 Hello everybody, Andrea here with dental L. So you might be wondering, what is your dental hygienist really thinking when they see you for your teeth cleaning appointment? What are we thinking and what are we actually doing when we're cleaning your teeth? It's not just about cleaning your teeth. We are looking at the gums, your overall mouth inside, outside, even we look at all of that. So let me kind of explain to you guys what we do, what we're thinking. And as always, some of these answers might surprise you. So one of the common questions or comments that I get from patients are, if I'm seeing a new patient and they haven't had their teeth cleaned in 10 years, they're going to say to me, like, oh my God, I'm so sorry, it's been 10 years since I had my teeth cleaned. I'm really sorry if it's bad in there. Well, let me let you in on a secret. We honestly, we are so happy to see you. We love patients as well who haven't been in for 10 years because that tells us you were just extremely nervous to come in. You might have had a bad experience as a child or you might have just simply not had the money to come in. Maybe you didn't have insurance, but you have made that decision now to come in and have your teeth cleaned. Sorry guys, my puppies just decided to run in. They're saying hello. This is what happens live when you work from home. Sorry guys, I think they're good now. Anyways, what was I saying? So these videos are unedited as you know, perfect example. So, you know, we love that. I personally love it. I say to all of those patients, I say truthfully, I am thrilled to see you. This makes me excited when I see a lot of plaque, a lot of tartar, because you know what? Afterwards, your teeth are going to look so amazing. They're going to feel so amazing. And even better, you're going to realize like, oh, why didn't I get my teeth cleaned sooner? That wasn't so bad. Because that's the thing about not having your teeth cleaned every six months is a lot of patients think, well, I don't want to go in now. It's been a couple of years. And then a couple of years turns into three years, turns into four years. And then you kind of say to yourself, oh, they're going to yell at me because I'm not brushing enough. I'm not flossing. It's been so long since I had my teeth cleaned. I'm going to wait another year, but it gets worse, right? You get more plaque, more tartar, more stain. You might have more cavities, all of that. So I love it when patients say to me afterwards, like, oh my God, that wasn't so bad. Thank you for not yelling at me. Thank you for not telling me I have to floss. Thank you for being honest with me. And people, patients are excited to get started again. They're excited to like, oh, my teeth feel great now. I'm going to start brushing twice a day. I'm going to use the toothpaste you recommended. I'm going to start to floss at least once a week like you recommended. So yes, I do say to floss every day, but if you're not flossing now, I'm the hygienist that's not going to expect you to floss every day from now on, we're going to come up with a realistic timeline for you, honestly. But I also might be telling you, you have to floss every day because you have like 10 cavities in between the teeth. There's always differences, you guys. And that brings me to my next point. Every patient is different. So I can't tell you, we always think the same thing for every patient. We're not always thinking like, oh, this patient doesn't know how to floss, do they? Or, oh, it's been 10 years. They probably have a lot of cavities. Every patient is different. I see patients every two years because that's just when they like to come in and they have amazing teeth. And I'm kind of saying to myself, how do you have like no plaque and no tartar after two years? And then I'll see some patients every three months because they have so much plaque, so much tartar. Their gums are bleeding a lot and they just have to come in every three months to maintain our melds are different. Some people are lucky, some people aren't. It's like metabolism, okay? Some people can eat whatever they want and don't gain a pound. Others can eat a scoop of ice cream and gain 10 pounds, you get it. So the mouth is the same and we know that. We understand everybody's different. Another thing, we don't automatically assume things. So if I see a lot of plaque in somebody's mouth, I'm not automatically assuming that, oh, they must not brush. They must not care to brush. I'm going to ask questions, like how often do you brush? What toothpaste do you use? Do you use a manual or an electric brush? Just because you have a lot of plaque, it could mean you are brushing twice a day but maybe not with the right toothpaste for you. Some patients have very sticky plaque so they need a different toothpaste. Or you might be brushing but maybe not well. Has your dental hygienist ever shown you how to brush? If not, you might not be doing it properly. So if you tell me you brush two or three times a day and there's a lot of plaque, a lot of stain, I'm going to just show you, oh, let me show you a different way to brush. I bet this will really help you. So we don't automatically assume, that might surprise you. If you've been to some hygienist, some dentists that do assume things and they kind of yell at you a bit, not all dental professionals are like that, okay? Let me just say that. Because I do have patients say to me afterwards, thank you for not yelling at me. And I kind of say to them, what do you mean yell at you? I would never yell at you. And then they say, I thought hygienist yell at me all the time. So this is very refreshing. So not all dental professionals will yell at you. That brings me to my next point. My next point is, if you had a bad experience in the past with your dental hygienist, dentist, dental assistant, whoever, please try another office or try another staff member. Not all people mesh with certain personalities, right? I'm sure some people don't love me. We all have different personalities. We just have different personalities. So if you had a bad experience with your hygienist, with your assistant, with your dentist, it doesn't mean they're bad people. It doesn't mean you're a bad person, but maybe go to another office, maybe go to another hygienist if they have more than one in the office. Try somebody new, because finding the right hygienist means everything. Finding the right dentist means everything. You will feel more comfortable. You'll want to go. That's why I love being a mobile dental hygienist because I take that struggle away from most patients. The struggle of I want to be seen more often for my teeth cleaning, but I don't have time to make it there. Well, I come to you. I book the appointments for you. So you don't have to worry. I show up at your house. So it's just very convenient. So I add that convenience for you. A lot of people are terrified of the dentist. I'm not a dentist. I'm a dental hygienist who comes to you to clean your teeth. I might suggest to you, well, you should go to a dentist now to get x-rays done if needed, but that's not always the case. So I can make patients feel a lot more comfortable. Comfort means everything to us. Another thing, dental professionals want you to be comfortable. So if you're nervous, please tell us. If money is a concern for you, please tell us. If you're worried about your horrible teeth, you might think you have horrible teeth and that's causing you a lot of stress. Excuse me. Tell us, as I choke on my own saliva. Tell us, you guys, because we are here to help you, okay? So I hope this video helped. This is what we're basically looking at. Plack, tartar, stain, we want to clean your teeth. We are looking at, can we help you improve your oral hygiene? Can we recommend a new toothpaste to you? Because our goal as a dental hygienist is to prevent cavities, to make your mouth as healthy as possible. We're all about prevention. So let us help you with that, you guys, okay? Thank you very much. If you have any questions, comment below. And I look forward to seeing you guys in the next video. Please click like if you haven't yet. That truly does help me and my channel. And please make sure to hit the subscribe button if you haven't yet to see some more videos and to help me and this channel. Thank you guys. Have a great day and we will talk very, very soon.