Mr. K was my patient during the 3rd semester of the dental hygiene school. He is a 67-year-old Caucasian male with multiple medical conditions such as sleep apnea, Type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. Therefore, I had to modify the dental hygiene care plan for Mr. K.
While treating Mr. K I noticed the main signs of sleep apnea such as daytime sleepiness and snoring. The patient had a few episodes of sleep apnea when he would stop breathing for 30 seconds and wake up with a loud snort and begin to breathe again. I had to adjust the chair position to semi-supine in order to prevent aspiration of water from ultrasonic or foreign subjects such as removed calculus deposits.
Since Mr. K. also had Type 2 diabetes I scheduled his appointments in the morning and remind him to take his medications and not to forget breakfast. This is especially important since patients with diabetes might develop hypoglycemia and experience an episode of syncope. Also, when treating a patient with diabetes a dental hygienist should always keep in mind that people with diabetes are more susceptible to infection and heal longer due to high blood sugar level, reduced immune system function, and side effects of Metformin. Therefore, I scheduled Mr. K’s appointments 1-2 weeks apart to allow his gingival tissue to heal completely.
Mr. K’s hypertension is very well controlled, however, the main side effect of hypertension medications is orthostatic hypotension. Accordingly, I had to raise the chair slowly after the treatment, take his blood pressure again, and make sure that Mr. K does not feel dizzy.
