DHYG 342 Dental Hygiene Theory and Practice IV

9 credits

This course is a continuation of the Dental Hygiene Theory and Practice clinical and didactic courses. Students participate in a weekly seminar integrating values, knowledge, and skills learned from other courses. The ability to plan and implement individualized, comprehensive dental hygiene care is further developed as patients with more complex needs are treated. Emphasis is also given to the prevention of oral problems through the identification of risk factors and through the planning of clinical, educational, and motivational interventions. Students continue to provide care to clients from diverse communities and incorporate knowledge from traditional dental hygiene, restorative dentistry, and community dental health into dental hygiene practice. Students will also begin their clinical procedures at extern rotations.

Prerequisites: All Quarter 4 DHYG BAS courses

Corequisites: All Quarter 5 DHYG BAS courses

Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Create SMART Goals, SWOT analysis, and action steps for a professional development plan
Participate in lab activities to integrate theory into practice
Participate in annual WISHA, OSHA, and Blood Borne Pathogens training
Describe the purpose of a tissue re-evaluation and apply concepts in a clinical setting
Identify risk factors that contribute to a patient’s oral-systemic health and apply to clinical settings
Discuss the implication of nutrition its relationship to oral health
Recognize the need for nutritional counseling and accurately assess a patient’s need for intervention
Discuss the prevalence of patient aggression in dental settings and practice strategies that address and reduce patient aggression in case study scenarios
Analyze a nutritional analysis and formulate a nutritional plan with a student partner
Perform clinical dental hygiene services at assigned community extern sites
Perform dental hygiene services in the LWTech dental clinic and the major rotation site at CHC

Program Outcomes
This course teaches to the following program outcome:

be prepared to successfully complete all licensing exams required to practice in Washington State and obtain an entry-level position as a dental hygienist

Total Hours: 150 Theory (Lecture) Hours: 30 Guided Practice (Lab or Clinical) Hours: 120