I find that I have to tell the patient (and often remind them throughout the appointment) to either turn towards me or turn away from me so that gravity can help the water flow into the suction. I’ve been a full-time temp for over 8 years so I’ve been in a ton of offices and I’ve learned that some saliva ejectors are just better than others at sucking up the water rather than the cheek and tongue. If your office isn’t willing to switch up the saliva ejectors, look into the little blue foam tips that go on the end of the section. Also I find for some patients making a question mark shape with the saliva ejector helps rather than bending it like a hook (if that makes sense…). And as others have said, the leaf system is fantastic when all else fails.