Doctoral Education in Dental Hygiene: From Dream to Reality - Almost!

A goal of our profession has been to create a discipline– specific doctoral degree in dental hygiene. Currently there are several dental hygienists with doctoral degrees, many of whom contribute to the JDH Editorial Review Board. However, each of these dental hygienists has been forced to obtain a doctoral degree outside of the dental hygiene discipline because there was simply no other option. While obtaining a doctoral degree in any discipline is an achievement to which the professional should be applauded, not having a doctoral degree in dental hygiene takes away the opportunity for focused mentoring and learning of extensive discipline specific content in dental hygiene.