Dental Hygiene Profession 2018
Dental hygienists are a community of professionals devoted to the prevention of disease and the promotion and improvement of the public's health. Dental hygienists are preventive oral health professionals who provide educational, clinical, and therapeutic services to the public. Dental hygienists strive to live meaningful, productive, satisfying lives that simultaneously serve us, our profession, our society, and the world. Dental hygienists' actions, behaviors, and attitudes are consistent with our commitment to public service.* We are all dental hygienists. Within a tribe, however, there is also diversity that allows us to learn and grow as well as see things through contrasting lenses of others (2017-2018 ADHA President Tammy Filipiak, RDH, MS).
As the largest national organization representing the professional interests of the more than 150,000 registered dental hygienists nationwide, the ADHA is actively involved in the healthcare dialog in America.
For further information, contact the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA)
LATEST: The ADHA has released a landmark white paper, “Transforming Dental Hygiene Education and the Profession for the 21st Century.” This document offers dental hygienists insight into the changes taking place within dental hygiene education and the profession; provides detailed information on why the transformation is necessary; and what steps are being taken to best position dental hygienists to take advantage of future opportunities.
In addition, ADHA now notes in its Strategic Plan that “The new vision is that dental hygienists are valued and integrated in the broader health care delivery system to improve the public’s oral and overall health.”
Definition of Dental Hygiene Practice
Dental hygiene is the science and practice of the recognition, treatment, and prevention of oral diseases. The dental hygienist is a preventive oral health professional who has graduated from an accredited dental hygiene program in an institution of higher education, licensed in dental hygiene who provides educational, clinical, research, administrative, and therapeutic services supporting total health through the promotion of optimal oral health.
In practice, dental hygienists integrate the roles of clinician, educator, advocate, manager, and researcher to prevent oral diseases and promote health. Dental hygienists work in partnership with dentists.
Dentists and dental hygienists practice together as colleagues, each offering professional expertise for the goal of providing optimum oral healthcare to the public. The distinct roles of the dental hygienist and dentist complement and augment the effectiveness of each professional and contributes to a co-therapist environment. Dental hygienists are viewed as experts in their field, are consulted about appropriate dental hygiene interventions, are expected to make clinical dental hygiene decisions, and are expected to plan, implement, and evaluate the dental hygiene component of the overall care plan.
The dental hygienist establishes the dental hygiene diagnosis which is an integral component of the comprehensive dental diagnosis established by the dentist. Each state has defined its own specific regulations for dental hygiene licensure.
Career Links to Programs and Related Sites / Become ADHA Member in Good Standing / ADHA Student Membership Page / ADHA Dental Hygiene Education / Professional Links
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Science of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
As early as 1819, an American dentist, Dr. Levi Spear Parmly, emphasized the importance of preventive oral health practices. By 1845, the public began to recognize the value of prevention and the dental profession was encouraged to focus more on preventive oral health care. Though growing numbers of dentists in the early 1900's wanted to provide preventive oral health care to their patients, they were too busy dealing with high levels of tooth decay and gum disease and performing mechanical and surgical dental procedures.
This is when Dr. Alfred C. Fones -the "Father of Dental Hygiene" -recognized that teaching children appropriate oral health behaviors was an important key to the prevention of dental disease over a lifetime. Dr. Fones' original concept included an exclusive role to work as preventive specialists to promote the importance of mouth cleanliness. These early prevention specialists were called "dental hygienists" to draw attention to the importance of mouth cleanliness as a therapeutic regimen for the prevention and treatment of some oral diseases. Dr. Fones opened the first school of dental hygiene in 1913 at Connecticut, USA, almost 100 years after Dr. Parmly introduced "prevention" to the dental community.
This is the root of the dental hygiene profession and its focus on public health education. The ADHA recognizes the professional roles of the dental hygienist to include, but not be limited to, those of clinician, educator, advocate, administrator/manager, and researcher, with public health being an integral component of all these roles.
Dental Hygiene Career Path Options (ADHA)
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The Process of Care
The purpose of the dental hygiene process of care is to provide a framework where the individualized needs of the patient can be met; and to identify the causative or influencing factors of a condition that can be reduced, eliminated, or prevented by the dental hygienist.
The dental hygiene process of care has six components:
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1.Assessment: Systematic collection, analysis and documentation of the oral and general health status and patient needs. The dental hygienist conducts a thorough, individualized assessment of the person with or at risk for oral disease or complications. The assessment process requires ongoing collection and interpretation of relevant data. A variety of methods may be used including radiographs, diagnostic tools, and instruments.
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2.Dental Hygiene Diagnosis: Component of the overall dental diagnosis. The dental hygiene diagnosis is the identification of an existing or potential oral health problem that a dental hygienist is educationally qualified and licensed to treat. The dental hygiene diagnosis requires analysis of all available assessment data and the use of critical decision making skills in order to reach conclusions about the patients dental hygiene treatment needs.
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3.Planning: Establishment of goals and outcomes based on patient needs, expectations, values, and current scientific evidence. The dental hygiene plan of care is based on assessment findings and the dental hygiene diagnosis. The dental hygiene treatment plan is integrated into the overall dental treatment plan. Dental hygienists make clinical decisions within the context of ethical and legal principles.
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4.Implementation: Delivery of dental hygiene services based on the dental hygiene care plan in a manner minimizing risk and optimizing oral health.
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5.Evaluation: Process of reviewing and documenting the outcomes of dental hygiene care, which occurs throughout the process of care.
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6.Documentation: Complete and accurate recording of all collected data, treatment planned and provided, recommendations, and other information relevant to patient care and treatment.
The dental hygiene process of care as a cycle in which the dental hygienist might pass through each of these steps several times during a course of treatment. Over a period of months or years a dental hygienist may have evaluated his or her work several times, altering the diagnosis and plan numerous times as the patient's condition changes.
ADHA Standards For Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice / "Hyposalivation with Xerostomia Screening Tool" from ADHA and Margaret J. Fehrenbach, RDH, MS
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*From the ADHA Bylaws and Code of Ethics
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Updated 5/1/2018 Production by Fehrenbach and Associates