AflexX Assist Arm

AB: Hello and welcome to SimplifiHealth. My name is Aurelia Byrne. I’m a registered Dental Hygienist, Owner, Creator and Inventor of the AflexX Assist Arm. The AflexX Assist Arm is a dental device that is made for the dental hygienist or the dentist. This device is used to hold the suction in place while working alone. It is designed also to help create a healthy working environment so that you could be in a proper position while working on with your patient in a dental chair. Most of us suffer from back aches, pain in our joints, wrist, hand, because we are not using the proper ergonomics that we were taught in school. This device is actually designed to help with that so that you can keep longevity in your career and not have any muscle skeletal disorders in the future. Today, I have a friend of me, Taylor Anderson, hello.

TA: Hello.

AB: Hello, Taylor. She’s a registered Dental Hygienist and she works in Plano?

TA: Yeah. It’s a Plano location.

AB: Which office is that?

TA: It’s called Family First Dental Care, it’s off of [inaudible 00:01:10] George Bush in South Plano.

AB: Okay. How many patients do you see a day?

TA: On average, 8–9 depending on the day and the time of the year, really. Sometimes, it’s even busier at the end of the year and things like that. I can see up to 10–11 patients a day.

AB: You recently graduated from Concorde Career College.

TA: Yes.

AB: As a dental hygienist.

TA: Graduated two years ago, a little over two years ago.

AB: When you got into the field and after leaving school and you started practicing, what was the hardest thing that you had to overcome while working?

TA: I think, in school, they give you so much time to do what we do and it is completely opposite, you have to do all of that in amount of an hour or sometimes even less. I think the stress level was difficult when I first started to time manage. Then when it comes to less time, you do things, your body just doesn’t really move to that way in the ways that you’re used to. It was just the time management and then the exhaustion at the end, trying to fit everything in in a shorter period of time was really difficult to manage. But it makes you get into it a lot quicker.

AB: Did you find anything different when you were in school with your body positioning and your ergonomics? In school you practice one way and in real life you started to compromise?

TA: Oh, yes. In school, you have instructors staring at you and you want to do everything perfect so you have to be in that ergonomically correct way which helped but also made me slower at that time just because one nerves of somebody watching you and making sure you do everything right and then you get into the real world and it’s completely different, nobody’s watching you, you can do whatever you want, I can bend backwards if I wanted to. Because of the time was so stressed, I did that. I was like, “You know what? I’m just going to get real close or I’m going to turn my head one way because I could see it better for a moment, because I’ll be able to get it done faster.” But I learned real quick that I wasn’t able to do that very often because I was constantly getting massages, probably every other week because my neck would hurt, my back would hurt. I would just get body aches that I never had before. It was a learning process.

AB: Then comes the AflexX Assist Arm.

TA: Exactly.

AB: How did that help you with this situation?

TA: It helped me a lot because what happened without it—I’m used to using it now—but without it, I could not use my indirect vision with a mirror on my left hand because instead—I’m right handed—so it would be my non-dominant hand that I use the mirror with. When I’m using the ultrasonic cleaner that has water, I constantly am using the suction to retract to the cheeks and to constantly be getting the water out of the mouth while I’m cleaning. But when it comes to the sides that you can’t see directly, I was pretty much is winging it. I would use the feel, I know where they’re at, I know where the gum line and things like that. But as far as stain, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t see any build up that was there. It was a life changing experience because now that I have something holding my suction, I don’t have to worry about the water, I can use the mirror to retract the cheek when I want, and then I can use the indirect vision on those sides that I can’t see, and overall my skills in my cleaning has been better for my patients because I can actually see what I’m doing.

AB: Yeah. Did you find that you were more efficient in using your instrumentation?

TA: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve noticed also I’m sitting up more because one, I also wear loupes that is a huge, huge thing, I can’t be super close or it gets blurry or super far, so it keeps me in that position. But then also using my mirror has been able to keep my back straight, it’s more comfortable straight than it is in any other position. It’s definitely helped me ergonomically in the pain that I was experiencing in the past.

AB: Yeah. I use it myself because I obviously am the inventor, creator, and owner of it. I cannot function without it. When I got out of dental hygiene school, I felt the same exact way as you. I compromised my body positioning because in school, you’re forced to always be in the proper position because it’s good for the patient, it’s good for you, and you can last longer in your career.

TA: Exactly.

AB: When I got out and started practicing and the patients were not as willing and gracious that they are in school…

TA: They could pay for their cleanings so it’s something good.

AB: Yeah, they have to pay for it, yeah, exactly. You don’t have them lifting their chin and turning to the left and turning to the right and bossing them around like we get to in school.

TA: Exactly.

AB: It was huge for me because I felt myself as well getting shoulder pain and I won’t be able to last this long. I graduated at an elderly age, how old are you?

TA: I’m 25.

AB: I’m 44 and I graduated a couple of years ago from hygiene school. I thought, “Wow, this isn’t going to workout for me. Not too far from 50 here. So I had to figure out something.” So yes, I love it because it has helped me also be in those positions that will keep me in my career in the long run. Thank you so much, Taylor.

TA: Yeah, happy to be here.

AB: Yeah, I’m really excited and thank you for being one of the first people who ever bought one and utilized it.

TA: I love it. It was well worth the money.

AB: If you’re interested in the AflexX, you can email me at 2016aflexx@gmail.com and thank you for listening.