DH 200 - Oral Health Services IV

Credit Hours: 6

Students will receive continued clinical experiences utilizing the dental hygiene process of care during patient management. The course consists of four modules and each module must be passed in order to pass DH 200. The clinic module includes practice in patient assessment, dental radiography, recording of vital signs, patient education, and motivation, application of sealants, treatment planning, management of the child patient, developing a dental hygiene diagnosis, intra-oral imaging, ultrasonic instrumentation, risk assessment, implementation and evaluation of treatment. Students must recruit patients for treatment and recall maintenance patients to evaluate treatment outcomes. A second module will include clinically related topics such as management and prevention of dental caries, nutritional counseling, tooth whitening agents, smoking cessation, recognition and management of patients with HIV infection, recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect, and dental emergencies. A third module covers advanced topics in periodontology including assessment and management of periodontal disease through instrumentation techniques, ultrasonics, soft tissue management protocols, care and maintenance of dental implants, systemic and locally applied chemotherapeutic agents and dentinal hypersensitivity. A fourth module will provide a comprehensive overview of patients with special needs and the factors that may complicate the management and delivery of dental hygiene services. A service-learning experience will give students an opportunity to interact, self-reflect, and critically think about providing dental hygiene services for a person with special needs. The minimum passing grade for the clinic module is ”C-” for grade evaluations plus completion of specific clinical requirements. The minimum passing grade for each lecture module is “C-“.

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

apply principles of professional, legal, and ethical conduct, along with effective and culturally competent professional communication skills in all interactions with patients, peers, and other healthcare professionals;
demonstrate the dental hygiene process of care (assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate, and document) to a competency level in the clinical setting within a designated timeframe;
identify the high-risk periodontal patient and demonstrate the dental hygiene process of care (assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate, and document) to an advanced beginner level of competency in the clinical setting;
utilize safe practices during patient treatment and demonstrate OSHA standards for infection control in the dental setting; and
self-assess clinical performance to develop critical thinking skills and demonstrate improvement.

Prerequisites: All required first year courses in the Dental Hygiene curriculum and DH 175 must be passed.
Corequisites: All required fall semester, second year courses in the Dental Hygiene curriculum and current BLS certification.
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.