monthly dental hygiene society meeting H e a l t h M e d i c a l

Instructions:

( Response is in paragraph
format )

1. Response communicates
responser concern in a polite
and professional manner.

2. Response defines the
problem, referencing the state
statute (WI Dental Hygiene
Code Book from on-line)
and/or the ethical principles,
values and concepts from your
code of ethics.

3. Response points out the
risks of undertaking a task that
is out of the scope of the dental
hygienist role.

4. Response refuses to
undertake the task.

5. Response reports incident to
the dentistry examining board if
necessary.

The ability to treat children was the reason that Harper Mallone,
RDH, went to dental hygiene school. She loved working at the office
of Dr. Marvin Stallsworth because it was a family practice, and she
got the opportunity to treat many children. She hoped to have her own
children someday and caring for them was her special love and she was
good at it.

Dr.
Stallsworth believed in saving as much tooth structure as possible
and often did sealants on teeth with small oclusal carious lesions.
This procedure (called an enameloplasty) involved excavating only the
carious enamel tissue with a small bur and then placing a sealant in
the area. Harper would identify the carious lesions during her oral
examination at patient recall appointments. When Dr. Srallsworth came
into the dental hygiene operatory for his exami- nation of the
patient, he would prepare the tooth and then have Harper place the
sealant.

One
morning, Dr. Stallsworth requested that Harper learn how to do an
enameloplasty so that she could perform the entire sealant procedure
herself. He said it was very easy to do, and it would free him up to
spend more time with his restorative patients.

This
would be a win-win situation for both the office patient by
decreasing the length of the dental hygiene appointment. When the
next patient arrived who needed a sealant, Dr. Stallsworth showed
Harper how to do the enameloplasty and had her use a high speed
handpiece to remove the carious enamel, harper found the procedure
fairly easy and was looking forward to doing the procedure on future
patients.

She enthusiastically described her new skill to a fellow dental
hygienist at the monthly dental hygiene society meeting. Her friend
expressed surprise that she he was placing sealant restorations and
told her she should not be restoring teeth. Harper did not know what
to do. Her employer wanted her to do the procedure independently, and
she liked having more responsibility at the office.