To provide its students with
interprofessional education while also serving the community, the Vermont
Technical College (VTC) Department of
Dental Hygiene added external rotations into its curriculum. The
first rotation occurred two years ago at the University of Vermont (UVM)
Medical Center Children’s Specialty Center. Now, once a week, four third-year
dental hygiene students go to the Children’s Specialty Center to provide oral
health education, risk assessment, fluoride varnish treatments and lists of
participating dentists for the in-patients on the children’s floor. The
students discuss with families the importance of a first dental visit six
months after the eruption of the first tooth or by age 1, wiping the gums after
feeding and fluoride topical and systemic supplementation where necessary, and
bacterial transmission between the primary caregiver and the child. Students
also speak with people with acute injury or illness, chronic disease or
disability, such as cystic fibrosis, about how the myriad of medications and
level of disease may impact their oral health or their ability to provide
thorough home care.
Through this experience,
students learn to meet persons needing care where they are—some days are
uplifting and rewarding while others are challenging and thought-provoking.
Some students ask what dental hygienists can offer at a hospital since many
people are not there for oral health-related diagnoses; this experience imparts
to them that dental hygienists do much more than cleaning teeth—they are
essential primary health care providers who specialize in oral health to help
people prevent and manage disease.
Following the
program’s success at the UVM Medical Center, the Northeast Delta Dental
Foundation awarded the Department of Dental Hygiene a $63,000 grant for a van
and mobile dental equipment for students to complete rotations at schools and
other organizations. In fall 2017, VTC students began to deliver
direct services at Founders Memorial Elementary School. Each week, four
third-year dental hygiene students use the mobile equipment to treat a child in
the school nurse’s office and provide a 30-minute classroom educational
session, including a hands-on “dental plaque” experiment. In spring 2018, the
second-year dental hygiene students took on this rotation, and through the use
of teledentistry the department added radiographs—using a Nomad and PSP digital
radiography processor—to its services. Over four months, VTC students provided
dental hygiene treatment for 40 children, applied 30 fluoride varnishes, took
15 sets of pediatric bitewings and noted 20 areas of concern for which the
parents were notified that treatment by a dentist was necessary. Services were
either billed to Medicaid or provided free of charge.
In addition, 430 children
received dental classroom education. Next year, the department plans to
incorporate the application of silver diamine fluoride into the rotation. By
bringing these services to the school, many children receive care they may otherwise
go without. This means less time missed from school, less dental disease and
healthier children, while also preparing VTC dental hygiene students to feel
comfortable stepping into an alternative practice setting to provide direct
services. The department looks forward to continuing these successful
partnerships.
Submitted
by Ellen B. Grimes, RDH, M.A., M.P.A., Ed.D., and Heather Blair, RDH, M.P.H.,
Vermont Technical College
Published
on August 8, 2018