Kimberly Carpenter, BSDH, RDH

Dear Permanent Dental Hygienist, Thank you for the opportunity to treat your patients! You may be tending to a doctor's appointment, family emergency, or a sick child at home. I hope that my presence as a temporary dental hygienist will help you be able to focus on the reason why you are out of the office today. While I'm hopefully making...

Editor’s note: This article is not suggesting that dental hygienists are therapists or counselors. However, dental hygienists build rapport with patients, and with that may come patients disclosing personal things, including that they are grieving. This article addresses what to say when a patient presents in your chair, grieving, from a hygienist who has had the same experience. After...