JOB PURPOSE

Registered Dental Hygienists are assigned duties and responsibilities which involve licensed professional work providing dental hygiene services. A Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) implements appropriate standard of care therapy, assists a dentist in providing hygiene, periodontal or dental care and treatment, provides dental hygiene assessments, creates treatment plans based on a dentist's diagnosis, and provides oral and overall health care education and instruction to patients.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

•Assess patients' teeth, bone, and periodontal tissues indicating the presence of any abnormalities or suspected diseases or conditions.

•Creates periodontal treatment plans based on the dentist's diagnosis.

•Bring to the immediate attention of the dentist any suspected lesion in the mouth or on the teeth.

•Thoroughly remove soft and hard deposits and extrinsic stain from teeth, using hand instruments, ultrasonic cavitron inserts, and prophy handpieces.

•Instruct patients on good oral hygiene practices, recommend appropriate products or devices for patients' home care, and provide other health care education, as necessary.

•Perform prophylaxis in the absence of periodontal disease or gingivitis.

•Perform full mouth debridement, either as a first stage gingivitis therapy or to remove interfering calculus to further enable a more accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.

•Perform scaling and root planing as a periodontal therapy.

•Place locally administered antibiotics as supportive periodontal therapy.

•Implement irrigation and desensitizing procedures or products as adjunctive to periodontal therapy.

•Position and expose dental and carpal radiographic film and sensors.

•Perform in-office whitening procedures, including changing of bleaching agent (following initial applications by the dentist) during the bleaching process of vital and non-vital teeth after the placement of a rubber dam; applying the fiber-optic light source of a curing light for activation of the bleach (not to include the use of a laser device).

?NOTE: The RDH is not permitted to apply the first application of bleaching gel; the dentist must perform this procedure.

•Apply cavity-preventive agents, such as fluorides and pit and fissure sealants.

•Make recommendations as to patients' re-care interval and follow-up needs.

•All other duties and responsibilities as assigned and allowed under applicable Georgia state laws and regulations.

QUALIFICATIONS

•Must be licensed and in good standing with the state of Georgia.

•Associates or Bachelor's degree in dental hygiene.

•Current Basic Life Support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certificate.

•Must be willing to partner with the dentist and work well as a member of the total dental team. Should have visual acuity and manual dexterity, since they use dental instruments within a patient's mouth with little room for error.

WORKING CONDITIONS

An RDH works in clean, well-lit offices. Important health safeguards include, but are not limited to strict adherence to proper radiological procedures, infection control protocols, and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment when administering anesthetic gas, handling or using cleaning chemicals, or working in the dental laboratory.

An RDH must also wear appropriate personal protective equipment including, at minimum, safety glasses, surgical masks, full arm length gowns/lab coats, and gloves to protect themselves and patients from infectious diseases during all patient care and when handling contaminated instruments or equipment. Open-toe shoes are forbidden, long hair must be pulled back, and fingernails must be kept short and tidy.