It All Starts With a Smile…
Hello, my name is Yelena and I’m a Certified Registered Dental Hygienist at KR Perio. As a dental hygienist, I not only provide dental treatment but educate our patients on how to maintain dental health and prevent dental maladies. I see myself as a detective and an assassin. Although it may seem funny, it is a perfect comparison to what we do for our patients every day.
Dental hygienists are trained to look for clues in the mouth and medical histories, making us the Sherlock Holmeses of dentistry when it comes to identifying risk factors. The main focus of health, whether dental health or total body wellness, must be prevention, and eliminating risk is the first step.
Identifying individual risk factors; designing a personalized homecare routine based on particular needs, anatomy, pH predisposition, diet and genetics; and consistent and continuous encouragement to keep up the battle, are what we, at KR Perio, are all about.
When it comes to the prevention of gum disease and tooth decay, our job is to detect bacterial settlements and interrupt their comfortable existence. Our goal is not to kill or eliminate bacteria from the mouth. That is an unrealistic and unattainable goal, neither is it beneficial to either part—us or bacteria.
Our goal is simply to keep bacteria moving and to create an environment that is not comfortable for their prosperity because, when bacteria prosper in your mouth, the byproducts of their prosperity destroy the world they live in—your mouth.
An acidic environment is like the Miami beach for bacteria. They just love it and continue to produce more acid to live even better. Acid, however, is the main cause of destruction of tooth enamel. It draws out the minerals that keep it strong and glasslike, making it much more porous. This results in an increased risk for decay, sensitivity, staining, unsightly deposit buildup, stronger bacterial sticking due to the porous surface to grab on to and an increased risk for gum disease. The more porous the surface, the more bacteria stick to it, and more acid is produced, and more havoc is wreaked in the mouth.
In order to reverse the effects of acidic destruction and to improve the condition of the teeth and gums, at KR Perio we use the most researched mineral in dentistry—fluoride. A mineral in rocks and soil, fluoride’s history started as an observation by a young dentist in Colorado Springs in the beginning of last century turning fluoride into a scientific revolution that placed dentistry at the forefront of preventive medicine.
Fluoride is able to rebuild enamel to a strong, glass-like surface that bacteria have difficulty attaching to, which means weak and easily disturbed settlements, making the environment less acidic, therefore, preventing decay, stain and sensitivity, and breaking the whole destructive cycle. Preventative mission accomplished!
In addition to providing dental care, we turn our patients into trained assassins, just like we are, by correcting or improving on certain cleaning techniques and behaviors. Patients have been assassinating the bacteria in their mouths long before stepping into our office. We just train them to be the best of the best. We also make personalized recommendations for tools and products that will help them maintain their oral health. Because, let’s be honest, dental aisles at supermarkets and drugstores can make the head spin.
And then, we go to war. And we are awesome at war. With specialized equipment, we singlehandedly assassinate millions of enemy settlements. But, because this is a war that we usually fight only once every 3 months, we need the help of our patients to keep up the fight, until we, again, are able to provide our awesome assassination skills.
Without the patient’s help, we will never be able to succeed. Our main job is to teach people how to take care of themselves and to motivate them along the way. Like someone once said: “Give man a fish, and you fed him for today; teach man how to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.”
I hope to see you in our office and look forward for the opportunity to be a detective and an assassin on your behalf.