I present the following phrases I say every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Open.Close your lips like a straw. (Patient attempts to close around suction and water spills everywhere.) No! Like a straw! (Patient thinks I am a moron and it is my fault they are wet.) I give up and suction without their "help".Do you have any concerns with your teeth? (Blank stare often follows) Are any of your teeth hurting? (Comprehension dawns.)Q: How often are you flossing? (Bloody casualty that is their mouth as evidence of NOT flossing) A: Oh, 3 or 4 times a week. (Me: Psshh, yeah right! Liar, liar...) Proceed to give floss lecture education without sounding condescending and all-knowing. (Patient doesn't listen or nods so I will shut up.)Spend more time brushing on the insides of your teeth. Open.Turn towards me.Open. Open! Stay OPEN please. (Patience thinning)Open like this:
When working on kids:
10 comments:
I went to the dentist to get a tooth fixed a few months ago ( I broke my front teeth when I was little and now have bonding, but I have to get it fixed every few years ) As I was sitting there patiently allowing the Doctor to do the work, he said " wow, you are the best patient I think I have ever had " I knew he wasn't talking about my teeth ( I am not a huge flosser, I will admit that to you now ! ) but I am assuming he was talking about how I sat still, opened my mouth wide enough and followed directions.
I am not sure why I shared this. But oh well, useless information for you to read : )
I laughed out loud at the "close your mouth like a straw" part because I can never quite figure out how people are so stupid with that part. And seriously, then they look at you as the water runs out of their mouth and hopefully not onto your scrub bottoms.
The phrase that kills me over everythin else is when you say that their gums are bleeding and they always say, "well thats because you are stabbing me with that instrument." And here's what I repeat over and over and over "Nope, I'm not. Healthy Gums don't bleed. Bleeding is a sign of infection. THink about it...if your scalp bled when you brushed your hair, would you be concerned? Well it is the same way with your teeth. Blah Blah Blah..."
Gotta love being a hygienist. I guess that it does a good job at paying the bills though.
Amen Lori! I get that too. Way to speak up for yourself.
Heather, I'm sneaking on your blog - well I guess not anymore huh? - and I think the flossing thing is funny. Once I went to the Ob/Gyn for a check up and he asked me if I do self-breast exams every month. I replied, "No, but I floss every day." They got a big kick out of it. TMI? Maybe.
I told my youngest daughter that sugar bugs lived on her thumb and she stopped sucking it cold turkey. She has not sucked on it since.
We always used to call the suction for the little kids "Mr. Thirsty" they always got a kick out of that...and I still tell my kids when helping brushing their teeth open wide....oh there goes another sugar bug...sure gets them in the brushing mode! (-:
hey, thanks for the comment. Val is actually having her 3rd baby. She has a boy and a girl and she is going to have another girl.
ha ha ... may i say in behalf of all the brace faces everywhere who really do like to floss... but are having a difficult time of it, thank you thank you for giving us a great cleaning! and i wish i could come monthly...
ps your post reminds me of things clients say to me...
this is the best part (shampooing)
when i get rich i am going to make you come to my house
etc...
ha ha ha
I second Lori's comments as well. I always say those same exact things. I also get annoyed that I have to apologize for the water that is running down their neck because they attempted to push all the water to the front of their mouths instead of just the letting the suction get it. Why does this happen day after day? Anyways, I love my job!
How come I can't visit someone like you when I am at the Dentist? You are hilarious!
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