What can Dental Hygienists do?

A dental hygienist in the UK is a DCP who is involved in oral health education and provides periodontal treatment along with a number of other dental procedures.

A hygienist can work to the prescription of a dentist, or carry out treatment directly without prescription.

It is important to note that a dental hygienist cannot:

• Administer local anaesthetic without prescription from a dentist, as this is a prescription-only medicine
• Carry out any endodontic treatment
• Extract teeth
• Provide any restorative treatment

A dental hygienist can:

• Provide oral hygiene instructions, advice and smoking cessation advice
• Take full medical and dental histories
• Carry out full dental examinations
• Carry out periodontal examinations, including 6-point pocket charts, plaque, recession and bleeding indices
• Monitor the progression of periodontal disease
• Plan and carry out the treatment of periodontal diseases, including supragingival and subgingival scaling, root-surface debridement and polishing, using manual or ultrasonic instruments
• Prescribe, take and interpret radiographs (acting as ‘operator’, ‘practitioner’ and ‘referrer’ under the IRR99 and IR(ME)R regulations)
• Provide preventative treatment for caries, such as application of topical fluoride and fissure sealants
• Adjust overhangs and tooth surfaces interfering with periodontal treatment
• Place temporary fillings
• Replace crowns or fixed prostheses with a temporary cement
• Take impressions
• Place a rubber dam, when necessary for treatment
• Carry out oral cancer screening, including identifying abnormal anatomy and pathological signs and symptoms
• Provide periodontal care around implants
• Refer to and liaise with other DCPs

Additional Duties

With further training, a dental hygienist can also carry out tooth whitening (to the prescription of a dentist), administer inhalation sedation and remove sutures, however you must be able to provide appropriate certificates from accredited courses. If you are ever in any doubt whether a treatment is included in your scope of practice, it is best to check the relevant GDC legislation and contact your indemnity insurance provider. When you applying for a position, you may find it useful to have a discussion with your employer about what duties they expect of a hygienist, and how they implement Direct Access (2013) in their practice.

For further information, visit:

https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/standards-and-guidance/scope-of-practice/scope-of-practice-september-2013.pdf
https://www.gdc-uk.org/information-standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/direct-access

Written by Monika Rhys-Jones.

Monika is a BDS Dental Surgery student at Peninsula Dental School, University of Plymouth.