On this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists your hosts, Michelle is joined by Nancy Dewhirst, RDH to tackle the basics of pathology and how as a team you can be calibrated to properly assess your patients and increase their awareness about their own oral health.
Special thank you to Paradise Dental Technologies for sponsoring the CE portion of this podcast so that we can provide you with FREE CE! Take the CE Course HERE. Be sure to view your state guidelines to ensure this CE is applicable in your State. You can view all episodes with Free CE here.
Interview Starts: 08:38.840
Episode Highlights
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Nancy’s background
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Team calibration
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Commitment to early detection
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Oral Cancer stats
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Risk factors
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Assessment
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Oral vs. Oral Pharyngeal Cancer
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ENT referral
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Identification tools
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HPV
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Screening steps
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Charting tips
Quotes
“We are as good as our team.”
“Oral cancer is 3x more common than cervical cancer with 2x the number of deaths.”
“Total success is where you educate your patients to the point that they come to you with what they think doesn’t look or feel normal.”
“Oral cancer is twice as common in males.”
“Alcohol alone increases your risk 2x”
“Smoking and drinking increases your risk 15x”
“Every single patient should be assessed.”
“We need to be referring to ENT specialists as well.”
“50% of the college males tested positive and the highly expected the numbers are higher.”
“It’s not just what you feel, it is what they feel too.”
Links
Philips Oral Pathology Assessment http://www.philipscare.com/
