NZ Dental Hygiene REX key terms

The legally defined set of activities a dental hygienist is authorised to perform, set by the Dental Council and governing legislation, including conditions or supervision requirements attached to holding an annual practising certificate.

A patient's voluntary agreement to treatment after receiving and understanding information about the proposed care, its risks, benefits, alternatives and costs, and after having the opportunity to ask questions and decline.

Practice in which the clinician examines their own culture and biases and delivers care that respects the patient's cultural identity, beliefs and values, with particular attention to Māori health and partnership under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The rules governing collection, storage, use and disclosure of a patient's health information under the Health Information Privacy Code, including patients' rights to access their records and limits on sharing information with others.

A person's capacity to obtain, understand and use health information to make decisions about their care; low health literacy requires clinicians to simplify language, use teach-back and check understanding.

The process of directing a patient to another practitioner or service when findings exceed the clinician's scope, competence or available resources, with clear documentation of the reason and any urgency.

Infection control measures applied to every patient regardless of known status, including hand hygiene, gloves, eye protection, gowns, safe sharps handling and cleaning of contaminated equipment.

Additional precautions layered on standard precautions for patients with known or suspected infectious agents, covering contact, droplet or airborne routes and requiring specific personal protective equipment and patient placement.

The five WHO-defined points at which hand hygiene must occur during patient care: before touching a patient, before a procedure, after body fluid exposure risk, after touching a patient, and after touching surroundings.

A procedure such as ultrasonic scaling or high-speed handpiece use that produces airborne particles and droplets, requiring higher-level personal protective equipment, adequate ventilation and careful environmental cleaning.

A percutaneous injury from a contaminated needle or instrument; management includes immediate wound care, reporting, source and exposed-person blood testing, and post-exposure prophylaxis where indicated.

A healthcare worker's documented vaccination record, relevant to occupational risk of bloodborne viruses and other transmissible diseases; incomplete status may require redeployment or additional precautions.

Droplets and particles generated during clinical care that travel short distances and settle on surfaces, distinct from finer aerosols that remain suspended; both drive surface and air contamination.

Design of the clinician's posture, seating, lighting and instrument grasp to reduce repetitive strain and postural injury, a major occupational hazard in dental hygiene practice.

A structured, adherent community of microorganisms embedded in a polysaccharide matrix on tooth and restoration surfaces; its composition shifts with environmental conditions and drives both caries and periodontal disease.

Mineralised plaque biofilm that is firmly attached to tooth surfaces or within periodontal pockets, providing a rough substrate for further plaque accumulation; it cannot be removed by brushing and requires instrumentation.

A pathologically deepened sulcus between the gingival margin and the tooth, measured as probing depth, reflecting loss of connective tissue attachment and potential for further breakdown.

The distance from a fixed reference point, usually the cementoenamel junction, to the base of the gingival sulcus or pocket; the key measure of cumulative periodontal attachment loss over time.

A sign of active gingival inflammation elicited by gentle probing, recorded as a percentage of sites; low levels in a maintained patient suggest stability, while persistent bleeding indicates poor control.

A shift in the resident microbial community toward a composition that harms the host, such as the transition from health-associated to disease-associated periodontal or cariogenic plaque communities.

A classification framework that describes periodontitis severity and complexity (stage) and the rate of progression plus systemic risk factors (grade), guiding prognosis and treatment planning.

Instrumentation of root surfaces within periodontal pockets to remove biofilm and calculus and disrupt the disease-associated community, aiming to reduce inflammation and allow healing.

The modified pen grasp in which thumb, index and middle fingers control the instrument while the ring finger rests as a fulcrum, enabling controlled, tactile and ergonomically safe instrumentation.

Systematic measurement of sulcus or pocket depth and attachment level with a calibrated probe, including recording of bleeding and suppuration, to establish baseline status and monitor change.

A structured evaluation of disease indicators and risk factors, such as past caries, diet, fluoride exposure, saliva and plaque, used to individualise prevention and recall intervals.

The cyclical loss and regain of mineral from enamel and dentine driven by pH changes at the tooth surface; net balance determines whether caries progresses, arrests or reverses.

The pH at which oral fluid becomes unsaturated with respect to tooth mineral and net demineralisation begins, commonly around 5.5 for enamel and lower for dentine and root surfaces.

A high-concentration topical fluoride preparation applied to tooth surfaces to promote remineralisation, reduce demineralisation and arrest early lesions; a key professional preventive measure for at-risk patients.

A resin or glass ionomer material placed into pits and fissures of susceptible teeth to create a physical barrier against plaque and food, indicated for deep anatomy and elevated caries risk.

A non-cavitated demineralised area, often appearing as a white spot, where surface integrity is retained and remineralisation or arrest remains possible with appropriate prevention.

A structured, patient-centred process of building motivation and capability for health behaviours, using techniques such as goal setting, self-monitoring and motivational interviewing rather than instruction alone.

A collaborative conversation style that strengthens a patient's own reasons for change through open questions, affirmation, reflective listening and summarising, while avoiding confrontation and unsolicited advice.

Action directed at enabling people and communities to improve oral health, combining individual education with policy, environment and community-level strategies rather than relying on chairside advice alone.

An oral finding warranting prompt referral or investigation, such as an ulcer persisting beyond two weeks, induration, unexplained bleeding, or a lesion in a high-risk site or patient.

Systematic visual and tactile examination of oral soft tissues, including extraoral and intraoral sites, lymph nodes and the neck, to detect abnormalities and establish a documented baseline.

The subjective sensation of dry mouth, which may occur with or without measurable salivary hypofunction; it increases caries and mucosal disease risk and requires preventive management.

The radiation protection principle of keeping exposures as low as reasonably achievable, applied through justification, optimisation, correct technique, collimation and appropriate receptor selection.

The requirement that each exposure have a clinical indication and expected net benefit for the patient, decided before imaging and documented, with selection based on individualised need rather than routine scheduling.

The device that captures the radiographic image, such as a digital sensor or phosphor plate; its correct positioning and angulation determine image quality and retake rates.

Systematic reading of images for findings within the clinician's scope, including caries, bone levels, calculus and anatomical variation, with referral for findings requiring diagnostic or medical assessment.