My two cents

Jaclyn and I on our visit to San Francisco July, 2020

June 14, 2019 was a Friday.  I had an appointment with my neurologist after my half day of patients.  I was pretty clear how my appointment was going to go.  I’d been working with my doctor for about 10 years and had been on and off disability 3 times.  I had done x-ray guided cortisone shots in my neck, been off and on prednisone, muscle relaxers, gabapentin, etc.  I spent time in physical therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic care, had MRI’s, done cupping, threading, massage therapy, etc.  As I sat in the waiting room of my doctor’s office, I was pretty sure I had just completed my last day as a clinical dental hygienist.  I was feeling all kinds of emotions as I sat there waiting, thinking of what was ahead of me.  I said goodbye to my friends at my dental office where I had been for 11 years.  My goodbye to them meant something a little different to me than it did to them.  I knew it was a goodbye, I won’t be back on Monday or ever again as a hygienist in this office.

My time as a clinical dental hygienist came to an end after 19 years.  During my time in practice, I stepped foot into an estimated 400 dental offices in the Seattle Puget Sound area. One of the most valuable things I learned was how to take care of my body in a vastly different operatory set ups.  I’ve seen it all, I’ve worked in it all and some are friendlier on your body than others.

I learned which chairs my body did well to sit in (saddle chairs) and which chairs I did not do well in (pan chairs).  I had loupes which I was grateful for, lessening the eye strain and helping to keep my neck and spine straight.  I became very familiar with my positioning, lowering and raising my chair and/or the patient chair.

All these things I learned to quickly take into account when I entered my operatory for the day.  But what I want to share with you is the most valuable piece of ergonomic advice that I feel really extended my time working and that is standing up while you are working.  This proved to be invaluable to me.  What I found to be the most helpful was alternating every other patient with me standing and then sitting.  Patients were a little surprised at first and unsure what to think, but once they were laid back and comfortable, it made no difference to them.  What standing up does for you is it changes your bodies position and mixes things up.  So much of dentistry is stagnant positions and mixing it up by putting your body in different positions will reduce the wear and tear of hygiene.   You will get to choose when to shift your weight from your left and right hip standing position vs. the constant sitting position.The other benefit is that you will reduce your reaching for instruments which is also hard on your body.

Are there any drawbacks?  There is one that I believe is easy to overcome and that is your feet.  You will want to make sure you have good shoes.  It does take a while to overcome tired feet, but this is temporary.  My favorite shoes to work in were Danskos, they had a hard sole that helped to stimulate blood flow when you took steps and moved your feet in the shoes.

I hope you’ve found my input to be valuable and I hope you give standing a try on your next day of patients.  Working through the initial nuances of doing something different will pay off.