The Most Important Person In My Assisted Hygiene System Isn't Me.

It’s easy to see a headline that reads ‘Courtney is a hygienist who is seeing 12-14 patients a day and producing anywhere from $330-$350 per clinical hour’ and have one of two thoughts. Either: man, she must have a lot of energy (I don’t deny this assumption!), and/or ‘She must be pushing services patients don’t need’ (I don’t 😉). But the most important word in that headline is ‘assisted’.

I’ve worked with Sandy for 20 years now, and though she wasn’t in hygiene the entire time, she and I have worked side by side for probably 18 years. And let me tell you - she is a PRO.

If it weren’t for Sandy, I wouldn’t be able to produce at the level that I do. It’s very simple. Watching us work together, it truly is like a choreography that happens in the most natural way - in a way that only develops after years of working side by side. I don’t have to think when she’s in the office. Literally every single thing is taken care of. Before I ever walk into an operatory to see my patient, Sandy has reviewed the schedule, determined what each patient needs, prepared the room accordingly, taken the needed radiographs, and identified things we'll need in the appointment that I haven't even considered yet.

She knows which patient needs a floss threader instead of Superfloss. She knows who will need a tapered brush and coarse paste. She knows who tends to arrive early, who runs late, and who needs a little extra time. She also knows which patients I'll run behind with because we talk too much - and she’ll stay on me to make sure I’m staying on schedule.

Because Sandy handles so many of the responsibilities that don't require a hygienist, I'm able to spend nearly all of my clinical time doing the work that does. I'm not turning over rooms, tracking down supplies, exposing radiographs, or waiting for the next operatory to be ready. I'm providing patient care. That's the difference.

I love watching her in hygiene because she’s been in the practice twice as long as I have - she’s known these people for a long time. She's watched patients get married and have children of their own—and then watched those children grow up, graduate, and head off to college. She knows every single patient so well, and though one might presume, based on our schedule, that we don’t have a lot of time for catching up with patients - we really do. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job, and a part that I would be unwilling to give up. If the schedule didn't allow for it, I'd restructure the schedule.

The people who criticize assisted hygiene often imagine a cold, transactional environment. That's not what happens in our office. Many of the strongest patient relationships in the practice belong to Sandy. And we laugh together because there are most definitely patients in the practice who love Sandy and simply just tolerate me. I’m at peace with it, she’s very likable!

Now, of course, I realize that it’s easy for things to sound seamless when it’s two people that have worked together for two decades. I get that. But when team members are skilled, they care about the job they do, and they are trained well into a practice’s system, it sets everyone up for a flow that’s as smooth as what we have.

The thing is, I don’t trust Sandy because I’ve worked with her for twenty years. Rather, I’ve been successful in this system for twenty years because I trust Sandy.

I don’t have to leave a room and worry whether if Sandy did X,Y, or Z - I know it’s all been handled. I don’t have to check. When I leave one operatory, I’m able to move onto the next and be able to be completely present with my next patient because I know she has it handled.

On the rare days Sandy’s not in the office, I immediately notice how many decisions she normally makes without me ever realizing it. The day still functions, of course, but it requires more thought, more communication, and more effort on my part. It's a reminder that what appears effortless is actually the result of years of trust and teamwork.

Now, I know what some people might be thinking. "Sure, Courtney. But you have a lot of energy." It's true, I do.

But I'm also not an anomaly.

The other hygienist I work with sees the same number of patients that I do. We've both worked in this practice for two decades. Neither of us has burned out. Neither of us has gone looking for another career path. And neither of us is some superhuman exception to the rule.

The difference isn't that we've found a way to work harder than everyone else. The difference is that we've spent twenty years working within a model that was designed to support us.

Assisted hygiene isn't for every hygienist. But seeing one patient per hour isn't the only model that works, either.

There’s a part that people miss when they look at an assisted hygiene schedule. They assume the hygienist is doing something extraordinary. Rather, though, it's simply that a system has been built to support the hygienist, the assistant, and the patient. When the right people, the right systems, and the right supports are in place, it's possible to provide exceptional care, care for more patients, produce at a high level, and still enjoy coming to work every day.

Assisted hygiene doesn't succeed because of an exceptional hygienist. It succeeds because of an exceptional team, and being a part of that team is why I love my job as much as I do.