I came across an exciting concept the other day from the US in an article called Heeding the call and committing to periodontal therapy by a dental hygienist called Colleen Rutledge (www.perioandbeyond.com/HeedingTheCall.pdf). It is based on the concept that dental hygienists are ripe for expanding their roles in non-surgical periodontal therapy in general practice. It says: ‘The periodontal therapist is not a new auxiliary but a dental hygienist/clinician who incorporates non-surgical periodontal therapy into her/his daily practice’. This would be a lead/head hygienist working under the supervision of a dentist but in theory taking referrals for non-surgical therapy from general dental practitioners and other hygienists in his/her practice and referring to a periodontist for surgical intervention and highly specialised treatment.

This would obviously mean further/top-up training in advanced non-surgical instrumentation and treatment planning skills.

In my opinion this is a highly feasible concept and one I would like training schools to sit back and think about!