DH 220 - Clinical Dental Hygiene III

1. Use professional and ethical behavior, conduct, responsibility and cultural sensitivity while accepting instructor guidance that contributes professional knowledge and growth.
2. Support teamwork between the student provider, supervising faculty, patient’s dentist and physician to provide safe, effective, and efficient dental hygiene care in clinical and community rotations.
3. Justify the need for dental radiographs to expose and interpret such radiographs, with the assistance of the faculty.
4. Assess the patient’s need for pain control in clinical situations and administer nitrous oxide and/or local anesthesia in a manner consistent with the principles and techniques developed in the Dental Hygiene program.
5. Provide dental hygiene preventive and therapeutic services, (hard and soft deposit removal, applications of anticariogenic agents and antimicrobial agents, and oral health education) along with supplemental services (amalgam polishing, composite polishing, occlusal evaluation, pit and fissure sealants, ultrasonic scaling, root debridement, soft tissue curettage, subgingival irrigation, root desensitizing, and cleaning prosthetic appliances) as needed for patients.
6. Manage medical emergencies using professional judgment, providing life support including CPR and any specialized training or knowledge.
7. Appraise tobacco use prevention and cessation modalities appropriate for implementation by dental health care professionals.
8. Analyze each patient’s medical history and vital signs in a manner that will determine the specific needs of the patient.
9. Synthesize data gathered during patient assessment to create a comprehensive dental hygiene care plan.