Preventive care - Hygienist services

Professional preventative advice for healthy teeth and gums

What is a Dental Hygienist?
Dental Hygienists are dental care professionals and work as part of the dental team. Their role is twofold - having both clinical and health promotion responsibilities.

They play an important role in dental health care and are mainly concerned with gum health and showing people correct homecare.

What do they do?
The most important role of the Dental Hygienist is showing patients of all ages and abilities the best way to keep teeth free of plaque (a sticky film of bacteria that forms on all teeth), by means of demonstrating correct tooth brushing techniques and effective use of dental floss, tape or small brushes.

They can also give advice on diet & preventing dental decay, apply flouride, or fissure sealants (a plastic coating applied to the chewing surfaces of teeth).

Provide help & support with smoking cessation

Hygienists may perform more complex non surgical (deep scaling) therapy, local anaesthesia can be administered to aid with patient comfort.

Why doesn’t the Dentist do this?
Some dentists do, however we at Hollway Dental Practice recognise that the Dental Hygienist has been specially trained to carry out scaling and polishing and can spend longer with you. They are also skilled at teaching you how to achieve the best oral hygiene regime for you.

Our Hygienists work closely with your Dentist to provide care individually tailored to your needs.