Bulletin of Dental Education Article

Since its inception more than 50 years ago, the Miami Dade College Dental Hygiene Program has been renowned for its rigorous, competitive and well-respected curriculum, offering an Associate in Science (A.S.) in Dental Hygiene degree to students. Located in the urban civic center health district in Miami, FL, it is the largest A.S. in dental hygiene program in Florida, and the second largest in the United States, in terms of the number of students accepted each fall term, which is 49 students.

A unique feature of this program is that each of its seven full-time faculty members  holds a doctoral degree. , This distinction showcases that the program’s exceptional faculty and places it well above the typical credentialing standards seen in U.S. dental hygiene education. The faculty are a diverse group, representing different cultures, races and ethnicities, which also reflects the program’s diverse student body and population of Miami Dade College.

Seven second-year dental hygiene students can apply to be selected to the Honors Clinic (HC). In this course, selected students not only complete their clinical requirement for their last clinic semester, but they also attend the first-year clinical course as another “instructor.” Supervised by the clinical faculty, the HC students lead the morning pre-conference, answer first-year dental hygiene students’ questions, help guide with treatment planning and grade student assessments and provided clinical treatment. The HC students enjoy and benefit from this experience because it gives them a taste of what it means to be a faculty member. In addition, this opportunity also may inspire them to consider a career path as a dental hygiene educator.

Another feature of the program is the Interprofessional Practice and Education Laboratory course. In this class, second-year dental hygiene and physician assistant students learn how to engage in a medical-dental integration collaboration. Course projects include case study presentations, where students from each program analyze patient case studies from their respective professional point-of-views. After individual analysis is completed, students jointly design a care plan for the case study patients based on information gathered by both medical professions.

Each year, dental hygiene faculty and students participate in the Medical Campus Health Fair. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the event. All students are involved, including second-year dental hygiene students who treat health fair participants by providing either gross debridement or oral prophylaxis after the participant’s health history and blood pressure has been screened by the physician assistant students. First-year dental hygiene students assist the second-year dental hygiene students during the event by decontaminating treatment areas before and after treatment, assisting with suctioning during patient treatment and providing fluoride varnish treatments once the second-year students have completed scaling. Participants who require further treatment are scheduled for appointments with either a first-year or second-year student during one of the student’s clinic days.

Miami Dade College’s Dental Hygiene Program is proud of its cultural, racial, ethnic and diverse heritage. Nicknamed as “The People’s College,” the school encourages students to be themselves and gives them space to feel accepted in a world of adversity. Miami Dade College students are often the first in their family to attend college, and English is a second language for most.

Looking toward the future, Miami Dade College is excited to announce that the Florida Board of Education has allowed it to offer a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene degree completion program to commence in the fall of 2026.

Courtesy of Submitted by Becky Smith, Ed.D., M.P.H., CRDH, FADHA, Professor, Miami Dade College Dental Hygiene Program