Dental Hygiene Goal Ideas for 2016

Hygiene can be repetitive and, let’s be honest, boring over time. Are you feeling this in your career? Set some professional goals to get out of this rut!

If you need some ideas on a goal you can set, here are a few:

1.     Improve your head and neck cancer exam. Did you know that more people die from oral cancer than from skin cancer? When we are busy in our appointments, this critical exam can be skipped. Instead of just checking the tongue, spend an extra 2 minutes and check the patient’s entire head and neck for possible lesions. You never know whose life you’ll save this year by working on this goal.

2.     Watch online or go to a Continuing Education Course once a month. There is nothing like a great CE meeting that will upstart your love of dental hygiene. You’ll meet new people in the same profession, refresh a skill you have, or even learn a new technology. Check out your local ADHA Component for in person meetings, or you can watch hundreds of webinars on www.vivalearning.com. This will also prevent the rush of finding CE’s when renewal time comes around.

3.     Focus on your OHE. Find one new product or one new technique for each patient in your chair. Make it a game- ask open ended questions to your patients about their current habits and see how you can slightly tweek their technique to help their health. You don’t need to overwhelm them with several new products and change their flossing and brushing all in one appointment. Stick to one change at each recall appointment.

4.     Stretch between patients. Do one small stretch between each patients to help you feel reenergized and to help your body. As you are walking up the waiting area to greet your next patient, stretch your wrists, arms, back, neck, whatever, and take a few deep breaths. We have a new stretching video that’ll be up in the next few weeks!

What is your idea for a New Year’s goal? Let us know below!