Program Coordinator

Dear Prospective Dental Hygiene Students:

Thank you for your interest in Collin County Community College's Dental Hygiene Program.

These pages have been designed to answer your questions regarding dental hygiene admission procedures, required courses, tuition/fees, etc. If you have further questions after reading this information you may contact the Dental Hygiene Center Office at (972) 548-6535 or a Health Science adviser at (972) 548-6778. If you are enrolled in a prerequisite course at the time of application, please include a document from your instructor on College letterhead stating your grade at the time of application.

The Associate of Applied Science degree in Dental Hygiene is rated as an Exemplary Program in the State of Texas by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and has been awarded Accreditation with the American Dental Association's (ADA) Council on Dental Accreditation.

Dental Hygiene is a two-year program that begins in the fall semester of each year. Dental hygiene classes are scheduled at the Central Park Campus in McKinney. Enrollment is limited and admission is competitive. Admission to CCCC does not imply or guarantee admission to the Dental Hygiene Program. The program application deadline is 5:00 P.M. Friday, February 20, 2009. However, applications to the program should be submitted as soon as possible.

Upon successful completion of the program, the student is awarded an Associate of Applied Science Degree and is eligible to sit for national and regional licensing examinations.

Good luck with your application process!

Specific program requirements and program selection and acceptance criteria are subject to change at any time and without notice. It is the applicant's responsibility to keep informed of current program requirements.

A printable application and reference form (please print two reference forms) may be found under Admissions Criteria (see buttons at top), paragraph 2A.

Dental Hygiene Program Goals

The CCCC Dental Hygiene Program will prepare the graduate to perform clinical procedures, dental nutritional counseling, identify potential health problems and understand the physical and clinical aspects of treatment. The student will study the physical structures of the head, neck and teeth, recognize patients' health conditions, understand medications and their effects and understand diseases processes.

The goals of The Dental Hygiene Program at Collin County Community College are as follows:

Create an active learning environment that integrates the principles of evidence-based research while promoting critical thinking, self-evaluation, innovation, creativity, and lifelong learning.
Provide clinical experiences that promotes a commitment to community service and civic involvement while responding to the oral health needs of a diverse community.
Provide students with the knowledge and clinical competence required to provide current, comprehensive dental hygiene services in a variety of settings for individuals of all ages and stages of life including those with special needs.
Emphasize the importance of treating each patient/client with dignity and respect.
Create an environment that promotes the importance of wellness in both students and patient/clients.
Provide students the knowledge to integrate preventive dental hygiene services to a diverse community in an evolving health care system.

Collin County Community College affirms as its mission the commitment to provide, within the resources available, educational programs and services that meet the individual and community needs. The district seeks to promote lifelong individual growth and excellence through strengthening the intellect, character and capabilities of all students. The college acts as a resource to local, state, national and international communities by providing education, cultural and civic programs and services.

Dental Hygiene Career Description

The dental hygienist is a licensed dental health care professional who specializes in periodontal therapy and oral health education. A broad based education in biological sciences and humanities as well as dental sciences and clinical techniques prepares the graduate for work in private practice and community settings. The dental hygienist is a member of the dental health team, along with the dentist, dental assistant, and dental laboratory technician. The dental hygienist may be employed in private dental offices, dental product sales, public schools, or other institutions under the supervision of a licensed dentist. Alternative practice settings include hospitals, clinics, federal agencies and local and state health departments.

The dental hygienist is in demand nationally, statewide and locally, and opportunities are available on a full-time and part-time basis for employment.

In the state of Texas, the dental hygienist is licensed to perform primary preventive procedures including:

Perform oral health care assessments that include reviewing patients' health history, dental charting, oral cancer screening, and taking and recording blood pressure;
Expose, process, and interpret dental X-rays;
Remove plaque and calculus (tartar)-soft and hard deposits from above and below the gum line;
Apply cavity-preventive agents such as fluorides and sealants to the teeth;
Teach patients proper oral hygiene techniques to maintain healthy teeth and gums;
Counsel patients about plaque control and developing individualized at-home oral hygiene program and
Counsel patients on the importance of good nutrition for maintaining optimal oral health

Core Performance Standards

In response to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a national survey of administrators of health care facilities, which employ dental hygienists, validated a list of core performance standards a health professional must possess in order to function safely and effectively in a variety of clinical settings. Results indicate that relatively high numbers of activities were identified in each core performance standards category by the health care agencies as being necessary for dental hygiene practice.

These core performance standards include, but are not limited to:

ability to sit for prolonged periods of time
ability to grasp, push, and/or pull
ability to bend and stoop
moving quickly in response to an emergency
using upper body movements
carrying and moving equipment and supplies
reaching and/or lifting

Other core performance standards identified for dental hygiene care include, but are not limited to:

vision that allows detecting physical change
hearing that allows responding to physical and verbal cues
a sense of touch that allows for assessment and palpation
critical thinking
interpersonal and communication skills

Additional General Skills

The practice of dental hygiene is composed of skills in communication, patient management, time management, cognitive assimilation, and fine motor skills. Skills in each of these areas are required on a daily basis.

Time management skills are needed both in the educational and clinical practice phases as the practitioner is presented with a variety of deadlines and time critical tasks. Often, more than one task competes for a given block of time and the prospective student is expected to be able to prioritize the tasks and have them completed in a timely fashion. Functioning under time and patient management constraints is often encountered. Additionally, the student will be expected to comply with a variety of clinical and workplace rules and regulations related to successful and safe clinical practice. More specific skill requirements follow.

Visual and Perceptual Skills:

The practice of clinical dental hygiene mandates that the practitioner have extremely fine motor control with correspondingly high hand-eye coordination. The prospective student is expected to have binocular vision with discrimination/perception to 1.0 mm or better. Visual acuity should be corrected to 20/40 or better with the ability to accommodate at a distance of 10" or less. Color vision deficiencies should be limited to a single color. As a part of visual/perceptual coordination, the student must be able to observe detail during laboratory demonstrations and patient conditions as a part of clinical treatment.

Other Sensory Skills:

Should have correctable hearing in at least one ear and be able to develop reasonable skills of percussion and auscultation. Sensory and motor innervations of the hand and arm muscles should be intact and functioning normally as fine motor and tactile skills are an essential component of this profession.

Motor Skills:

Candidates for admission must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from a patient by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic modalities. Candidates must also be able to perform the motor movement skills necessary to render clinical dental hygiene treatment, and have the physical strength to move themselves (by walker, cane or crutches as necessary) to a position enabling them to provide dental care. Additionally, the candidate must possess the strength to assist a patient in transferring themselves to and from a dental chair, and whenever necessary perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation for an extended period of time. Fine motor skills are expected of every candidate. Providing dental hygiene care requires both gross and fine motor control. The candidate should have full manual dexterity including the functioning of both arms, both wrists, both hands, and all fingers. Necessary clinical skills involve procedures requiring (but not limited to ) grasping, fingering, pinching, pushing, pulling, holding, extending, and rotation.

Intellectual, Conceptual and Cognitive Skills:

Candidates must have the ability to measure, assess, calculate reason, analyze, and synthesize data. Problem solving and diagnosis (which includes obtaining, interpreting, and documenting information) are critical and essential skills. The ability to understand and comprehend three dimensional relationships is necessary.

Communication Skills:

The student is expected to be able to communicate clearly in English at a level of understanding appropriate to the ability of an individual patient to understand. This communication ability is expected both in the oral and written form. The clinical practice of dental hygiene requires the ability to accurately transfer gathered data into a patient record. Included in this area is therapeutic communication in which a candidate is expected to have (or be able to develop) skill in coaching, facilitating, and touching.

Emotional Stability:

Direct patient contact often involves stressors that must be dealt with rationally. High levels of mental and emotional stability are required on a daily basis.

CCCCD Requirements:

Dental Hygiene Functional Abilities/Core Performance Standards and need for accommodations worksheet will be distributed to all applicants following initial acceptance into the program.

Request for Accommodation(s):

The college district's Dental Hygiene program has accepted these core performance standards as expectations for success in its program. Following initial acceptance into the Dental Hygiene program, each prospective student applying to the Dental Hygiene program must complete the Functional Abilities/Co9re Performance Standards worksheet. Thereafter, each accepted student must regularly and successfully demonstrate/perform the listed Core Performance Standards, as a required component to continue in the program.

Determination:

If the student is unable, or becomes unable, to meet the Core Performance Standards, the student must identify on the Functional Abilities/Core Performance Standards worksheet any and all accommodations required to enable the student to meet the Core Performance Standards. This form and any required medical documentation will be presented to the Student Affairs Committee of the Dental Hygiene program for determination of reasonableness within the scope of professional dental hygiene practice. Members of the Student Affairs committee that review the form and any related medical documentation will include representative faculty members from the dental hygiene faculty. A representative from the college district's office for students with disabilities will be present at the determination meeting. Additional research regarding requested accommodation(s) may be conducted prior to issuance of the determination.

The Functional Abilities/Core Performance Standards worksheet, and related documentation, will be maintained in a file separate and apart from the application for the program and other educational records.

The student will be notified in writing of the determination of the Student Affairs Committee within ten (10) academic calendar days unless additional research is necessary, in which case the determination will be made as soon as practical. Requests for accommodations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, considering the identified core performance standards.

If the requested accommodation is determined to be reasonable, it will be implemented until such time as the accommodation is no longer necessary, the accommodation is no longer reasonable, and/or for the duration of the student's progression in the program. The student may be required to supply documentation for current and continuing accommodation(s) requested.

Appeal:

If the student does not agree with the determination of the Student Affairs Committee, the student may appeal the determination with ten (10) academic calendar days of the date of the initial determination by submitting a Request for Appeal of Determination of Reasonableness of Accommodation form to the Dean of Health Sciences and Emergency Services. This appeal will be considered a formal appeal under board policy. The student will be notified in writing of the Dean's decision within ten (10) academic calendar days.

If the student does not agree with the decision of the Dean, the student may appeal to the Vice President of Student Development within the provisions of the college grievance procedure, identified in the CCCCD Board Policy.

In order to make college life more convenient, all campuses are accessible to all individuals with disabilities. Please contact the ACCESS office, Spring Creek Campus (972) 881-5898, Room G200, or (972) 881-5950 for information regarding special needs.