After 26 years in dental hygiene, I decided to switch gears and jump into the temping market. And you know what? I love it! The flexibility and freedom of working as a temporary hygienist is a blessing. I’ve been temping at four offices, and I leave each day with no baggage. Amazing!
While working as a temp can be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants experience, being well-prepared can help get you through the day. Here are seven magic tips for hygienists who want to be successful at temping.
Gather supply information
When you go into a new office and accept a temporary position, get a crash course in where basic supplies are located, such as barriers, radiograph accessories, instruments, and sharpening stones. Do they have a stock of spare instruments you can look through in case their kits are not set up with your favorite curette? Maybe you have one or two favorite instruments and a sharpening stone from hygiene school that you can take with you.
Provide new office a folder with information
Give each office team that hires you a folder containing paper or digital copies of the following items: dental hygiene license, driver’s license, Social Security card or appropriate work visa documentation, completed W-4 form printed from an online source, BLS certificate, OSHA CE certificate, HIPPA CE certificate, Hepatitis B vaccination and follow-up antibody test result, and voided check if the office plans to pay you via direct deposit. The office manager will love you for having everything available at once.
Keep notes on each office
Refer to these notes before you begin your day at that office. How often does the doctor prescribe radiographs? Do they do four bitewings and two or three anterior PAs? Do they do FMX or CT? What software do they use? How often is pay day? Track your hours and when you’re paid so nothing is missed. Write down the names of the team members you’ll be working with and maybe refer to the office website to match names to faces. Team members will be impressed when you remember their names, and you’ll merge with the team more easily.
Learn a little about the office software
YouTube can help with this step, so watch some videos. If the office uses cloud-based software, can the office manager provide you with your own login so you can familiarize yourself with the software before you use it at their office?
Keep temping gear in a backpack or roller bag
I keep my loupes, snack bars, instant coffee packets, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, eye drops, breath mints, clinic shoes, and more all in one place so I’m never without what I need to get through the day. I carry my dental hygiene license to display, AAP periodontal classification cheat sheet, and blood pressure guidelines chart, all in a folder to the office.
Be ready to change codes
You know that feeling when you perio chart a patient who’s been scheduled for a prophy, and you feel generalized residual calculus and see 50% bleeding? This is no prophy. Being familiar with the 04346 and 04342 codes can help you pivot and treat the patient more appropriately for the patient’s level of disease. Be prepared to explain the needed treatment to your patient, doctor, and front office team members. Not all offices are familiar with this code yet. By treating the disease appropriately, you’ll avoid pressuring yourself to complete a heroic full-mouth complicated scale in the amount of time you planned to do a prophy.
Nothing comes naturally
Remember that working in someone else’s op in a different office is like cooking in someone else’s kitchen—nothing comes naturally in a new space. You may have to check three drawers and two cupboards to find a spare mirror when you drop one.
Doing some homework ahead of time can ease your transition into each office where you temp and can also make it easier for the offices where you’re working. I hope these tips will help you become well prepared and very successful as a fill-in hygienist.
