Last updated on Wednesday, 3, March, 2021

Record keeping is a very important part of any medical procedure. If there is no record, of what the healthcare worker has done, there would be a lot of confusion and errors. If the record is kept, it would make it clear and easy for health care workers to understand and perform the tasks. Previously dental charting was done on paper and by radiographic films, but now it has been transformed into full digital means.

What is dental charting?

Dental charting is the activity of recording data regarding your oral cavity in the form of a chart, graph or pictorial data. It is a means of communication between different practitioners through which they can get the insight of what has been done previously. With it, the hygienist can record the condition and progress of your oral cavity. In this article, we are going to discuss how dental charting helps in maintaining dental clinical management. How it increases efficiency and clinical productivity?

Complete information

The dental chart contains a detailed history of the presenting complaint, diagnosis, medication history, prescription, physical examination, what procedure is done and management of the patient. With its help, the hygienist need not take history again and again. They can easily get complete information by reading the dental chart.

Dental charting saves time

Since the dental chart contains complete information about the patient’s oral cavity, it helps in saving time. The healthcare professionals need not put notes and history on each visit from the initial stage. They can carry on the activity as per the present visit. The hygienists can easily review the previous orders and medications as well.

Detection of oral diseases

The hygienists take full measurements of your gum tissue around each tooth and put it in the dental chart. If these measurements are not normal, then it indicates any problem going on in the oral cavity. Through dental charting, it is easy to detect and treat any periodontal cavity disease at an initial stage. It is important because it helps in the early detection of diseases of gums that usually show no symptoms.

Dental charting monitors the progress

Dental charts make it easier for dentists to monitor their patient’s progress. By evaluating it they can get a complete insight into how well is the treatment working. They can also get an idea of either the patient is following their instructions or not. By plotting on a dental chart, the hygienists can rule out what the problem is and from where they should start working.

Organized information

Dental charts organize the patient’s complete information in one place. Since the software is easy to use and interpret you can access every little information at one click. It also enables many practitioners to work at the same patient. If one of the healthcare workers has treated the patient once, then a second one can treat the patient by looking at the dental chart. Every hygienist can get an idea of what has been done in the last visit.

No need for paperwork

The old system of formulating the dental charts are now replaced by software. With the help of different software, you do not need to write the bulk of pages and store them. Often keeping the paper record properly is a problematic task and takes a lot of space. The software helps you to store all the information without the need for paperwork.

Forensic human identification

Dental charting helps in forensic human identification in many circumstances. Let it be an accident, missing person, fire, any criminal activity, flood or any other causality. Teeth are the part of the human body that can bear every kind of shock, even fire. When a whole body decomposes, teeth are there. Since everyone has a bit different structure of teeth. The teeth can be differentiated according to their age, colour, size and shape. Dental charting contains a piece of detailed information about one’s teeth, so they serve as a tool in human body detection in forensic cases.

Conclusion

Dental charting is an important part when evaluating the oral cavity. It is an essential part to know what is going on inside someone’s dental cavity. It helps in early detection of diseases, helps the healthcare workers by saving their time.

The patient can ask their dentist to provide a copy of their dental charting if they want to consult with any other dentist. Or even if they want to keep it for their own record since it has a role in forensic human identification. For more information visit InstaCare.