Dividing Your Practice: Clinical vs. Hygiene

Do you separate your practice into two parts—a clinical section and a hygiene section? Most dentists do. Typically, patients enter through the hygiene area, where they receive cleanings before heading to the clinical area for examinations and treatment. However, in our practice, we do things differently. Our goal is to keep patients in the hygiene room as much as possible, reducing their need for clinical intervention.

Rethinking the Traditional Approach

In about 90% of dental practices, patients call to schedule a cleaning, and after the cleaning, the dentist examines them and may recommend additional treatment. This process often leads to scheduling clinical procedures after the hygiene visit.

We take a different approach. Instead of moving patients from hygiene to clinical, we start with a comprehensive examination in the clinical area. This allows us to diagnose and plan treatment before the cleaning begins. By doing so, we can determine if a patient needs more than just a standard cleaning—such as scaling, root planing, or other comprehensive care. Only after their treatment is complete do they transition to hygiene for maintenance.

The Goal: Keep Patients in Hygiene

Our practice prioritizes keeping patients in the hygiene area long-term. When a patient has been in hygiene for years and suddenly needs to return to the clinical area, it signals a problem. It could mean:

• A failure in clinical care

• A failure in patient education

• A lack of motivation for the patient to maintain good oral health

Unfortunately, this happens often. About 85% of patients do not return consistently for care. They don’t necessarily visit another periodontist—they just stop coming. Our goal is to keep patients healthy so they don’t need further clinical treatment.

Hygiene is Maintenance

In our practice, hygiene is not just about cleaning—it’s about maintenance. We want to ensure that patients maintain:

• Good oral health

• Periodontal health

• Occlusal health

• Aesthetic health

• Cancer-free oral health

A strong maintenance routine prevents future issues and keeps patients stable in hygiene rather than needing additional clinical treatment.

A Different Perspective on Hygiene

Some dentists view hygiene as an opportunity to find more work to be done in the clinical area. Our perspective is different. We aim to keep everything as healthy as possible, so we don’t have to find issues that require treatment.

Before beginning treatment, we outline five key phases for our patients:

1. Pain Relief – Addressing any immediate discomfort.

2. Infection Control – Eliminating decay, endodontic issues, periodontal disease, etc.

3. Functional Rehabilitation – Restoring the ability to chew and speak properly.

4. Aesthetic Rehabilitation – Improving the patient’s smile if needed.

5. Maintenance – The most critical phase, ensuring long-term health.

Maintenance is the key to success, just like maintaining a car, a house, or your own body. Our hygiene room is an essential part of our practice because it ensures patients stay healthy and don’t need extensive rehabilitation down the road.

Keeping Patients Healthy: A Long-Term Vision

We encourage our patients to commit to hygiene from the beginning. Our goal is to keep them in hygiene, not clinical, by ensuring they maintain their oral health over time. This philosophy changes the way we practice dentistry and leads to healthier, happier patients.

By shifting the focus from treatment to maintenance, we create a practice built on prevention, education, and long-term oral health stability. Let’s keep patients in hygiene—where they belong.