1. Killing the Parrot: Living What You Know
Today it’s becoming more and more evident the information
learned in our dental hygiene education was more important
than we thought to put into actual practice. Patient after
patient, our chart notes and care are pretty much the same:
Brush and floss, brush and floss, brush and floss. Old
routines no longer serve the patients or the practice bottom
line. This case-based course weaves its way through caries
management, periodontal disease manifestations, coding
effectively, new diagnostics and treatment options, and
many other aspects of clinical practice to reconstitute
clinician’s education into relevant, productive and
exhilarating day-to-day excellence.
After taking this course, participants will be able to
• Identify red flags from the patient health history and select appropriate risk assessment
and diagnostic modalities
• Explain the different types of periodontal and caries infections
• Select new language to accurately communicate dental risk, diagnosis and treatment
• Define new approach to helping oncology patients
• Distinguish the stages of dependence for multiple populations
• Redefine the 60 (or 30, 40, 45) minutes patient appointment time
Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS and Shirley Gutkowski RDH,
BSDH are known for killing the parrots of dental
hygiene. With decades of experience in clinical dental
hygiene, writing about it, speaking on it, and pondering
over all aspects of it, Patti and Shirley are leaders in
their field. They are founding members of Academy of
Oral Systemic Health, certified in Health Information
Technology and speak across the world to all types of
care providers. They bring their mid-western sensibility
to many of today’s health issues with an eye towards
the future. Beware their infectious excitement.
Note: No animals are harmed in the creation or presentation of this course. 