Dentist Treatment Plan

To identify what local doctors think about treatment planning, I conducted a small survey to ask questions and get their ideas on the topic. There are many different ideas about what a treatment plan entails, and who is responsible for writing and presenting a treatment plan to the patient in the office. It is necessary to gain all of the knowledge possible about the subject of treatment planning so that we are prepared when go out into practices for what is to come. This survey was to help identify what different dentists feel that the dental hygienist is responsible for. Treatment planning seems to be a subjective idea rather than an objective idea because a treatment plan is mainly a diagnostic and problem-solving skill. Knowing that …show more content…
Some dentist felt that a treatment plan has a main focus on education and costs for the patient. More than one felt that the treatment plan can help explain to the patient and lead them to a better overall health. Treatment planning summed up by all three dentists included a plan for the patients oral health future, costs and explanations of the procedures tailored to each patient, and Dr. Dundee also added that a treatment plan also includes the wants, needs, and desires of individual patients. When asked if these dentist will hire a dental hygienist with limited treatment planning experience, the results we also not replicas. One of the dentist was at ease with this topic and had no issue with hiring a hygienist with limited experience and felt that there is always time to teach the subject. In contrast, the feedback was somewhat skeptical when I asked him this question while replying with it would take him a very long time to teach a hygienist the ins and outs of treatment planning, but that he would have no problem teaching the newer hygienests. Dr. Cossentino explained that in smaller offices, treatment planning is very important because a hygienist is a care provider and should be able …show more content…
In speaking with Dr. Dundee, my mind was put a little more at ease from the fact that he was very open to teach his ways in his office and that he is not completely turned off from hiring a dental hygienist with limited experience in treatment planning. While speaking with the other two dentists, I was a little bit more skeptical about working in these offices since their attitudes were not very open about new hygienests learning their ways of treatment planning. While preforming our practices in our clinic, we do not have very much exposure to restorative and cosmetic treatments for patients. It is not easy for me to be optimistic about walking into an office to apply for a job, which expects that I must know restorative work and coordinating procedures. In time I do think that all of us students will get so much exposure to these types of things that it will be no big deal to be able to treatment plan, inform the patients on the procedures, and know a general cost that the patient may endure. I think that this survey concluded that dentists have many different ideas about treatment planning and what is necessary from us as hygienist. I would be more opt to apply at a practice that is genuinely open about this subject, without the pressure of the dentist expecting me to be prepared for something that I do not have as much