Role: Dental Hygienist
Company: Dunmurry Dental Practice
Track Record:
TRACK RECORD
Maria qualified as a Dental Hygienist from Queen’s University in 2004. Prior to completing her hygiene studies, Maria worked as a dental nurse but wanted to broaden her skills and take on more responsibility within practice.
For the past few years, Maria has been working in Dunmurry Dental Practice providing advice and information to patients on how to keep their teeth and gums healthy and providing treatment to help prevent and manage gum disease and tooth decay.
6.30am
The alarm goes off, if I haven’t already been woken by one of my 18-month-old twins, Emer and Seán. Then it’s all go for the next hour or so to get everyone dressed and fed, including making sure my husband walks the dog and gets out to work without forgetting his lunch.
Thankfully the grandparents are a great help with child-minding. Once they arrive around 8am I can leave for work.
8.15am
The first thing I do every morning is prepare my surgery for the day ahead with the help of my nurse.
This involves checking surfaces are clean and clear, instruments are sterilised and then I can check patient notes and x-rays for the day.
If all goes well sometimes I have time for a quick chat and a cup of tea before my first patient arrives. Once a week there’s a quick team meeting.
This is a chance to catch up on any news or developments within the practice. Throughout the day my nurse and I liaise with the other members of the team, including the receptionists and dentists, making sure the day runs smoothly for the patients and the team.
8.45am
Checking patient notes always highlights how varied the day ahead will be. My patient list ranges between adults, including vulnerable adults and some individuals with a very complicated medical history, as well as some children to be seen in the afternoon.
Management of different patients is part and parcel of our daily work. I thoroughly enjoy the diversity that each patient brings to the practice and really hope I not only make a difference to their oral health but to their general well-being.
9am
My first patient arrives. Every day and every patient is different. A routine treatment would be a maintenance scale and polish, carried out two to three times a year to prevent gum disease, however some patients require more in depth treatments for active gum disease — sometimes using local anaesthetic.
Routine appointments are generally 20 to 30 minutes long, more in depth treatment can take longer.
1pm
As long as things run smoothly I normally take an hour for lunch. This is a chance to catch up with my colleagues.
I’m lucky that I’m surrounded by a great team and have made some really good friends over the years.
2pm
Back to work for the afternoon session. After picking up a new supply of sterilised instruments from the decontamination room I’m ready to go again.
In this session I generally see some more children, who tend to come after school has finished. A typical appointment for a child would be fissure sealants and some oral hygiene instruction.
I like to spend a few minutes at the end of each appointment giving advice on daily care which could include dietary advice, smoking cessation or effective tooth brushing and flossing techniques, depending on the needs of the patient.
5.30pm
Again, as long as I’m running on time, I usually finish around now, but when the patients leave the staff still have a lot to do before heading home.
Surgeries are thoroughly cleaned, instruments for the following day are prepared for sterilisation and all notes are checked and updated.
6pm
I arrive home and have an hour or so to play with the children before their bath and bedtime. On some evenings I attend dental lectures and courses as part of my continued professional development that all dental professional are required to maintain.
However, on most evenings once the kids are asleep and I’ve tidied the house my husband and I can relax with a bite to eat and an hours TV before I walk the dog and head to bed myself.