 Hello everybody, Andrea Mayesca here with Dental Tutoring. So let's talk about your first year as a dental hygienist. Whether you are still in school, you are almost done and you just kind of want to know what to expect or maybe you're only in it now, you've been working for a couple of weeks but you're thinking, oh, is this normal? Is this kind of what to expect? Or maybe you're not even in your dental hygiene program yet but you kind of want to know what it's like. Okay, so I have been practicing for about 14 years. So, but I am going to go back to my first year as a dental hygiene student. So, or sorry, as a dental hygienist. And this goes back to me being a young dental hygienist as well and that can pose certain challenges but there are so many things that you guys have to know your first year but then there's also things that you aren't expected to know. And this stems from, I did create a course called Dental LRDH where I go through everything, like literally everything, that the new hygienist needs to know. Come, like coming from what type of instruments to use, talking about asking for more money, talking about how to talk to patients about booking in their next cleaning for either like three months, four months, six months, nine months. What do you do if you see a new patient and you know you're not going to be able to finish the cleaning because you're new and there's just no way, there's just so much here. You know, how do you talk to the patient about that? What if the front desk told them, oh, well she'll be able to finish today and then you're thinking, I can't finish today, there's no way. So maybe the patient gets mad at you for not being able to finish the cleaning and then they even say to you, well, I didn't want somebody new, so how is that my fault? It does happen. I talk about, you know, you might be walking out there to get your patient and they might go, I didn't want a student. You know, who knows? Because you might look young, you might be obviously new, who knows? But I go through all of that. But my first year, so I'm actually, I just had some notes here. So let me just move my screen for one second. Sorry guys, I did have some notes here just so I don't forget anything. Okay, so the first year you have a lot of emotions. You know, you're so excited to be working but at the same time, things are so new, things are so fresh that you're just kind of like, oh, I wanna do everything right, how do I start? Things aren't the same as having your three hour appointment in school and then having to change that to a 45 minute to a 50 minute appointment. Hopefully you will not work for an office that has half an hour appointments because that will just be so hard for you. Now the easy part for me after about 14 years is actually cleaning the teeth. But when you're new, that's going to be the hardest part for you, maybe. You might be that person who says, well, I feel like my clinical skills are good but the hard part for me is knowing when to book the next appointment. You know, how do I know? I don't wanna do it wrong. Is knowing how to deal with a difficult patient. Is knowing kinda what to say, how to make small talk. So I talk about all of that. But just to kind of give you guys an idea. So the first year, you're learning everything. Don't be ashamed, don't be nervous, do not be afraid if you can't finish a whole cleaning in one appointment. It could be because you're new and you're still learning so you don't have the necessary skills that that patient might have needed to do the entire cleaning in one appointment. That's okay. But this is how I want you guys to think about talking about it. You know, you can, if you can tell that you're not going to be able to finish because you might only have 45 minutes, you can say, you know, I know what you've been coming in for the past six months, the past nine months for the last like 10 years or something. But you have a lot more charter today. You know, there's a lot more underneath the gums. The gums are quite inflamed and they are, they don't like me right now. So things have changed a little bit. So I would suggest coming back to finish the rest of your cleaning because as I'm trying to clean in there, the gums are so inflamed that I can't get my instrument in there properly. And that's true. Even me, after 14 years, even me, I'm thinking, oh geez, like this person's been coming in, she might be seeing, he or she might be seeing another hygienist but they've been coming in every six months for years, yet I know I can't do a good job and clean all of the teeth at the same, or you know, clean all of the teeth and do a good job. So I'm going to have them come back. They're not going to like that because they'll be saying, oh, I've never had to come back from my cleaning before. Like, what's going on here? Like, do you not know what you're doing? You know, but talk to them about things like that. So it's not about you not doing a good job and not being able to finish, but it's just simply about there's more charter there. You know, I can't just clean every other tooth. There's more charter there. So that will happen and that's okay. Another thing that I like to bring up is if you're a new hygienist, especially, depending on the office where you work, they might be completely understanding and they might help you out. Or if you work in an office that doesn't really care and they see you as this, ooh, you're a dental hygienist, you're new, you're young, so I'm just gonna make everything harder for you. So that could happen too. Meaning, you might still be expected to book all of the appointments. You might be expected to put all of the codes in the computer and then so that that way, the ladies at the front desk have that. You might be expected to be able to clean everybody's teeth, that one appointment, no matter how much plaque or charter they have. You might be expected to take x-rays on every patient, a panorex, things like that, when you're like, okay, wait a minute, I'm new here. Can you show me where the panorex is? I don't even know. Can you show me this? Can you show me that? So that might happen. So you might not work for the most amazing office that lets you go at your own pace, so you might have to learn quickly and that does happen. If you need help with that, let me know. It's possible, but just the main thing that I want you guys to realize is that even if the front desk thinks that they know everything, even if the dentist says, oh yeah, she'll be able to do your entire cleaning today, but then you're in there, let's say they had their new patient exam first and then you're in there and you go, okay, I can't finish the whole cleaning today, there's no way. Show your expertise, say, well, I know Dr. So-and-so said that we would be able to finish today, but I don't think he looked underneath the gums because there's a lot of tartar there, there's a lot of plaque. That is okay. But it's been a couple of years since your last cleaning. Typically, we can't do an entire cleaning if it's been over a year in the same appointment. So, but that's okay. We will see you again the next time and do the other half, you know, that's okay. It's just kind of how you work things. But if you guys need help on how to book cleanings, like how you know if they need to come back in three months, four months, six months, nine months, I go through all of that. Actually, I can show you guys quickly. I go through all of that in my dental LRDH course. So, whoops, sorry guys, let me just share my screen here. Oh yeah, here it is. So, sorry guys, I'm just moving my camera over here. So this is kind of what the course looks like. So obviously I'm not going to open up everything for you, but the full course includes everything you need to know. Literally everything. I wish, and I say this often, but I wish I had a course like this when I was a new dental hygienist because this just would have helped me be more prepared. I literally walked into an office where I didn't know anything. I was a dental assistant first. So that helped me kind of talk to patients. So I knew kind of a little bit about that. I knew how the office worked, but I put the hygiene stuff. I'm like, okay, I have to book appointments. I have to bill appointments. I need to book their next appointment, but that means that I have to know when to book it for. So there's so many things, right? But I go through everything. Like as you guys can see on the left-hand side here, actually, sorry, can I go over to the main menu again? That's okay, we'll go through the left-hand side. So as you guys can see, all of these are part of the course. So I go through everything you need to know if you're new. So everything. I can't even tell you, because I literally go through everything. And if I don't have anything here, let me know, and I will add it. So I do talk about things that we might not often talk about, right? Like I talk about loops. So what type of loops I think are a good idea. I talk about how to ask for some more money. I talk about, you know, staff. Like what happens if you're dealing with difficult staff and you're caught in the middle of it? I go through all of that, because with 14 years experience, trust me, there's a lot to talk about. I go through, you know, actually what a day in the life is like. I can't actually click it because I'm not, oh, actually, yes, I can, perfect. So as you guys can see, like I have, I think this video, I think my speakers are off, but this one is like 14 minutes, but I literally go through everything. I talk about what I bring to work. The assessment. So I go through how to do the oral cancer. I go through the intraoral camera. I go through how to calculate the PSR. Perio, oh, somebody there. Nope, nobody's there. I go through perio too, so how to go through the different case types. Talking about tax time, I go through that. I go through charting. I go through x-rays, so how to take x-rays. I go through the different services. So like if we're talking about like nightguards, cavities, like crowns, bridges, infection control. If anybody here is ever thinking about starting a mobile practice, and I do talk about that too. So I literally, you guys, talk about everything. Here, I'm gonna stop my screen here. So yes, I go through everything, but just the main things that I want you guys to know now is that it will be very overwhelming. You will probably be working evenings, not hopefully every evening, but I know when I first started, I was working about two evenings a week because that was just how it was, plus Saturdays. But at the time, I was just excited to get the money. I was excited to get experience, so I didn't mind. But I would say the hardest part honestly for me was especially initially, like the hardest part for me was to make sure to sit properly so I wouldn't hurt myself. Because seeing other hygienists in the office, they all had neck problems, back problems, like shoulder problems, arm problems. Oh my gosh, they were just always in pain. I hate to say it. I don't mean they were always in pain, but they took time off because they were in pain or they had to have, they just needed time off, right? And they would all say to me, well, this is just part of it. So make sure to sit properly now because if you don't, you're going to not have a very long career. But at the same time, like they were all there for like 20, 30 years. So clearly they loved what they did, right? In your first year or pretty much any time, you might be in charge of your own trace. So you might be putting your own instruments through in that office where I started, we did have somebody put the instruments through for us. So we had somebody working there, but she was the type where, how do I say this? She wanted you to do your own trace. And if you didn't, it was kind of like, whoops, sorry guys, I think I just canceled my webcam. Okay, no. And if you didn't, she would just be like, oh, I guess I can help you. So it's kind of like, okay, this is your job. I don't know what to say to that, but all right, so depending. So you might be in an office where you're expected to sterilize your own instrument. So if you're not sure how to do something, ask questions. You will likely be expected to clean up your own room and set up your own room. Keep it neat and tidy because you might not be the only hygienist working in that room. I know for the office that I was in, we had at least two other hygienists working in every single room like at different times. So if I left a mess or I was not organized for the next hygienist, well, that's not good. But they also do appreciate it if you set up for them. Cause I remember say working like a nine to five shift. And then we had a hygienist come in to use my room from five, 30 till eight, 30. She always appreciated it when I did set up for her. I'm not saying you have to do that, but that's just a nice thing. Make sure to show up early to look through your own charts and get things organized. I always like to show up to half an hour early. Hopefully you are paid for that depending on the office. They might say they're only paid for 20 minutes early, but I start half an hour early because I like to look through my charts. I like to look through the notes also that their last two appointments, you know, what they were and the type of notes that they had, like just so I know what's happening. So you might see that their last appointment was to fit in a night guard. So then I will say to them, oh, so how was your night guard? You have had it since October. Do you have any questions about it? Do you have it today? Because I can actually put the night guard in the ultrasonic for you to get it cleaner, you know? So I like to kind of have an idea of what's happening. It's good to check to if there is any outstanding treatment. So check to see if the last time they were in, if maybe they had realized that the dentist saw some cavities. Check to see if they did have those cavities fixed since last time. If not, then you should book that appointment today. If you're not the one booking it, then obviously bring it to the dentist's attention when they come in to do the check. So you might say, oh, just so you know, Mr. Smith has a cavity on the upper left and the upper right side that still needs to be fixed. So hopefully we can do that sometime soon and then let the ladies up at the front know that they need to book that if you're not the one booking it. So that just kind of sets you apart. I do think it's a good idea for when the dentist is coming in for the check to set out their mirror and the explorer for them. And if they want you to set out a mask and the gloves as well, that's just something that I do that not a lot of hygienists do, but I say, why not? And it just makes them feel like they don't have to look for it and it sets you apart. So you should do that and I can guarantee they will go, oh, wow, nobody's ever done that for me. So yes, I think that's a great idea. It's a good idea that when the dentist comes in to say something like, oh, Mr. Smith actually has less plaque this time than he had last time because he's now using an electric toothbrush. We did not take the X-rays today because we took them a year ago, but I will pull them up for you so you can have a look. So always kind of let them know when the next X-rays were done because that just makes you look like you're on the ball, even if you're not, because again, your first year as a hygienist, you are learning so much, but just things you can do to make you sound like you know what you're doing. If you don't, that's okay, but never go, oh, I don't know. Just kind of think of something like as an example, like even this happens to me where I might have a patient come in and say, oh, when was my last appointment? You know, I think I saw you last time. Don't say, I don't know. Say, you know what, I just looked that up, but now I can't remember when your last one was, so let me just check your chart for you. I don't know, just things you can say that just make you sound better and more knowledgeable. But again, if you have any questions, let me know. Your first year as a hygienist, you probably will not get a full hour lunch. Yes, I said it because you're thinking about so much all the time that when you do have lunch, you might be saying, okay, I'm gonna take that time to set up for my next patients or maybe you didn't have a chance to look through all of your charts in the morning because you had to look for other things. So you might take that time to look through the rest of your charts so that you're one step ahead. I'm not saying don't take a lunch, but you probably will not be able to sit there and take it easy for the full hour because you'll just be doing other things. Like you'll probably be behind and that is okay. You'll probably be catching up, even just asking if somebody else needs help. If you can see that the dental assistant or the other dental hygienist was like back to back to back all day, say, oh, hey, I'm about to take my tray to go through sterilization. Can I take your tray too? Because I can see you're done, just asking for help. Or, oh, can I take your chart up to the front for you because I'm taking mine up? I don't know, something like that, but ask for help. Your first year as a hygienist or even your first month, it is okay to be behind. 20 minutes behind, I find, is the max. That's before people will kind of get antsy, you know, especially in office. If you're having or behind, that's pushing it. And yes, it's not your fault, things happen, but just be conscious of your time, okay? Just be conscious of your time. You won't be able to get that perfect cleaning on everybody because you're still learning. I'm not saying leave plaque or tart or behind, but don't think it has to be perfect, honestly, because you have so much to learn. Your speed will come later. Still do a good job, but I'm not saying leave calculus everywhere and then the dentist comes in and kind of looks at you like did you even do anything today? No, but it doesn't have to be perfect, okay? So keep that in mind. Sorry, you guys, I did it again. I'm talking too much and this is going to be a longer video. I apologize, but honestly, you will do amazing. If you need help, please let me know. Feel free to comment if you have any questions and I'll leave the link for you guys if you guys are interested in my dental LRDH course where I literally talk about everything step by step. I go through everything. The videos are usually 10 minutes to a half an hour long, so not too long, but not too short either so that you'll have so much to learn and then you can be excited about being a dental hygienist and not so nervous, right? So I'm just gonna show you guys that course again because I still have it up here. Actually, I might not. Oh, yes, I do. So as you guys can see, so I just kind of opened it up, but I will send you guys the link. I'll post it for you guys on the bottom, but I'm just, I just clicked again, but it has everything that you need to know. You can take your time. You have full access for life. Actually, I'm sorry, my internet's kind of slow right now, obviously, let's see. Yeah, guys, sorry, the internet's really slow. So I will show you guys that later, but if you guys would like to see inside the course again, just look at the beginning of the video because I do walk you guys through that. Any questions, let me know and thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one and good luck.