Dental Hygiene Program Plan

My goals after high school are to study dental hygiene. In order to become a Dental Hygienist, i'll have to earn an associate's degree. Some of the community colleges i’m thinking about enrolling in are Portland community college and Mt.Hood community college. I will attend one of those community for two years then transfer to University of Oregon. I would like to get an internship at a dental office while attending school. An internship will help me get an experience of what it's like to be a dental hygienist.

The dental hygienist is expected to respect the diverse values, beliefs, and cultures present in individuals and communities. When providing dental hygiene care, dental hygienists must support the right of the individual to have access to the necessary information and provide opportunities for dialogue to allow the individual patient to make informed care decisions without coercion (ADHA Policy Manual, 2016.) It is important for the oral health care provider to focus on the needs of the patient versus their own needs or those of the practice. It is also important that every patient be treated with the upmost respect regardless of race, color, age, gender, ethnicity, social class, disability or oral conditions. The patient must also be respectful towards the provider and dental team and what they are doing to improve the patient’s oral health. This balance allows the patient and provider to both be

In Dr. Parson’s presentation, I learned that there are still many seniors with out dental insurance. This is sad because the population by 2030 is going to double and more will eventually need treatment done by a dentist. According to her presentation oral care is not a concern to the nursing home staff. Some families show up to brush their family members teeth. With the limited financial resources for dental care these patients have it is one of their barriers to getting treatment done if needed or even cleaning. Therefore, we as dental hygienist can help make a difference by going out to the community and offering dental care education to the nursing staff because they must first know how to take care of their oral health before taking care

While most of the patients I interacted with were seeking non-dental care, I met patients who were seeking care to health conditions that stem from their oral health such as oral abscesses, which our team was unable to treat except for prescribing antibiotics or painkillers. I encountered similar situations when I shadowed physicians in the emergency room of hospitals, observing a variety of craniofacial disorders originating from a preventable tooth decay. From these observations, I learned that patients often did not receive treatment that addressed the root of their problems: their oral health. As the result, I learned that many physicians saw the same patient repeatedly for problems that would otherwise be easily prevented through proper preventive dental care. Determining to address the unmet needs for accessible preventive dental care, I decided to pursue a career in dentistry so that I can provide a positive and meaningful impact to the underserved community on their oral health and ultimately their overall

In clinical settings next fall and spring I intend to use research methods to assist my patients in achieving patient’s human needs. Before starting to work on the patient the treatment plan based on each patient’s need will be developed by me. As a dental hygienist student I would provide efficient educational methods by administering evidence-based facts when preparing individualized patient-centered

Although there have been oral health care models, as well as, best practice concepts for oral health, there is still a host of barriers that prevent this problem from being minimalized. Factors including negative behaviors from both the staff and residents, dexterity, mobility, as well as a lack of dental supplies, often leave the residents or the health care personnel frustrated. Some of the factors that prevent dentists from caring for these residents is a lack of mobile equipment, lack of space, time away from their private practice, and low reimbursement rates (Dirks, 2016). The director of nursing, along with the administrator, must collaborate with dental personnel to change the culture and instill a higher value on oral health. On-site training and education must be included in oral care, along with infection control regulations. Most residents are not able to coordinate their own care and often rely on personnel at the facility for assistance. There needs to be a collaboration between dental personnel, facility staff, and the residents, to cultivate oral care as an integral part of health and wellness for each resident (Chaves,

I first took interest in this career path when I was exploring a different variety of jobs during high school. My mom asked me,” what do I want out of life”? So I explained to her that I want to do something that matters to people. I want to help people. But over all things I want to be a mom. I want to be able to provide for my family. My mom went on to explain how she thought being a hygienist would suit me. It’s funny how our moms know us better than we know ourselves sometimes! She went on to explain how she had a friend who pursued a career as a dental hygienist that it worked out for her in many ways. She got to raise her own children but continue growing in a lifelong career path. She got to support her family while not missing out on the milestones her children were accomplishing. She had become very successful within her career and about 25 years later, she still loves it the same. I knew that was the life I wanted, so I started to research where I would need to start.

Oral health care is an integral part of the US healthcare system. In 2012, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced “The Comprehensive Dental Reform Act”, which aimed on expanding dental coverage, accessible oral health care centers, increase in dental workforce, enhanced dental education and encourage dental research. (Congress.gov). The ACA, aim to curb the national health spending, by facilitating the affordability to quality care through private and public health insurance. The purpose of this bill is to cut the healthcare costs and to reverse the “silent epidemic” of dental health status (surgeon gen). This dental bill with an integrated approach towards the preventive and comprehensive oral healthcare is estimated to provide coverage to almost 17.7 million adults. (ADA

Parkhaven Dental is a moderately sized private dental office that closely resembles the structure of a group practice. An unique aspect I saw in this practice was the strong emphasis on patient satisfaction through excellent communication between staff, dentist, and patient to maximize the quality of continuity of care. This shadowing experience taught me the importance of teamwork in an office full of different professionals including dental hygienists and various specialized dentists.

Mississippi citizens are ranked as having the lowest amount of education in the country. (Kieffer, 2015) Because of this, my goal is to explain everything so that the entirety of my audience can understand what I am saying. This means that I will explain things without the use of medical/anatomical jargon and put my explanations in terms that someone with no medical background can understand. I will do this in my oral teaching as well as in the brochures I will make to hand out to people in Cary. I will also implement patience into my teaching, as I’m sure I will need it during my health promotion project. While I am teaching the children, it will be important for me to make learning about dental hygiene fun and interactive. It is also important

I value the significance of dental health, of its health and social impacts. I want to provide considerate and meaningful service to patients who may face the challenges and concerns I once encountered. My decision to pursue dentistry is the result of a long and thoughtful process. I entered Southcentral Community and Technical College with the intention of becoming a surgical technician. Somewhere along the way, I began to question this intention. I realized that I wanted to work in a different type of healthcare atmosphere and that I wanted to work in a less emotionally draining field while still offer important care, dental hygiene was just the place for me.

The second component of the American Dental Hygiene Association’s standard of practice is dental hygiene diagnosis. It defines as the “identification of an individual’s health behaviors, attitudes, and oral health care needs for which a dental hygienist is educationally qualified and licensed to provide” (ADHA, 2016, p. 8). Evidence-based analysis and apprehension of the assessments are required to finalize the result for the patient’s treatment needs, which will implement the dental hygiene care plan.

I fell very pleased collaborating with the other women in my community project group. We are focusing and working with the geriatrics, whom are retired and helping other geriatric people of the community. Monday, October 24th we spoke, over speaker phone, with our site coordinator, Karen Bentley, about setting up a meeting date and going over our agenda of Oral Care information that we want to share with the community. We had informed her that our primary focus of the geriatrics, is to meet the needs of the geriatric community through education, how age in and of itself is not a dominant or sole factor in determining oral health and community outreach involvement. She told us that her and her assistant, Lori, were talking about how oral health

Since 2005, 28 students have received 186 evaluations on the 12-item Professional Performance Review (Table 3; Appendix C. PPR scores for this group are in the acceptable range (MDN =24.00, M = 22.25, SD = 4.95). When comparing the cohorts, we found the median for the total for both cohorts was 24, indicating a match between the students accepted into the program and their ability to make acceptable developmental progress as the advance to the program to

A one group pre-test and post-test design was undertaken to analyze the effectiveness of an educational intervention.