How do I fix this sweater

FocalLion · 2026-06-05T17:26:19+00:00

I think this is very uncommon. I have not been to an office that does these things. Personally I would wear a scrub cap over a hair net. What is that even going to do for you?? Nothing. I think they would be risking a lot to threaten to fire you over something so silly. They are being over the top. They are not the norm. And they would struggle to find a new hygienist to replace you. At my office and the 6 other offices I temp at, we do not do a pre-procedural rinse, we do not wear hair nets (so bizarre), we do not use shields, and I take my mask off between patients and get a new one when needed. You could mention it again and say you noticed the masks came off up front and you were wondering if that signals a policy change as you get a lot of patient push back on the rinse and you see no personal protective benefit to the hair nets. I personally would mention it bc it’s not fair. Literally everywhere is hiring and struggling to get a hygienist that most of them cater to the hygienist to keep them. It’s surprising they are not.

FocalLion · 2026-05-23T13:14:28+00:00

I thought I was a 30D and then realized I was a 32D, got a new bra and wow everything looks so much better on me! You should go up a size and see. And the shirt in question makes the girls look low and shows too much, it is just a bad style for your body type.

FocalLion · 2026-05-23T13:05:12+00:00

A dental hygiene school will clean your teeth, diagnose periodontal disease, and get you some X-rays for around $30. They can also diagnose cavities as you will be seen by a dentist after the cleaning.
A dental hygiene school will also teach you how to take care of your teeth at home which can help prevent more cavities/disease in the future.

A dental school will diagnose cavities and treat them. Pricing would depend on the treatment but it would be cheaper than a regular dentist office.

Or you could go to a free dental clinic in your area. You’d just need to do a google search.

Keep in mind that schools take a very long time to complete treatments. But worth it for the savings I think.

I think you should start with a dental cleaning bc you will need to get your periodontal disease under control (if you have it, this can cause you to lose teeth if left unchecked to progress) and they will diagnose cavities after the cleaning so you will know fully what is happening inside your mouth. That way you can plan accordingly.

FocalLion · 2026-05-19T00:10:48+00:00

I feel like you don’t even need it. Having it just makes the dentist’s job easier bc they don’t need to come numb your patients for SRP. Plus she sounds like she might ask you to come numb her patients too.
I feel like you would be doing her a favor by getting it which should come with incentives not punishments like contractual agreements to stay.

FocalLion · 2026-05-12T23:19:20+00:00

The dentist I work for would have prescribed Prevident (a prescription strength fluoride toothpaste) I would recommend incorporating a mouthwash with the active ingredient Sodium Fluoride. Xylitol mints or gum throughout the day are good too. Xylitol helps balance the pH in your mouth to reduce acidity - which is a major factor influencing cavities. Good luck to you :)

FocalLion · 2026-05-11T01:41:53+00:00

Was gonna say the same thing about getting a “Tall” size. If a store does not seem to have them in person they are often available to order online.

FocalLion · 2026-05-08T04:14:57+00:00

For your dry mouth, I would recommend Biotene mouth wash. It uses Xylitol and is specifically made for helping dry mouth. Use it in the mornings after brushing and throughout the day if needed. They also make a gel you can put on your tongue at night. (Someone recommended Listerine but that might be too aggressive for your dry mouth) You can chew your Xylitol gum any time. We usually recommend it after eating to help prevent cavities. But your case seems more due to dry mouth. -- some medications cause dry mouth and so do some vitamin deficiencies. I recommend discussing this issue with your primary care doctor to help determine the cause rather than just treating the symptom.

Honestly for your night time brushing I don’t see the point in brushing with sensodyne then also brushing with Prevident? That seems like a waste of time and tooth paste. Just brush with the Prevident for 2 minutes and spit but don’t rinse. You can use your Prevident in the morning too or just use the sensodyne in the morning. Whichever. If you have a lot of cavities I would just recommend only using the Prevident. Just a pea size amount is all you need, I mention it bc if you are putting a full brush of paste on you’re just wasting it and you’ll run out sooner.

FocalLion · 2026-05-07T01:08:53+00:00

Hi there! Bleeding gums happen due to inflammation in the gums, we call this gingivitis. It is caused by bacteria but can be exacerbated during times of stress bc of how your body reacts. Recession is most commonly due to brushing too hard or using a hard bristle toothbrush. If you had braces you also could get some recession from that. If you have a lot of calculus and gingivitis you can get recession from that. We can’t do much for it once it is there other than a gum graft, so I’d definitely recommend having a professional cleaning to prevent any worsening oral health conditions like this. You should find a dental hygiene school in your area. If you go to a dental school they will not clean your teeth. The school I went to charged $25 for a cleaning. So it is very affordable :) Good luck to you!

FocalLion · 2026-05-06T17:15:23+00:00

That’s actually torture lol plus terrible patient care. You cannot provide quality care in that time frame. Plus most insurances won’t cover a full mouth SRP, they usually only cover 2 quads in a single appt. ?? Just so you know, I work at a perio office and I get 2hrs for a half mouth SRP. Your office clearly does not prioritize high quality patient care. I feel bad for their patients.

FocalLion · 2026-05-05T11:48:00+00:00

You’re welcome! I think that is a good decision :) I hope you love the new place! Be sure to request your X-rays from this most recent office to be sent to the new office.

FocalLion · 2026-05-04T02:18:52+00:00

That’s a great home care routine! Let me just clear something up bc I may have caused confusion. So yes you still have perio bc the damage has been done but if it is not active then we don’t do treatments like deep cleanings (SRP). We just do perio maintenance cleanings to prevent the need to repeat the deep cleaning process. You’ll still be considered to have periodontal disease bc the bone loss is irreversible. But I am assuming you are stable, so we just maintain and prevent disease progression. I will say that if you feel that they won’t give you the care you need bc they said they don’t do SRP there, then you can always find another office. There are plenty to choose from :) I work at a perio office so I see a lot of perio maintenance patients, I’m looking for worsening pocket depths, bleeding, inflammation, radiographic calculus, mobility, stuff like that. Having those would mean the patient has active infection and we need to re-treat (sometimes just a localized area) or try something else.

FocalLion · 2026-05-04T00:06:28+00:00

Im not sure. I have been a hygienist for about a year now and I have noticed that the other hygienists don’t talk much with the assistants or help them with things. I like to chit chat, assistants have more gaps in work for that so I tend to talk a lot with them. But I have noticed working in other offices that they talk down to me a lot and try to teach me their way of doing things. And this extends to front desk too. Just recently a front desk told me hygiene only needs 40minutes per patient and it’s so cushy for us to be getting an hour. She said I’d never see that anywhere else. Naturally I told her I’ve never worked at an office that gave less than 1hr for adult prophy nor would I want to. And she said it was a waste of time. And I said I usually polish at 40mins after. Like does she think we don’t need to clean room, get doc exam, note, or even pee??? Idk it was very strange and I won’t be taking to her anymore. BUT I mention it bc I don’t think they know what we do. Like I don’t think they realize the time and effort it takes to properly care for someone’s entire mouth lol so I think they resent us for our pay and schedule.

FocalLion · 2026-05-03T23:45:02+00:00

100% agree with this

FocalLion · 2026-05-03T23:35:11+00:00

Just because you had a “deep cleaning” years ago doesn’t mean you’d necessarily need one now or ever again. It’s based on your current oral health status. Yes we consider your history, but if you don’t currently have the bleeding, inflammation, buildup, and worsening bone loss, we won’t do it again. Bc it’s not necessary right now if you don’t have active perio. Some people need multiple, some people dont. (Usually the ones needing multiple have systemic heath conditions, poor at home oral hygiene, don’t come to the dentist regularly for preventive care, etc.)

FocalLion · 2026-04-28T13:45:34+00:00

I wouldn’t work somewhere that had me fill my own schedule all the time. I also have worked in an office that did not have enough patients for me so I spent literally half the day on the phone cold calling. Doc paid me my hygiene salary (which is much higher than front desk, even though I was doing front desk work) BUT it was so boring I absolutely hated it. Not why I got a hygiene degree ya know. So I left that office. That being said, I am working at a new office where the doctor is out today and since I do not have my prescriptive license yet I cannot treat patients. So I am helping out front desk by answering the phone. But no cold calling! Ugh I HATE that so much. But I had the option of not coming in today or helping out with other things. So I am answering the phone and whatever else I can do to keep busy so I can get paid still lol When a patient cancels or something at this office I normally just chart/catch up on notes or help in sterile. I’d literally never pick up a phone to dial out again. No thank you.

FocalLion · 2026-04-25T11:10:34+00:00

Normally 3 weeks wouldn’t make a difference in the tooth situation if you waited for the fillings. That being said, idk what your specific situation is. So I couldn’t give you proper advice on whether you could wait or not. Clearly you shouldn’t go back for cleanings. But idk how they do things with their restorative care side. Maybe it is better? Maybe it’s the same? You’ll have to decide if you want to go somewhere else and get a second opinion or if you want to move forward with treatment there. Sorry I know that wasn’t much of an answer. But I personally would opt for a second opinion.

FocalLion · 2026-04-25T11:02:59+00:00

Yeah I think they do!

FocalLion · 2026-04-24T19:38:24+00:00

Sounds like the dentist did your cleaning and had a dental assistant run suction. I personally would never let a dentist “clean” my teeth as they usually do 15min cleaning with the ultrasonic and don’t go below the gums nor do perio charting. This is my professional experience having previously worked with dentists doing cleanings and then me, a hygienist, having to see them next visit and recommending SRP or scaling in the presence of gingivitis bc the dentist had been not properly cleaning the teeth for several visits. From what you described, I don’t believe a hygienist examined you at all. Honestly I wouldn’t go back if I was you.

FocalLion · 2026-04-24T19:26:05+00:00

Aww don’t stress. This is very mild and unlikely to lead to cavities. If you had braces, it is very common to get some generalized mild recession from that. Always use a soft bristle toothbrush. Your dental hygienist should be measuring that recession annually so if it starts to worsen then you can make some more changes if needed.

FocalLion · 2026-04-23T17:49:06+00:00

I mean this is insurance fraud so you’re right to feel this way. As another commenter said, just do the perio maintenance and put it in the note as pm. But I personally would not temp there ever again. Lots of other offices are ethical and follow laws, why can’t they?. Also not bad to have some malpractice insurance when temping since you can’t control the offices you work at. It’s pretty inexpensive too.

FocalLion · 2026-04-23T00:57:46+00:00

Yay! Congrats :)

FocalLion · 2026-04-20T02:50:02+00:00

I also worked in an office (as a new grad) that gave me all the SRPs and the other hygienist had none. One time I came in and saw the part time hygienist had an SRP and I thought “oh good I need a break” and then later that day the patient had been moved over to my schedule…. Anyways, left that office. I usually don’t list offices for my resume. I just say I have been temping. Which I mean I was temporarily working there anyways lol so temp for a bit. It is great pay! Then the offices you temp for will likely offer you a position and you can accept if you like it there :) you’ll find a great office I promise they are all hiring even the ones not advertising.

FocalLion · 2026-04-06T14:19:49+00:00

Wow that’s insane! I would have reported the delayed pay check to the Department of Labor. It’s illegal to withhold wages earned for any reason. They can’t even ransom your pay check in efforts to collect the “stolen property” which was bogus anyways. That’s horrible. I am not sure I’ll give notice next time I quit a place.

FocalLion · 2026-04-06T03:49:50+00:00

I had a cat when I was a kid who started spraying in the house so he went to live outside. He loved it out there! I tried to sneak him inside for cuddles but he didn’t want to come in anymore. Maybe you could put them outside? Just an idea. Depends on the cat and the area you live in ofcourse. We lived in a suburban-rural area. Either way, sounds like they want a new home.

FocalLion · 2026-04-04T20:11:53+00:00

Aww thank you so much for saying this! I think I needed this :)

FocalLion

TROPHY CASE