DHG 113 : Orientation to Clinical Dental Hygiene
This course is an introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of all major areas of clinical dental hygiene, including dental hygiene process of care, instrument design and use, primary preventive clinical techniques, medical and dental emergencies, and patient education. Prerequisite: Open to DHG students only. Three lecture hours and six laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.
Course Outcomes
Competencies for Dental Hygiene
Graduates identify and organize the knowledge, skills, and attitudes our graduates must attain for entry into the dental hygiene practice in public and private settings. Three domains have been identified: Professionalism, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and Process of Care. Within theses three domains, major competencies are identified:
I. Professionalism
1. Ethics. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to discern and manage ethical issues of dental hygiene practice in a rapidly changing environment.
2. Information Processing. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to acquire and synthesize information in a critical, scientific, and effective manner.
3. Professional Identity. The new dental hygiene graduate must contribute to improving the knowledge, skills, and values of the profession.
II. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
4. The Individual. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to provide planned educational services using appropriate interpersonal communication skills and educational strategies to promote optimal health.
5. The Community. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to initiate and assume responsibility for health promotion and disease prevention activities for diverse populations.
III. Process of Care
6. Assessment. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to systematically collect, analyze, and accurately record baseline data on the general, oral, and psychosocial health status of patients using methods consistent with medico-legal principles.
7. Planning. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to discuss the condition of the oral cavity, identify actual and potential problems, etiological and contributing factors, and available treatments.
8. Implementation. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to provide treatment that includes preventive and therapeutic services designed to achieve and maintain oral health and assist the patient in achieving oral health goals.
9. Evaluation. The new dental hygiene graduate must be able to evaluate the effectiveness of planned clinical and educational services and modify as necessary.