Senior Dental Hygienist

The successful candidate will be responsible for overseeing the clinical care provided by dental hygienists, ensuring that the service operates efficiently and meets stakeholder requirements. Maintain a service that is contemporary and competitive when benchmarked against community standards. Contribute to the development of protocols, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, and collaborate with the wider dental clinical team to enhance patient outcomes and satisfaction. Deliver high-quality, evidence-based dental care to eligible patients at the Emirates Medical Clinic. Operate as an independent clinician, and complement the Dentists? practice by focusing on improving and maintaining dental health and hygiene, as well as preventing disease. 

In this role, you will:

• Assess and record the patients' periodontal status using established standardised indices and provide oral hygiene and diet instruction where appropriate. Perform scaling, polishing and fluoride applications. Assure the highest standards of cross infection control in the workplace at all times.
• Prescribe medications held within the department, in line with current protocols and advise patients of possible complications.
• Provide advice on dental health and care to patients during consultations or through formal sessions for certain target groups (eg. to parents of small children to advise them on diet and how to teach their children to care for their teeth.).
• Utilise patient screening procedures to check periodontal status including soft tissue examination and assessing the patients' medical history (for allergies, cardiac problems, diabetes, medication, etc.) prior to starting treatment in order to identify medically compromised patients and implement treatment plans in line with established procedures and protocols. Ensure that antibiotic prophylaxis regimes (administering antibiotics to patients with heart disease prior to treatment to prevent infection) are adhered to and patients at risk are treated in strict accordance with current guidelines.
• Decide on the appropriateness of taking dental x-rays based on assessment of the problem, the benefits and disadvantages, in order to minimise risks to the patient. Where appropriate, produce and evaluate high quality x-rays whilst ensuring that current guidelines for protection from ionising radiation are strictly enforced. Formulate treatment plans based on interpretation of these radiographs or escalate the problem to the dentists, as appropriate.
• Maintain and regularly update professional knowledge and skills, through research (journals, internet, networking within profession, etc.) and continuing education (seminars, conferences and post graduate courses) in order to recommend and implement changes and ensure the services developed are appropriately benchmarked for best practice. Participate at appropriate CME (Continuous Medical Education) meetings within the department.
• Participate in quality assurance activities by devising and conducting audits on dental health procedures and recommending and implementing changes to existing procedures and protocols, as appropriate, based on the results of these audits. Produce and develop new protocols, where required. Monitor and follow up to ensure approved changes are implemented.
• Use advanced skills to develop and implement individualised dental care plans for patients, particularly in the following critical areas/ processes:
• Placing composite or glass ionomer sealant restorations (type of filling especially done for children to prevent decay) in permanent and deciduous teeth. Restoring carious deciduous teeth in children using ART (Atraumatic Restorative Technique) treatment involving filling deciduous teeth without going in for complicated root canal treatments). Utilising the latest subgingival antibiotic/ antimicrobial delivery systems to include implant placement (treatment of gum disease wherein antibiotic injections are administered at the source of the problem instead of intake of oral medication).
• Managing patients with moderate to severe periodontitis, including the use of deep curettage and root planing. Identifying and arranging referrals of patients who require treatment by a Periodontal specialist.
• Forming an integral part of the restorative team (consisting of Dentists and Dental Hygienists) and providing input on treatment planning for complex multi-disciplined cases.

You will also: 

• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior dental hygienists, monitoring the quality of care they deliver to ensure it is evidence-based, of high standard, and compliant with professional, regulatory, and accreditation requirements. Lead by example in upholding professional ethics and standards.
• Assist in onboarding and training new staff in clinical and procedural protocols.
• Assist with defining expected clinical standards, communicating them to the team and conducting regular performance reviews for the dental hygienists.
• Investigate and respond to complaints about clinical dental hygiene and initiate corrective action or escalate when required.