The changing role of dental hygienists deserves dental and dental hygiene educators' attention. The first aim of this survey study was to assess University of Michigan dental, dental hygiene, and graduate students' and faculty members' perceptions of dental hygienists' roles; their attitudes and behaviors related to clinical interactions between dental and dental hygiene students; and perceived...

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA), Section on Dental Hygiene Education, Competency Development Committee drafted the competency statements presented in this document. This committee had representation from both baccalaureate and associate degree dental hygiene programs. It also included representation from dental hygiene, clinical, social and basic sciences, and the American Dent...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of professional preparation among clinical instructors employed in baccalaureate dental hygiene programs in the U.S. and to examine clinical instructors' and students' perceived need for educational preparation. The data-generating sample consisted of 285 dental hygiene clinical students and 76 dental hygiene clinical instructors fr...

In 2005, Public Act No. 161 (PA 161) was passed in Michigan, allowing dental hygienists to practice in approved public dental prevention programs to provide services for underserved populations while utilizing a collaborative agreement with a supervising dentist. The aims of this study were to assess how well dental and dental hygiene students and faculty members and practicing dental hygienist...

The objective of this study was to explore dental and dental hygiene students' educational experiences and knowledge concerning child abuse/neglect. Questionnaire data were collected from 233 dental (116 male/117 female; response rate=54.82 percent) and seventy-six dental hygiene students (all female; response rate=76.77 percent). Of those surveyed, 94.7 percent of the dental hygiene and 70.5 p...

Dental hygiene is defined as the science and practice of the recognition, treatment and prevention of oral diseases. The history of dental hygiene research is considered in the context of the development of the discipline and an emerging infrastructure. Research-related events supporting the growth and maturation of the profession are considered from the early years to the most recent. The bene...

This paper reviews the healthcare system, available dental care, and oral health status of people in Pakistan. Considering the enormous unmet oral health needs, the insufficient supply of dental professionals and the current unstructured dental hygiene curriculum in Pakistan, a mission, vision, and goals for professional dental hygiene in Pakistan is recommended. The authors offer recommendatio...

PURPOSE The present study investigated the effects of dental anxiety and dental visits on oral hygiene practices, which included brushing, flossing and amount of time brushing. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included a dental questionnaire developed to measure aspects of dental visits, oral hygiene and dental anxiety. A demographic questionnaire included questions pertaining to age, ethnicit...

PURPOSE Peer-reviewed professional publications were examined for pertinent information associated with faculty shortages in the dental professions. The review found 6 suggested causes, including inadequate compensation, lack of diversity amongst faculty, inadequate mentoring for new faculty, lack of modeling to prospective dental hygiene educators, little awareness of faculty shortages and lac...

Think back to when you first entered the dental hygiene profession. Most of us didn’t stumble upon the profession, independent of someone leading us here. Who guided you into dental hygiene? Some of us were led to dental hygiene because of previous dental experiences or a family member in dentistry. Many have guided others into the profession by sharing with their patients, friends and co-worke...