Dental Hygienists: Fairness And Responsibility

Professional Values: Fairness and Responsibility
Practicing dental hygienists, are expected to maintain certain level of professionalism during interaction with patients, collegues and other professionals. There are six values defined by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) that serve to guide dental hygienists to maintain and improve their level of professionalism. These six values include, competence, fairness, integrity, responsibility, respect, and service-mindedness. Integrating fairness and responsibility into everyday dental hygiene practice will be discussed in this paper.
First of all, it is imperative to describe what fairness means when it is applied in a dental setting. The ADEA (2009) defines fairness as demonstrating consistency and even-handedness in dealings with others. Therefore, in the eyes of a dental hygienist,

every patient should be equal, and treating each one of them with fairness must be a primal goal. No matter if the patient has insurance or paying out of pocket for services, or what kind of socioeconomic background he or she have, they are all deserve the best possible care from the dental team (Carlson, Furnari, Higbee & Lamb, 2010). As a dental hygienist apply fairness to patient care, he or she must follow safety rules and regulations in order to protect patient from any harm. For example, using led-apron with thyroid collar when taking X-ray images, or using clean and undamaged instruments during treatment. Furthermore, patient education materials should be distributed based on the patients needs and level of understanding. Some patients learn from reading material and verbal explanation only on the other hand some must be provided visual aids for better understanding. When performing any diagnostic procedures, the dental hygienist must maintain unbiased and precise evaluation that reflects the patient’s actual condition. Obtaining a comprehensive periodontal evaluation is necessary to decide the frequency and nature of the further treatment plan. In addition, applying evidence based practice can assure consistent, reliable, safe, and effective treatment to all patients. It is also important to provide appropriate length of treatment time to all patients based on their oral and over all health. Each patient must be provided a detailed informed consent form and the provider must ensure that the patient fully understand the benefits and possible consequences of the proposed treatment plan. These previous examples of providing fair service to patients were based on the AEDA Tool for Action on Professionalism in Dental Education (2009)
Responsibility is another important professional value that dental hygienists must maintain during their every-day-practice.

Cortell (2008) lists the following responsibilities that all dental hygienists must maintain in order to practice. First and most important professional obligation is to maintain licenses and appropriate certification to be able to practice legally. The second is to demonstrate comprehension of and follow the American Dental Hygienists’ Association Code of Ethics that ensures ethical patient care. The third professional responsibility is to maintain ADHA membership and support the profession. Fourth responsibility following the changes in health and dental hygiene profession that may affect dental hygiene care. One good example to this was a change in certain health conditions that does not require pre-medications by the American Heart Association for dental procedures. The fifth responsibility is that dental hygienists must participate in activities that maintain continued competence. Being committed to life-long learning to remain competent is the sixth responsibility of the dental

hygienist.
Cortell (2008) categorized the following four responsibilities under professional knowledge and awareness: respect for knowledge, expertise, and contributions of others; maintain professional demeanor; provide safe and and professional work environment; contribute to team work and maintain proper communication with peers.
Dental hygienists also have certain responsibilities toward their patients such as, establishing certain infection control measures to provide safe treatment area and prevent cross contamination. Providing superior care sometimes means to admit mistakes and correct them for the benefit of our patients. It is also important to respect the patient’s time by adhering to schedule and completing treatment in a timely matter. Furthermore, one of the most important responsibility of a dental hygienist is to protect the patient from harm by applying skills, keeping medical history and medications updated, and recording treatment details. Using and recommending materials approved by American Dental Association also ensures patient safety. Finally, dental hygienists are responsible for educating patients to aid better oral and over all health.
In conclusion, Dental hygienists as professionals are obligated to provide superior services that adhere to the expectation of ethical and legal laws of the dental community. Dental hygienists expected to show professional behavior toward their patients, peers, and their professional community. The American Dental Education Association provides guidelines for Dental hygienists on how to achieve and evaluate the professional behavior.