Dental care means looking after the whole person……

You see, I work in health.

BUT

I work in a healthcare profession that doesn’t traditionally work with any other healthcare professionals……

And the longer I spend in my career, the more that bothers me…..

We are the healthcare professionals who are able to spot an oral cancer…..

We are the first healthcare professionals to first look in children’s mouths…..

We see problems early……

We see the thumb sucking habits…..

We look at face shapes, mouth shapes, tongue shapes all day…..

We see tongue ties…..

We see large tonsils…..

We see mouth breathing……

We see tori, we see abfraction, we see wear facets, we see erosion…….

We see things……and yet….and yet….our traditional training does not allow us to be all that we can be……

BUT we can……

WE CAN HELP….

You see, we can screen….

We can ask the questions…..

We can train further…..

We can learn……

We can obtain more skills…..

We can refer to other health professionals who know what to do…..

WE CAN HELP OUR PATIENTS.

My patients’ teeth are important yes.

But I am first and foremost a healthcare professional.

And my patient’s health……

Their wellbeing……

THAT is my number 1 priority.

And I will not allow THEIR health to suffer just because I wasn’t trained to work with other healthcare professionals…..

I WILL be the change I want to see in my profession.

And I will continue to enjoy my work because I help people.

Because I work in health.

Carla xx