Transforming and Supporting Patient Care - Health Professions ...

208Chapter 8 – Profession of Dental HygieneConclusionsThis profession is dedicated, performs highly-skilled technical work and is amainstay of oral health care in most communities in the province. Somemembers of the profession are in transition from working under delegationto being independent providers of oral health care and are establishingdental hygiene clinics and mobile services outside of traditional practicesettings. Long-term care homes and home care agencies see these newmodels of dental hygiene services as valuable tools in providing patient andclient health services. Community health centres in urban areas can benefitfrom the new services that dental hygienists can offer. HPRAC applaudsthese efforts on the part of the dental hygiene profession.In 2007, the profession gained authority to perform oral hygiene proceduresindependent of dentistry, with some strict protocols attached to thisauthority. In 2008, the leadership of the profession is again seeking newauthorities to prescribe and administer drugs. While it admits that theserights to controlled acts would not be used broadly within the profession, itcontinues to strive for new authorities for members of the profession toprovide patient care.While HPRAC appreciates this approach, it also has some reservations.Dental hygienists study for two years at the post-secondary level. Theirwork is highly technical, and everything that HPRAC has learned about theevolution of the profession indicates that its members are working to a highstandard and providing exemplary patient care. Dental hygienists are notdentists, and they are not physicians. They are primary care healthproviders, and they are a central part of a patient’s circle of care. Forpatients, the dental hygienist is a highly skilled health professional, whoworks with others to ensure coordinated care. At this time of increasingdemand for interprofessional collaboration, dental hygienists must be acentral part of primary health care delivery, working collaboratively withother health professions.Recommendations1. That the Dental Hygiene Act, 1991 be amended to authorize dentalhygienists to prescribe, dispense, sell and compound drugs.2. That the following therapeutic classes of drugs be included in adesignated drugs regulation under the Dental Hygiene Act, 1991. Thespecific agents and any terms, limitations or conditions attached tothe authority to prescribe drugs would be developed through a newdrug approvals framework. At the outset, the specific agents thatcould be prescribed, dispensed, sold and compounded would includefluoride treatments and preventative oral rinses (chlorhexidine).HPRAC Critical Links January 2009