DHYG 401 Dental Hygiene Practice (6 credits)
Course Description
The fourth in the clinical series to further development of application and evaluation of dental hygiene theory and techniques required for the safe, legal, and effective practice of clinical dental hygiene.
Course Content
Evidence-based theory and science of infection and exposure control Ergonomic body mechanics related to patient and operator positioning. Developing manual and magnetostrictive dental instrumentation with integration of dental hygiene sciences: grasp, fulcrum, instrument design and identification, adaptation, initiation of motion, proper selection, care and storage (mirror, probe, explorer, sickle scalers, universal curettes, Gracey curettes, files, ultrasonic inserts, etc.) Advanced instrument sharpening Dental air and water tip use, care and storage High and low velocity suction use, care and storage Patient vital signs; normal and abnormal Comprehensive health and dental history (including a social, family, medical, medications, etc.) Extra-oral examination and interpretation Intra-oral examination and interpretation Periodontal probing, assessment, and interpretation Tooth charting Radiographic technique, evaluation, and interpretation Caries risk assessment Periodontal risk assessment Alterations to care Occlusion classifications and Angle’s classification of occlusion. Patient management and referrals (Including fear/anxiety management) Pain management (local anesthetics and nitrous oxide psychosedation) Patient oral health self-care assessment and education Academic and clinical policies and procedures Legal patient chart entries Proper use, care and maintenance of the dental unit and related dental equipment Clinical chairside reference materials Dental hygiene terminology, vocabulary, and communications Accurate and ethical self-assessment of clinical patient care and outcomes Continued content DHYG 301, 311, 321 ePortfolio
Student Outcomes
- Demonstrate correct infection control procedures and processes (safe, legal, and professional responsibility) in the dental hygiene clinical setting.
- Analyze evidence-based theory, ergonomics, and safe dental hygiene instrumentation, pain management, and practice management in the dental hygiene clinical setting on diverse patients across the lifespan with mild to moderate oral disease complexities.
- Identify appropriate evidence-based resources for safe and equitable clinical dental hygiene skills.
- Demonstrate accurate and ethical use of electronic health records, documentation, and collaboratively compose referrals.
- Evaluate patient outcomes with a focus on legal compliance, safety, and skill, as well as appropriate use of clinical reasoning.
Degree Outcomes
This course is part of the Bachelor of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene Degree. Please refer to the Dental Hygiene Competency Map for detail of the Program Competencies this course addresses. Each competency is identified at a level of skill by the terms Introductory (I), Developing (D), or Competent (C). The map also shows the alignment between each Program Competency and the Pierce College Core Ability(ies).
Core Abilities
Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking: Graduates will evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and generate ideas; construct informed, meaningful, and justifiable conclusions; and process feelings, beliefs, biases, strengths, and weaknesses as they relate to their thinking, decisions, and creations.
Effective Communication: Graduates will be able to craft and exchange ideas and information in a variety of situations, in response to audience, context, purpose, and motivation.
Information Literacy: Graduates will be critical users, creators, and disseminators of information by examining how information is created, valued, and influenced by power and privilege.
Global Citizenship: Graduates will be able to critically examine the relationship between self, community, and/or environments, and to evaluate and articulate potential impacts of choices, actions, and contributions for the creation of sustainable and equitable systems.
Intercultural Engagement: Graduates demonstrate self-efficacy in intercultural engagement to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion through reflections and expressions of cultural humility, empathy, and social and civic engagement and action. Further, graduates examine how identities/positionalities such as races, social classes, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, and cultures impact perceptions, actions, and the distribution of power and privilege in communities, systems, and institutions.
Lecture Contact Hours 0
Lab Contact Hours 120
Clinical Contact Hours 0
Total Contact Hours 120
Potential Methods
Case history Case studies Class discussion Task or clinical proficiencies Clinical test case Instructor observations Lab activity/project Patient clinical practice Patient interview Peer evaluation Self-evaluation Instructor evaluation ePortfolio
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