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Public Health Web Page Launched
A new section has been added to ADHA Online–a Public Health section. The Council on Public Health (CPH), dental hygiene leaders across the nation, and staff worked together on this project in the interests of informing and educating dental hygienists and the public on pertinent dental public health issues.
Some of the features include a list of state-by-state contacts, information on various public health educational opportunities, resources for students, ADHA activities relative to Head Start and ongoing coalition efforts, and materials useful for educators and constituent leaders, such as PowerPoint presentations.
ADHA is very excited about this new section of ADHA Online and encourage members to visit and use it as a tool to get involved in their state public health efforts, as well as direct patients to, as a resource for further information.
Focus on Advancing the Profession
The ADHA has published a report on the future direction for dental hygiene. Please see http://www.adha.org/news/07192005-focus.htm for more information on the furture directives for your profession!
Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner
The Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner health care provider has been created by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association as a solution to the oral health disparities seen in the United States. Please see http://www.adha.org/media/backgrounders/adhp.htm for more information on this innovative provider!
Agency Alleges Illegal Actions Deprived Children of Preventive Dental Care
The Federal Trade Commission today issued a complaint against the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry alleging that it violated federal laws by illegally restricting the ability of dental hygienists to provide preventive dental services, including cleanings, sealants, and fluoride treatments, on-site to children in South Carolina schools. The agency alleges that the Board’s actions hindered competition in the delivery of preventive dental services to school-aged children and deprived thousands of school children – particularly economically disadvantaged children – of the benefits of preventive oral health care. If a violation occurred, the Commission could prevent the Board from instituting similar anticompetitive restrictions.
Many children in South Carolina, especially those from low-income families, suffer from dental problems because they do not receive adequate preventive dental care. In 1988, the South Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation to enable children to receive dental care in school from licensed hygienists. At that time, the law stated that hygienists could administer care in schools only to those children who had been examined by a dentist within the previous 45 days. The 1988 law did not significantly increase the delivery of dental hygienists’ services in South Carolina schools.
In 2000, the General Assembly amended legislation to make it easier for dental hygienists to provide preventive dental care services to children in schools, by removing the requirement of a pre-examination by a dentist within 45 days of the treatment. In January 2001, hygienists began providing cleanings, fluoride treatments, and sealants in South Carolina schools. In the six months that followed, licensed hygienists had screened over 19,000 children and provided cleanings, fluoride treatments, and other services to more than 4,000 children, including nearly 3,000 Medicaid-eligible children. The school-based services were more convenient for families, thereby dramatically increasing the number of children receiving adequate preventive dental care.
The South Carolina State Board of Dentistry is the regulatory body charged with supervising the practices of dentistry and dental hygiene in South Carolina. The Board is not composed of disinterested regulators, however; instead, it consists of seven dentists, six of whom are elected by the licensed dentists in South Carolina, one dental hygienist, and one public member. Thus, the Board is dominated by members of the industry it regulates.
The FTC alleges that in July 2001, the Board passed an emergency regulation that contradicted the General Assembly’s amendments by reinstating the requirement that a dentist examine a patient before the patient is eligible for treatment in school. A South Carolina administrative law judge determined that the dentist examination requirement was unreasonable and contravened state policy because it reinstated requirements that the General Assembly had removed. According to the FTC’s complaint, the Board was not acting pursuant to any clearly articulated state policy to displace competition.
"By reinstating the pre-exam requirement the legislature had eliminated only the year before, the Board denied the very preventive dental care to children that the General Assembly had sought to provide," said Susan Creighton, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. "In so doing, the Board members, contravening state policy, eliminated cost-effective competition for the provision of preventive dental services and deprived thousands of children of the care that they needed. The Board’s action was particularly egregious in that the harm it inflicted fell most heavily on the most vulnerable children – children whose only realistic access to dental care may well be through in-school preventive dental services."
The General Assembly has passed a new statute that specifically states that dentist examination requirements do not apply to dental hygienists administering preventive care in public health settings as long as the dental hygienists are working under the direction of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control. The FTC complaint alleges that the Board, in considering this statutory language, maintained that in all settings a dentist must examine the patient before a dental hygienist may provide preventive care.
The FTC’s complaint charges that by restraining competition in the delivery of dental services to South Carolina children, the Board has deprived thousands of school children – especially economically disadvantaged children – of the preventive care they need. If a violation is found, the Commission could prohibit the Board from requiring a dentist examination before a child could receive preventive dental care from a dental hygienist working under the direction of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, unless the South Carolina General Assembly re-adopts such a requirement.
The University of New Mexico offers a Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Program in Dental Hygiene in continuation to the Certificate or Associate Degree in Dental Hygiene. The curriculum is planned to meet individual needs of the continuing student. The Program offers an opportunity to expand basic dental hygiene knowledge and skills in areas of concentration including education, management, research, public health, or advanced clinical training. The curriculum is designed to allow the student to complete the program on a full or a part-time basis. Please see http://hsc.unm.edu/som/dentalhy for more information.
Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Program at Texas Woman’s University!
The Department of Dental Hygiene at TWU has a degree-completion curriculum designed for dental hygienists who received their certificate or associate degree in dental hygiene and wish to complete their requirements for a bachelor's degree.
It usually takes a student, who is enrolled full-time, 12 months to complete the course work required to complete the Bachelor's of Dental Hygiene Degree at TWU. The actual length of time needed for students to finish their studies at TWU depends on the previous college credits they have earned and whether they attend as full-time students (carry 12 credits hours per semester or more) or as part-time students. There is no time limit to complete bachelor's degree requirements. Most degree-completion students choose to work as a dental hygienist part-time and register as a part-time student.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene Program at Fones School of Dental Hygiene!
The Fones School of Dental Hygiene (which also offers a B.S.D.H. on campus), established in 1949, was named for Dr. Alfred Civilion Fones, a dentist who was instrumental not only at the University of Bridgeport, but also in the world dental hygiene movement. The online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Dental Hygiene degree completion program from The Fones School of Dental Hygiene offers dental hygienists an opportunity to further your education beyond the A.S. degree. You can overcome the obstacle of your work and family schedule and pursue a Bachelor's degree. Take advantage to learn anytime, from anywhere. The online program holds 8-week accelerated dental hygiene classes for adult learners who are able to find the time and discipline to study with qualified faculty in their subject field.
Need more information! Contact us: ubonline@bridgeport.edu or by phone at 800-470-7307 or see http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/2275.asp
Certificate in Community Dental Health!
This online program, offered by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, is designed for dental hygienists, dentists, and unlicensed individuals who currently work with a public oral health program. The program's four courses, each available for three credits, include (1) public health basic principles, (2) public health communications, (3) public oral health principles, and (4) public oral health programs. For more information please see: http://online.nwtc.edu/main_certs.htm.
The University of New Mexico offers a Master of Science in Dental Hygiene in continuation to the Bachelor Degree in Dental Hygiene. This degree is available through distance education! The purpose of the Master of Science Degree Program in Dental Hygiene is to provide New Mexico with a program aimed at developing dental hygienists to teach, develop dental health programs in a variety of settings, conduct research and provide care as collaborative dental hygiene practitioners. The purpose of this program is consistent with the mission of the University of New Mexico which is to educate students by developing their intellectual and creative skills and capabilities so students may be well equipped to participate in the world as productive and enlightened individuals.
The Master of Science Degree Program In Dental Hygiene will enable the graduate-level prepared dental hygienist to:
Master of Public Health Degree Programs For more information about US Schools of Public Health and Graduate Public Health Programs Accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health please click here.
Advanced Degree Programs in Dental Hygiene
For more information about US Degree Completion Program or Master’s Degree Programs in Dental Hygiene see http://www.adha.org. Many of these programs have specialty tracts in public health.
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