This provider is one of the keys to good oral health, along with your dentist.

Do you find yourself spending more time with your dental hygienist than with your dentist during office visits? If so, that’s actually not a bad thing. You and your hygienist are taking good care of your teeth and gums, leaving less for your dentist to do.

Here are 9 reasons that dental hygienists are valuable to your health, according to registered dental hygienist Kelli Swanson Jaecks, a past president of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

1. Dental hygienists focus on the prevention of oral disease, and dentists focus on treating oral disease.

If you’re actively working on preventing issues such as gum disease and oral cancer from affecting your mouth, that means you’ll have to see your dentist less.

“During a visit with a dentist, you may have drilling and filling, new crowns on your teeth, root canals or extractions. Prevention is always more cost-effective and desirable than treatment,” says Jaecks.

If you take care of your teeth and gums with your dental hygienist’s help, you’ll have fewer problems. And that means your dentist will be more likely to greet you with a smile — rather than a drill.

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2. Teeth cleaning is just part of a dental hygienist’s job.

Your dental hygienist has a list of jobs they’re checking off before your dentist even sets foot in the room (if they even need to). The dental hygienist will do the following:

• Review your health history
• Do a clinical assessment
• Identify any problems
• Come up with a treatment plan

After that, your hygienist will implement the plan — that’s where the teeth cleaning comes in — evaluate your progress and make notes for your next visit.

3. Dental hygienists can teach you how to brush your teeth — correctly.

Sure, you may think you know how to brush your teeth, but many people do it wrong. For example, you might brush too hard or miss hard-to-reach back teeth. A quick refresher in the exam chair could make your next visit to the dentist a lot less expensive.

4. Dental hygienists can show you better ways to clean between your teeth.

It’s no secret that many people don’t like to floss. But your dental hygienist can suggest other ways to clean those places your toothbrush may miss, including floss picks and water flossers.

“Flossing is not the only way to clean between your teeth. I’m going to offer them or show them different tools and instruments, tools they can get in our office or in their local drugstore to help with cleaning in between the teeth,” Jaecks says.

5. Dental hygienists don’t just check your teeth.

Yes, your dental hygienist will check your teeth, but they’ll also check your gums for gum disease (also called periodontal disease).

“In a way, the gums are actually more important, because the tooth sits in its own little socket,” says Jaecks. “That’s where bacteria and bacterial byproducts can live, and that’s why people get periodontal disease, because it’s progressed to the area where the bacteria are eating the bone that the tooth sits in.”

6. Dental hygienists can spot signs of other diseases as well.

An examination of your oral cavity can reveal signs of oral cancer and lupus. That’s an autoimmune disease where your immune system attacks healthy cells.

Your hygienist will be especially vigilant for signs of oral cancer if you:

• Drink a lot of alcohol
• Have head or neck cancer
• Have the human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Use tobacco

Signs of oral cancer can include:

• Loose teeth
• Problems swallowing
• Sores that won’t heal
• White or red patches in your mouth

All the above things are easy to check while you’re in the exam chair.

“Oral cancer is our disease,” says Jaecks. “No one else looks in the mouth besides oral health professionals. We do oral cancer screenings and look for other signs of disease that can show up in the mouth.”

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7. Dental hygienists can help prevent infection from spreading in your mouth.

By detecting an infection in your mouth, your hygienist can help prevent the infection from spreading to other parts of the body.

For example, untreated tooth abscesses (pockets of pus caused by bacterial infections) can cause life-threatening complications if bacteria travel to the brain or the heart.

“The state of the mouth will tell you the state of the body,” says Jaecks. “If you have a healthy mouth, most likely you have a healthier body than someone who has an unhealthy or diseased mouth.”

8. Dental hygienists keep track of your oral health history.

Your dental hygienist will occasionally take X-rays of your mouth and measure the depth of your gums with a process called periodontal probing. They will poke at your gums and call out a string of numbers for a dental assistant to write down. All that information creates a record of your oral health.

“If there are abnormalities that show up, the hygienist is going to see it, because we know what normal looks like,” Jaecks says.

9. Dental hygienists can give you a smile that sparkles.

Finally, most dental hygiene appointments end with the hygienist polishing your teeth so that they shine when you smile. And you will be all smiles, knowing that your teeth and gums are as healthy as can be.

Big bills don’t have to get in the way of your dental health. Here’s how a supplemental dental plan can help keep costs down. Learn more online, or call a licensed insurance agent at 1-844-211-7730 for more information.

The advertisement is provided as general information only. It is not intended to diagnose or recommend treatment of any illness, disease or condition. You should consult a qualified medical professional if you have questions or need more information.

Sources:

Harvard Health Publishing. “Is that dental pain an emergency?” April 1, 2024. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/is-that-dental-pain-an-emergency

Lupus Foundation of America. “Lupus and the Mouth.” December 4, 2023. Retrieved from https://www.lupus.org/resources/oral-health-issues-with-lupus

National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus. “Oral cancer.” May 22, 2023. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/oralcancer.html

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “What dental hygienists do.” April 17, 2024. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm#tab-2

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