Dental Hygienist Essay

The role of a dental hygienist in education includes clinical and classroom instructors according to the ADHA model. The dental hygiene educator teaches dental hygiene students at community colleges and universities. They instruct students on how to properly remove calculus, stain, and plaque as well as exposing and processing radiographs in the clinical environment. In a classroom environment, the educator will teach the students about the dental hygiene process of care, evidence-based decision making, ethics, and numerous other courses and curriculum that is required for the students to obtain their licensure. Dental hygiene fits into this path as an educator because you can use a dental hygiene degree to become a clinical instructor or classroom instructor.

To become a classroom instructor, a master’s degree is preferred. The minimum education needed overall is a bachelor’s in dental hygiene. Some other educational requirements include taking multiple continuing education courses and taking a course in methodology. CPR certification is required. Although it is not an actual requirement, dental hygiene educators should have a passion for dental hygiene and act as a mentor or role model for the aspiring dental hygienists that they are teaching.

Practice requirements include a licensure and CPR certification. The educator must be licensed in the state that they teach in. Licensure is obtained from the state government. To apply for licensure, a dental hygienist must have completed a background check and the jurisprudence examination and graduated from an accredited dental hygiene school. The dental hygienist must provide transcripts, certificates of completion, and examination score reports from board exams to the state to apply for