Where There Is No Dentist 2012 75
WHERE TO EXAMINE
Examine people in a light and bright place. It is dark inside a person’s mouth,
so you need light to see the teeth and gums.
Use the sun. Examine outside, or inside a room facing the window. With
sunlight alone, you will be able to see most places in the mouth well
enough. If you cannot, set up a lamp or have someone hold a lamp for you.
Reflect the light off a small mouth mirror onto the tooth or gum.
If you have a low chair, lift up the
person’s chin so that you do not have to
bend over as far when you look into the
mouth. An even better way is to have the
person sit on some books. The person’s
head can lean back on a piece of cloth.
Use an old chair with a strong back.
Attach two flat sticks to the chair. Then
tie a strip of clean cloth to the sticks. Tie
it strong enough to support the head, but
loose enough to let the head lean back.
THE INSTRUMENTS YOU NEED
Three instruments are really enough:
1. A wooden tongue blade to hold back
the cheek, lips, and tongue.
2. A small mirror to let you look more
closely at a tooth and the gums
around it.
3. A sharp probe to feel for cavities
and to check for tartar under the
gum.
If you have many people to examine, it is helpful to have more than one of
each instrument. But be sure they are clean.
Dirty instruments easily can pass infection
from one person to another. After you finish
an examination, clean your instruments in soap
and water and then leave them in a germ-killing
solution like the ones described on page 89.