Behind the mask

Denise Frew spends most of her day hiding behind a mask. Her enemies are tartar and periodontal disease.

Although she wields some sharp and high-tech tools in the fight, the dental hygienist describes her job as primarily education and motivation.

Frew, who has lived in Sedalia for a year, sees patients at Frankum Family Dentistry, where she examines, X-rays, and cleans teeth.

Frew has been a dental hygienist for eight years. She started out as a dental assistant following a one-year course, and did that for six years.

“I just really enjoyed that, and I knew that I wanted to stay in the field,” she said.

So she went back to school for her two-year associate’s degree and became licensed as a dental hygienist.

“Since then, I pretty much talked all my friends into going into hygiene,” she said.

Many people hate visiting the dentist, and Frew said she used to be one of them.

“I hated going to the dentist. I used to have to be strapped down to the chair,” she said.

That fear inspired her to go into the field, she said, because she wanted to try to make people’s experiences at the dentist better.
When she saw patient Ryan Brinkman, 28, last week, she gave him an introductory exam, took X-rays, and cleaned his teeth.
Brinkman said that he has found it rare to call a dentist’s office and get an appointment within a month, which he said showed the need for more staff.

More and more dentists are using hygienists, Frew said.

Brinkman said he doesn’t mind going to the dentist, but doesn’t get around to it often.

Frew said that infrequent visits are typical.

“A lot of people are nervous and apprehensive about coming to the dentist, so we try to make them as comfortable as possible,” she said.

Hygienists can’t diagnose cavities or problems, but do record where fillings are and their observations of a patient’s mouth to help dentists, she said.

She uses a variety of instruments to clean teeth, some of which have blades, and an ultrasonic cleaning tool. She also checks for signs of periodontal disease. She measures the space between a patient’s gums and teeth to determine if there has been bone loss.

Most importantly, she educates patients how to brush and floss correctly to avoid cavities and disease. She said even she dislikes flossing, but it’s important to do.

“That’s one of the things we go over during the visit is, how do you do it right?” she said. “We like to take the time to go over those things and help the person leave knowing more.”

Sometimes, it’s she who leaves knowing more. She said she likes to talk to her patients, and get to know about what they do.
“I ask lots and lots of questions of people who sit in my chair,” she said.

“I’ve learned a whole lot about chicken farming, and about all these cows around here. I like learning about people,” she said.

After being picked, prodded, cleaned and gently chided, Brinkman said his experience with Frew was “awesome.”

agualtieri@sedaliademocrat.com