Interesting Family

Today I had the most interesting family. The mother was Laotian and the father was American. They had 2 boys, five and seven. I thought to myself this is going to be interesting. How will I handle patient ed. with these boys. They were speaking to their mother in Laotian and I assumed that they didn't know English. I was very surprised and happy to hear them speak to their father in English. When the mother spoke to them in Laotian, they answered her in perfect Laotian. When the father spoke to them in English, they answered him in perfect English. My patient ed communication problem was solved. What really surprised me is that they never confused the two languages. The boys did not mix Laotian words with English words. WOW. Just when you think you know it all.


What do you think?

Teeth Sensitivity

In my practice over the last few years I have noticed more and more people complaining about sensitive teeth. Those of us who have been practicing a while can reflect on past years where teeth sensitivity was not quite as prevalent as it is now. I wonder what the reason or reasons could be. Could it be the water, the air, or global warming.

What do you think?

Staff Meetings

I don't know about you, but I really do not like staff meetings. They always held them at the wrong time. No matter what time they picked to have it, it was always the wrong time for me. I couldn't see the point of it. We worked in the same office all day long, so what was the point of taking an extra 1/2 hour to talk. Then we stopped having staff meetings. That is when I truly understood the point of having them. When we had staff meetings, I knew a little bit about what the front desk was doing. I also knew about the Dr.'s patient load. With out them I felt more isolated in my hygiene room. I did not feel like part of a team. If you can believe, we asked to have staff meetings reinstated. The office just seems to run a little better with them. Who knew?

What do you think?

Day by Day

Hello fellow hygienist.
This is our blog. This is the place to tell me a fellow hygienist about your day. I will tell you mine if you tell me yours. I want to know what you really think of staff meetings. I want to know about your funny patient. The one who you look forward to seeing because he always has such interesting experiences he or she shares with you. I also want to know about the patient that you dread seeing. The one who makes your day miserable just looking at his name on the day sheet.

Tell me yours and I'll tell you my stories.