Throughout the last year and a half, I have had the opportunity to provide care for a wide variety of patients, from different age groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, disease statuses, and dental hygiene needs. Each patient I treated was unique and presented with individual needs, helping me to improve and expand my communication skills and techniques. Below is a brief case study of a patient I treated during my last semester.
Case Study
Patient is a 32 year old male in good health with nothing significant in his medical history to report. He does not smoke and his most recent dental exam as well as oral hygiene services was in 2011. Extra-oral and intra-oral findings were within normal limits. Possible decay was seen on teeth #2, 18, and 31 and a referral was given for those areas to be evaluated by his dentist. Patient was classified as a heavy Type II Perio with localized 4-5mm depths on the posterior teeth with heavy bleeding upon probing and generalized heavy deposits. Generalized moderate inflammation with bulbous papillae and spongy tissue was also noted. I demonstrated the proper use of an electric toothbrush after noticing that the patient was having difficulty with the Modified Bass technique and was horizontally scrubbing instead. He was also not using an oral rinse, so Listerine was recommended and at the patient’s second visit, he stated that he started using it twice a day. FMS radiographs were exposed and localized areas of bone loss were noted. After full mouth scaling and polishing was completed, the patient returned after one week for Arestin placement at 7 sites on teeth #2, 3, 14, 15, 30, and 31. He returned six weeks later for reevaluation and there was an average of 1mm reduction at all sites where Arestin was placed. The gingiva appeared less inflamed with localized bulbous papillae on the mandibular anteriors. The patient was very motivated to continue to improve his oral health on his own and stated that he was excited to see any further improvements when he comes back at his 3 month recall.
