Sheila Britten

Apr 12, 2024 | rdhmag.com | Stephanie Botts |Sheila Britten |Kevin López |Tom Viola

The Clinical Recognition Program honors the "heart and soul" of dental hygiene: clinicians. Kate Machado is the April winner of this award, and she could not be more thrilled. Due to the example set by her own dental hygienist when she was growing up, Kate has been on the same career path. She still keeps in touch with her RDH, and she hopes she's serving as an example to others who might be interested in the field.

Mar 7, 2024 | rdhmag.com | Amanda Hill |Melissa Van Witzenburg |Kathryn Gilliam |Sheila Britten

In the movie Erin Brockovich, there’s a scene where the legal teams are sitting around a table, and Erin (played by Julia Roberts) says to the opposing council, “We brought that water in special for you, folks; it came from a well in Hinckley,” and the lawyer who was about to drink it sets it down and abruptly ends the meeting. I can’t help but draw a parallel from this scene to the water in our dental operatories.

Mar 6, 2024 | rdhmag.com | Kathryn Gilliam |Sheila Britten |Katrina Holt |Tom Viola

When I thought about the ulcerated epithelial lining being an open wound, I finally questioned: Why we don’t treat it like medical practitioners treat wounds? And in fact, why are we not using more medical protocols in general? As a practicing dental hygienist, I’m always looking for new techniques, technologies, products, and knowledge to help my patients achieve optimal health. We’ve been talking about integrative medicine and dentistry for the last decade or longer.

Mar 6, 2024 | rdhmag.com | Melissa Van Witzenburg |Katrina Holt |Tom Viola |Sheila Britten

Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic and debilitating condition.1 It is characterized by severe, stabbing, and recurrent pain, lasting from some seconds to many minutes.1-6 Studies show that many of these patients have episodes of spontaneous pain that have a short duration.2,6 The pain clears up between attacks, and it does not happen when a person is asleep.2 This condition affects one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve, and it is the most common neuralgia.2,3,6 There are usually two...