Summer 2007 - Wayne County Community College

Special Career Feature FocusBuilding Dental BridgesBEAUTIFUL SMILE IN A DAYThere is a need, nationwide, for serving theunderserved with good dental care and WCCCD’sDiscipline Chair of Dental Programs, Jo Ann AllenNyquist, acknowledges that by forming partnershipsand developing dental care programs. studentscan learn techniques that enrich their educationalexperiences in ways that benefit the community.Service learning activities have been a part ofthe dental hygiene curriculum since the program’sinception. As the need for dental hygiene serviceshas expanded particularly in urban centers, thedental hygiene program is committed to communitydental needs. Each graduating student participatesin 20 separate service-learning activities throughouttheir two years.The first and second year dental hygiene studentsare actively involved in service learning activities intheir two years in the program. Students participate inproviding oral hygiene education to children and adults,dental hygiene care, career education presentations atK-12 schools, health fairs, and churches throughoutthe College district.This summer, the dental hygiene students, througha partnership with the Wayne County HealthDepartment, placed fluoride varnish on children’steeth to prevent dental decay. Through anotherpartnership with Hartford Head Start, the dentalhygiene students visited all of the Hartford Centers toprovide oral hygiene education to enrolled studentsduring February, which is Children’s Dental Healthmonth. In addition, the dental hygiene students atthe dental clinic at the Northwest Campus providedenrolled Hartford Head Start children with preventivedental hygiene clinical procedures. In a widely utilizedservice to community residents, annual free dentalhygiene services to children ages 3-18 have beenprovided in February.A new project designed for Head Start and theMichigan School Readiness Program provides a freedental exam for children four years of age. Head Startenrollees are required by law to have a note from a dentistindicating that dental screening has been performed.WCCCD dental hygiene students will be participating inthe screening. Mary Waters, former state representative,says, “WCCCD has been so wonderful and I have beenworking with them for over five years. Realizing thathealth care is a major issue for many, I have chosen tofocus on oral health.” This new project will be helpfulto many families and offer opportunities for dentalhygiene students to have hands-on experiences withdental patients.interested in working as an important part of a dentalhealth team. Students learn to provide direct patientcare and participate in community programs relatedto the prevention of oral diseases and the maintenanceof oral health.Dental assisting provides students with thenecessary training to perform the duties of adental assistant, including assisting the dentist,providing patient education, performing laboratoryprocedures, exposing and processing x-rays andperforming office management tasks such as billingand scheduling. In addition, the dental assistantwho becomes licensed can provide expandedfunctions as defined by Michigan law. Studentscompleting the program are eligible to take theDental Assisting National Board Examination tobecome a Certified Dental Assistant. In addition,they are eligible to take an examination to becomea licensed Registered Dental Assistant.Following graduation from the WCCCD program,one hundred percent of the dental students have foundemployment and many pursue further training to receivea bachelor’s degree in a health field or social sciences.By offering a step-by-step approach to a careerpath, WCCCD’s dental curriculum has becomeunique in the state by being the only teachinginstitution to offer dental hygiene, dental assisting,and dental laboratory technology program.The Dental Laboratory Technology Program is the onlyeducational program of this type in the State of Michigan.The program includes one year in training and a onesemesterinternship in a local dental laboratory. Studentsfrom WCCCD, Windsor, Canada, and Nebraska will beattending the program this coming summer.The Dental Hygiene Program is designed to preparestudents to become competent oral health cliniciansand educators. It is a prominent career for individuals District Dimensions Summer 2007