Dental Public Health: Contemporary Practice for the Dental Hygienist (2nd Edition)
PREFACEThe twenty-first century mandates a change in the practice and understanding of dental public health principles. Dental hygienists increasingly are becoming important fixtures in dental public health. In fact, the changes in supervisory status affecting many states will have an unprecedented effect on the practice of dental public health. Moreover, dental hygiene's ability to react proactively to these changes can have a tremendous effect on dental public health within the United States. Additionally, other countries may benefit from dental hygiene's growth within the United States, which was the founder of contemporary dental hygiene and is presently the world leader of this evolving profession. The dental hygiene practitioners, currently dental hygiene students, who will be practicing in this new century need information on how to effectively position and practice dental hygiene in the dental public health setting.Dental Public Health: Contemporary Practice for the Dental Hygienist will introduce the student to the historical development of the profession of dental hygiene, focusing on its inception as a true public health profession. The prevention modalities encompassing public health dental hygiene will be discussed, including fluoridation, dental sealants, fluoride mouthrinse programs, education, and other dental health interventions.The current status of denial public health delivery in the United States and abroad will be discussed, with emphasis on the governmental structures affecting dental hygiene care delivery. The dental hygiene profession's collaboration with a variety of health care professionals outside of the private dental practice delivery system is also a focus of the text.Dental health care personnel issues, including the shortage and surplus controversies affecting the professions of dental hygiene and dentistry will be discussed. In addition, factors affecting dental care delivery will be presented in detail.Lesson plan development, presentation strategies, and techniques will be discussed with guided examples and case studies to aid in student comprehension. Target populations will be reviewed, particularly those groups for which dental hygienists frequently provide dental health presentations. Additionally, issues of cultural diversity will be reviewed. Program planning and evaluation, utilizing the dental hygiene process of care will be discussed. Examples and comparisons of real life dental health programs from all over the world will be presented. Dental indexes will be reviewed.Dental hygiene research will be discussed, with an emphasis on epidemiological studies. In addition, easy-to-read tables with explanations on a multitude of research approaches and study designs will be included. Case studies of individual research studies and program evaluations will aid student understanding. Data analysis will make use of helpful practice problems to increase student understanding.Dental hygiene students will be exposed to the "real life" experiences of dental hygienists working in public health settings, including boxed scenarios of the dental hygienist's responsibilities and unique experiences in these settings. A chapter dealing with "how to create" dental hygiene positions in these areas will be presented. This section offers example proposals and helpful strategies to utilize when working to establish a dental hygiene position within a health care organization.The final chapter focuses on board review material and sample questions. This section is devoted to helping students prepare for the community health/research principles section of the National Dental Hygiene Board Examination. A glossary of terms is included.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.