Dental hygienists make the connection to whole-body health
Dental Hygienist Mayra Perez helps a young patient practice brushing.
The clock was already ticking when Jose* arrived at the OneWorld dental clinic. In less than two months, he was scheduled for an orthopedic surgery. But first, he needed dental work – a lot of it – in order to be cleared for his surgery.
There were barriers to the dental care itself: long wait times, expense, no babysitter for his kid. Tooth extractions and deep tissue cleanings couldn’t wait until later; dental procedures like these could release bacteria into the bloodstream and put a surgical site at risk for infection. Meanwhile, his surgery hung in the balance.
Enter Jose’s No. 1 advocate: OneWorld dental hygienist Mayra Perez.
A dental hygienist’s multiple roles
“If I’m ever sick, I kind of want her to be the person, like, helping me out at the hospital,” said OneWorld Dental Director Brian Penly, DDS, commenting on Perez. “She’ll get some things done.”
At any dental clinic, a hygienist is responsible for tasks like completing patient screenings, taking radiographs, removing calculus (tartar) and plaque, applying sealants and fluoride treatments, and creating teeth impressions.
At OneWorld, dental hygienists also play an important role as public health educators. They teach patients about healthy practices such as teeth brushing, flossing and nutrition. They understand that oral health is deeply connected to general health, and they help draw the connections for patients between good dental hygiene and the prevention of systemic diseases.
And sometimes, at OneWorld, dental hygienists clear a pathway to hope.
A complicated care plan
Perez remembers talking with Jose about the list of dental procedures he’d need, as recommended by the dentist. Hearing the list, Jose balked.
“And then he said, ‘Well, I don’t need anything,’” Perez recalls. “I think when you have those persons, it’s a great opportunity to be with them, and you can explain what they need and why.”
Her explanation worked. After successfully convincing Jose to take the next steps in his care plan and stay on track for surgery, Perez began looking at dentists’ schedules and making calls anytime a cancellation appeared. She found room in one dentist’s schedule for an extraction; in another dentist’s schedule, for a couple of fillings.
As Jose’s plan progressed, other providers and staff became invested too. Everyone started keeping an eye on appointment cancellations to fit him in before his surgery.
Finally, the efforts paid off and Jose completed the most essential dental work. Perez said she felt relief when it was time to sign off on his paperwork and instruct him to take the papers to his surgical team.
“I was really pleased with our team for everything, so that was my thank you,” Perez said. “Almost everybody, they have to help. They have to do it. I think that was a great story for our community, our teamwork and everybody.”
Motivated by caring connections
What is it about this team – and so many teams at OneWorld – that makes success stories like Jose’s possible? To Perez, she recognizes what she and many of her patients might have in common.
“I think first of all, we’re feeling connected to the patient,” Perez said. “I think we speak the same language. We come in, [having] almost part of the same background.”
She, like many patients and colleagues, immigrated to the United States. As a child, she didn’t have regular dental or other medical care, which led to dental problems later on. She said her own early experiences with the dentist involved a lot of hard work on her part, as well as learning about the links between oral health and systemic health.
These personal experiences, along with a passion for her own continuing training, help Perez provide compassionate and comprehensive care as she educates her patients. She reminds her patients that oral health is connected to overall health.
The bigger picture of prevention
Research shows that as many as 57 systemic diseases and conditions have been linked with periodontitis, a condition in which inflammatory responses cause bone loss and tissues around the tooth to become detached. These illnesses include heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke/cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Risk factors for periodontitis include genetic susceptibility and illness due to other diseases, as well as risky behaviors like inadequate oral hygiene or smoking.
“So hygiene, I like it, because it’s more prevention for everything,” Perez said.
With so much at stake, dental hygienists become a first line of defense as they educate patients about the importance of good oral health. And with education comes the potential for healthy habits and healing.
In the case of Jose, Perez knew that a successful surgery started with addressing his dental problems. And she and the OneWorld team were ready to set him on a path of success.
“You’ve been in their shoes. Or if not, you know somebody who’s been in the same shoes, and the last thing you want is for them to be having this trouble. You want to help this person,” Perez said. “You want to do everything.”
* Name has been changed.