Leadership in Action: How Dental Hygienists Are Elevating Patient Care with Technology

As dental practices strive for growth, strong leadership is essential and it starts with a new way of thinking and connecting with your team. While leadership plays a role in every area of the dental practice, one aspect that deserves special focus is the commitment to integrating and leveraging technology. This isn’t just about facilitating growth, it’s about fostering a team that is dedicated to creating patient experiences that have a direct impact on oral health outcomes. 

One of the most exciting advancements in dentistry is the ability to engage patients through visual technology, particularly with the introduction of 3D scanning. Beyond streamlining clinical processes, this technology creates powerful new opportunities for education, engagement, and truly patient-centered care.

Who at your practice is championing the team's commitment to technology? Leadership doesn't stop with the decision to bring new technology into the practice, or ensure the team is trained, it’s about setting the tone for the entire team to fully integrate. It’s about setting clear goals, ensuring every team member understands the purpose behind the technology, and connecting that purpose to the practice’s commitment to exceptional patient care.

Let's look at the example of integrating 3D scanning into routine visits, it isn’t solely about acquiring data for comprehensive baseline records or improving workflow efficiency, though those are valuable benefits. It’s about delivering on a promise to provide patients with a higher level of care, one that includes uncovering patient values, understanding their oral health goals, and partnering in interactive, meaningful conversations about their oral and overall health. It’s personal, it’s engaging, and it elevates the entire patient experience. 

When a patient can see a detailed 3D scan of their mouth on the screen in front of them, something powerful happens, they become part of the discovery of their current oral health status. They move from passive recipients of information to active participants in their care. Suddenly, conversations about gum recession, occlusal wear, or misalignment become easier to understand and more patient centered. This shift changes the dynamic of care from “what we see as dental professionals” to “what we can see together as partners.”

When it comes to patient-centered conversations, no one is better positioned than the dental hygienist. This is because they're the consistent, trusted touchpoint in a patient’s preventive care journey. They have the unique advantage of on-going visits with their patients, often spending more minutes face-to-face with patients than any other team member. This creates the perfect opportunity to use 3D scanning as a tool not just for documentation, but for education and an overall elevated experience.

Imagine a hygiene appointment where, alongside the critical priorities such as periodontal charting and oral cancer screening, the patient experiences a real-time 3D scan of their teeth and soft tissue. The dental hygienist can then guide the patient through areas of inflammation, heavier biofilm and calculus accumulation, enamel wear, recession, abfraction  visually connecting clinical findings to daily habits and long-term health outcomes. In this moment, education gets real: it’s personal, it’s visible, and it’s immediate. 

In my own experience coaching teams, I’ve received ongoing feedback from colleagues who are making scanning a priority during patient care. A recent comment from a dental hygienist I’ve been working with over the last few months stood out,  “I ensure every patient in my chair receives an iTero scan at least once a year because in just minutes, this technology transforms their understanding of oral health.” This approach makes the dental hygienist a co-leader in the patient’s health journey. It reinforces their essential role in early detection, risk assessment, and patient advocacy, while strengthening the trust and rapport that leads to higher level of case acceptance specific to their identified needs.

Leadership in dentistry today means committing to tools and protocols that enhance care, foster collaboration, and elevate the patient experience. By integrating 3D scanning technology into preventive care visits and empowering dental hygienists to lead these conversations, practices can deliver a new standard of care, one that’s visual, interactive, and built on genuine partnership.

It’s not the future of dentistry; it’s the expectation of today. We have technology that is directly linked ensuring patients are getting the care they need to improve oral health, with dental hygienists leading the charge in helping patients see, understand, and value the care they receive.