to you, well, I just come once a year just because I know I probably should get my teeth clean but I don't really care to. I know you're telling me I should have my teeth cleaned every three months because I'm a heavy smoker, but I don't care. I'm just gonna do it once a year. This is an issue. They have responsibility for their oral health. And then the last one, conceptualization and problem solving is, do they understand? So you're telling them to have their teeth cleaned every three months because they're a heavy smoker. They get heavy plaque, heavy tartar, but they're like, I just wanna come once a year. What's the big deal? Well, you're going to educate them to help them understand, well, what is the big deal? It's not their fault if they don't know what they don't know. You have to educate them. Maybe somebody's told them in the past, it's no big deal. You can have your teeth cleaned whenever if the teeth aren't falling out, who cares? Well, it is a big deal, but they might not know that or perhaps as children, their parents took them to the dentist every five years because they just simply didn't have the money. So they didn't realize the importance. It's our job as dental professionals to educate. So you guys, does that make sense? So this is how you would input it into the client's chart. You would look at all of these problems, decide what the problem is, and then what the solution is. So just as an example on how to write this up. Let's say the patient tells you they really don't like their stained teeth. They want white teeth. So that's a problem that you're going to fix. So you would say their unmet human need would be wholesome facial image due to them telling you they want whiter teeth, okay? How are you going to plan that out? How are you going to implement that? Planning would be the next appointment. You are going to book for them a one hour teeth whitening session. And then you're going to talk to them about how the teeth whitening is going to work. How did their teeth stain in the first place? How to prevent that? And any post-op care? Are their teeth going to be cold sensitive? Are you going to recommend a new toothpaste? All of that is just for one issue. They don't like their stained teeth, but you're going to fix that for them. So you guys, I hope that helps. That was just a basic summary of our unmet human needs. How you need to think about everything when it comes to the patient to make you the best dental professional possible. Let me know you guys, if you have any questions, thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next one.