New Patient Dental & Medical Questionnaire: Fill & Download for Free

During my training, I greeted a new patient (an elderly lady in her 80’s), asked her to have a seat on the exam table, and then told her I was going to get my supervising doctor and we would return to do a complete exam.When we returned, this sweet lady had removed all of her clothes, folded them neatly on the table, and was patiently waiting for her ‘complete exam’.I was 22 years old, a male, and in my third year of dental school. This was on a common open floor with around 40 other treatment stations. I can’t describe the feeling of confusion, shame, and embarrassment as I looked first at her and then at my professor.My professor, thankfully, was better prepared. He first gently tapped her knees, and asked her to flex her arms, and then said calmly “you can get dressed now”…. we returned in a few minutes to complete her ‘complete dental exam’ (a phrase which became a permanent part of my routine after that day).

Pay cash, and floss daily.Most dental plans are essentially pre-pay. If your company gives you a plan, fine. However, if you are buying your own dental care, take care of your teeth and visit a dentist twice a year. You will wind up ahead.

My example is culled from decades of experience as a practicing dental hygienist in the Silicon Valley.My first patient of the morning was a middle-aged woman. We’ll call her Mrs. G.Mrs G was a new patient, so I took her medical history and proceeded with the appointment, first taking X-rays, then doing oral hygiene instructions (how to brush and floss properly), then cleaning/scaling and polishing her teeth. It’s a one-hour appointment.After cleaning, I inspected for decay and periodontal disease. While U.S. hygienists are not allowed to diagnose dental disease, they are trained, in spite of this, to do just that. We call it an Assessment. Yup. (It all comes down to what we say to patients—it’s a balancing act.) So I wrote on her chart, as I went through her mouth, looking for cavities and other issues to record. This is called *Charting*. During this, I also noticed that she had a mouth loaded with fillings -- I mean everywhere. Not just in the usual places. This lady had massive, old, black silver Class V fillings (along the gingival margins or “gumline”) of about every tooth. *This is not normal.*And the fillings were terribly done -- most had never been placed properly. Half were falling out. This is one reason why her oral hygiene was poor -- lots of ledges for trapping food and bacteria. This problem was a contributing factor to creating new decay, making it hard to figure out the chicken and egg problem. Did she get her new decay because her mouth was terrible, or because the poorly applied fillings were harboring bacterial plaque, making it impossible to properly clean her teeth?By the time I was finished, I’d found no fewer than, say, about 15–20 cavities. But that wasn’t the worst part. As I explained to Mrs. G that I *suspected* she had quite a few cavities, I handed her the mirror, so she could follow along. But I was not prepared for what she was about to tell me: *drumroll*“That’s odd, because I’ve been going to my dentist, who just retired, religiously every 6 months for years and years.”WHAT?-This was one of the most startlingly sad cases I’ve seen. It broke my heart that this woman was doing all she knew to keep her mouth healthy, but it was undone by dental incompetence.-Cathye L. Smithwick, RDH, MASilicon Valley Dental Hygienist