When Process Creates Clarity: A Perio in Focus Insight
This is something that took me a while to truly understand.
Following ADPIE + D, our best-practice process of care, isn’t about doing more. It’s about gaining clarity in our critical thinking and clinical decision-making.
This is an insight I’m unpacking in an upcoming webinar, Perio in Focus, where I explore how this process shapes periodontal care, guides clinical decisions, and reinforces the value of the Registered Dental Hygienist.
Here are some of the key reflections I’ll be expanding on and embedding into the presentation.
ADPIE + D creates clarity, not complexity.
When we intentionally follow assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation, and documentation, we move away from assumptions and toward purposeful care. This process helps us clearly understand why we are making a clinical decision, and that clarity supports patient-centered dialogue and meaningful partnerships with our patients.
It protects us from autopilot and routine-driven care.
Without a structured process, it’s easy to fall into poor habits, doing only what appointment time allows or making emotionally driven decisions, especially in busy schedules. This often results in doing “what we’ve always done,” or what is expected by a patient or even a dentist we work with. ADPIE + D acts as a safeguard, grounding our care in evidence, clinical findings, and patient-specific needs and outcomes rather than familiarity or convenience.
Providing the same dental hygiene appointment despite persistent inflammation is not neutral.
When inflammation remains and our approach does not change, we are still making a choice, even if it doesn’t feel like one. Recommending the same appointment structure, intervals, or interventions communicates that the current outcome is acceptable.
And that’s why it’s a decision in itself.
Choosing not to adjust the care plan is still a clinical decision, one that impacts disease progression, patient trust, and professional accountability. ADPIE + D invites us to pause, reassess, and intentionally decide whether our current care plan is truly moving a patient toward health, rather than maintaining the status quo and allowing further progression over time.
These reflections are at the heart of my Perio in Focus webinar, helping RDH's gain clarity, confidence, and alignment between what we assess, how we interpret findings, what we do, how we involve the patient, and the outcomes we aim to achieve.
If this resonates, let me know, and I’ll plan to share more insights from my Perio in Focus webinar content, that connect process, clinical reasoning, and patient-centered outcomes in a very practical way.
Clarity doesn’t require doing more; it requires deciding with intention.
This is something that took me a while to truly understand.
Following ADPIE + D, our best-practice process of care, isn’t about doing more. It’s about gaining clarity in our critical thinking and decision-making.
This is an insight I’m unpacking in an upcoming webinar, Perio in Focus, where I explore how this process shapes periodontal care, guides clinical decisions, and reinforces the value of the Registered Dental Hygienist.
Here are some thoughts that I'll be expanding on and embedded into my presentation!
ADPIE + D creates clarity, not complexity.
When we intentionally follow assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation, and documentation, we move away from making assumptions and toward purposeful care. The process helps us clearly understand why we are making a clinical decision, and this clarity supports patient centered dialogue, that is needed for purposeful partnership wit hour patients.
It protects us from autopilot and routine-driven care.
Without a structured process, it’s easy to fall into habits, just doing what the appointment time allows, or emotionally driven decisions, especially in busy schedules. Ultimately resulting in doing "what we always do" or what is expected from our patient or even a dentist we work with. ADPIE + D acts as a safeguard, grounding our care in evidence, clinical findings, and patient-specific needs and outcomes rather than familiarity or convenience.
Providing the same dental hygiene appointment despite persistent inflammation is not neutral.
When inflammation remains and our approach does not change, we are still making a choice, even if it doesn’t feel like one. Recommending the same appointment structure, intervals, or interventions communicates that the current outcome is acceptable.
And that’s why it’s a decision in itself.
Choosing not to adjust the care plan is still a clinical decision, one that impacts disease progression, patient trust, and professional accountability. ADPIE + D invites us to pause, reassess, and intentionally decide whether our current care plan is truly moving a patient toward health, not just the status quo, leading to furhter progression at some point.
These reflections are at the heart of my Perio in Focus Webinar: helping dental hygienists gain clarity, confidence, and alignment between what we assess, how we interpret, what we do, how we involve the patient and the outcomes we aim to achieve.
If this resonates, let me know and I'll be sure to share more from my Perio in Focus content, that helps us connect processes with clinical reasoning, and patient-centered outcomes in a very practical way.
Clarity doesn’t require doing more, it requires deciding with intention!