DH 100 - Oral Health Services I

Credit Hours: 5

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of clinical dental hygiene. It consists of three modules and each module must be passed in order to pass DH 100. A clinic/lecture module introduces dental hygiene assessment and instrumentation techniques, orientation to the dental operatory, health history interpretation, intraoral and extraoral patient examination, dental charting, mandated infection control and confidentiality procedures. Dental models are used for practice and classmates serve as patients. Students must recruit patients for the second half of the semester. Practical exercises in the management of medical emergencies will be conducted. A second module consists of lectures on professionalism which examine the characteristics that define a professional, the origin and development of dental hygiene as a profession, professional organizations with an overview of ADHA, ethics and ethical behaviors, cultural competence and an introduction to evidence-based decision making including the dental hygiene research agenda, and an introduction to self-assessment and critical thinking. A third module covers oral health education and introduces plaque-induced dental diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis and periodontal disease and the methods used to prevent oral diseases. Minimum passing grade is “C-” for the written evaluations in each module and “C-” for clinical competency skill evaluations in the clinic module.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

describe and illustrate the historical development of Dental Hygiene as a profession;
apply basic knowledge of personal and professional ethics by studying ADHA’s “Code of Ethics” to include privacy policies and practices (HIPAA);
choose appropriate professional judgment and conduct in relationships with adult patients, peers, and instructors, and begin to apply self-assessment in evaluating clinical skills;
demonstrate a basic understanding of cultural competence;
show an understanding of evidence-based decision making by formulating a clinical question and using evidence-based resources to make a decision incorporating the Dental Hygiene Research Agenda;
apply safe work practices in the dental hygiene setting;
identify and utilize dental hygiene assessment instruments in a manner consistent with acceptable technique;
locate the oral structures of the oral cavity and differentiate healthy from diseased structures;
demonstrate the ability to gather an individual patient’s assessment data;
describe and recognize the categories of periodontal diseases and the significance of their relationship to local and systemic factors;
identify basic individualized oral hygiene needs for a patient as a standard element in patient care;
describe and differentiate hard and soft deposits, relate the significance of their by-products, and their relevance to the current treatment of infectious diseases to the oral cavity;
explain the process of dental caries as an infectious multifactoral disease, its relationship to risk factors, nutrition, host response, and current strategies to reduce its prevalence;
document patient records according to current risk management practices;
describe current issues in dental hygiene practice and their impact on the profession; and
exhibits entry level understanding and application of self-assessment and critical thinking.

Corequisites: All required fall semester, first year courses in the Dental Hygiene curriculum and a physician completed SUNY Allied Health Report.
F (N)

Withdrawal from or failure of a required course prevents further progression in the curriculum. General education courses may be taken earlier than indicated but may not be taken later than the prescribed schedule.