Wait… Shouldn’t I Already Know This?
Wait… Shouldn’t I Already Know This?
Have you ever found yourself reaching for old textbooks, searching YouTube videos, or even Googling (now ChatGPT-ing) how to do certain things in hygiene?
I have.
I think we all have certain areas of practice—or even certain areas of the mouth—where we feel more confident than others.
I’ll go first: lower right linguals have always been my most challenging area.
It’s like my brain short-circuits when I get there. And although I’ve taken instrumentation courses and even worked with coaches one-on-one, I still struggle at times.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some really great hygienists and dentists. And when I say “great” in this particular context, I’m referring to their ability to scale well.
I can see it by studying a patient’s chart before and after scaling and evaluating their tissues.
When I come across really good results, I’m impressed—and I usually make a point to tell the hygienist or dentist.
Good work should be noticed and praised, in my opinion.
We all need to be reminded that we’re doing well.
Recently, I came across a patient who had really good results after a cleaning, and I found myself wanting to pick the dentist’s brain about her scaling techniques.
What instruments does she like to use?
How did the appointment go for her and the patient?
How does she approach certain areas?
I even found myself wanting to ask if I could observe her.
Not because I felt like I was lacking, but because I’ve always believed I can keep learning from other people.
Why wouldn’t I want to know what's working for someone else?
If another clinician has figured out a technique, instrument, or approach that could help me become better at what I do, isn’t that the entire point of continuing education?
And yet...
I found myself holding back from approaching her.
Honestly, I still am.
Because there’s this little voice—the ego, I suppose—that quietly whispers things like:
You’re a hygienist. You should already know this stuff.
What will she think of you?
She’s been practicing for less time than you. Isn’t that embarrassing?
Meanwhile, the better half of my brain is saying:
Just ask her.
Forget about what she may or may not think of you and take advantage of an opportunity to grow.
And the whole thing got me wondering...
How often does this happen in our profession?
How often are we given an opportunity to advance our skills in everyday practice, only to let it pass because our ego gets in the way?
How often could we learn something from the hygienist in the operatory next door—but we don't ask?
And how many opportunities for growth are we missing because of that weird, silent competitive edge that can sometimes exist in practice?
We’re Supposed to Keep Learning
Something else I've noticed over the years is that instrumentation is arguably one of the most important skills in our work, and yet practical, hands-on instrumentation education can sometimes feel surprisingly hard to come by.
I've treated plenty of patients over the years who had recently had their teeth cleaned, yet I still found calculus and inflammation.
And I know another clinician has found something I've missed, too.
None of us are immune.
That's exactly why I think we need to become more comfortable learning from one another.
The dentists I work with actually give me a great example of this.
One has considerably more experience than the other, and the less experienced dentist has no problem observing or shadowing him.
She asks questions.
She watches.
She learns.
She understands the unique opportunity in front of her to become better at what she does.
And I've never once looked at her doing that and thought, She must not be a very good dentist.
Quite the opposite.
I think it shows how seriously she takes her growth.
So why can it feel different when we're the ones asking?
Maybe We Need More of This in Hygiene
I would love to see more hygienists learning from hygienists.
More observing each other.
More asking, What instrument did you use there?
More, Can you show me how you approach this?
More experienced hygienists willing to share what they've learned—and other hygienists willing to admit that they still have things they want to get better at.
Because wanting to learn doesn't mean you're lacking.
Asking someone with less experience than you for advice doesn't diminish your own experience.
And being excellent at what you do doesn't mean you've reached some imaginary point where you're supposed to know everything.
Maybe it's the opposite.
Maybe the willingness to keep asking questions, watching others, revisiting old textbooks, taking courses—and yes, occasionally ChatGPT-ing something you technically “should already know”—is part of what makes someone excellent in the first place.
So maybe I need to take my own advice and go ask that dentist if I can watch her scale.
My ego might not love it.
But my growth probably will.