Dental Hygienist Case Study

Scopes of practice are distinct procedures for dental assistants, dental hygienists and dentists that can and cannot be done based on their education and training. The top goal of scope of practice is to protect the patient. It is important for the dental team to know their individual scope of practice; because they can be held legally responsible for performing procedures that they are not educated, trained, and/or licensed to do so. A person’s scope of practice can change throughout their career if they get further training and development. You can also broaden your scope by developing more knowledge of a particular area by choosing more specialized practice. Before attempting to do a procedure it is very important to make sure it falls under …show more content…
Hygienists work under the supervision of licensed dentists because they are not qualified to make diagnostic decisions or perform certain procedures like the dentist. However, hygienist can perform more procedures certain procedures by themselves unlike dental assistants who work directly with the dentist. Procedures that fall under the scope of practice for a dental hygienist are taking intra and extra-oral radiographs, documenting health history, dental charting, placing temporary dressings and re-cementing crowns with temporary cement. Also hygienist can take impressions, coronal Polishing, fluoride treatments, place sealants, teeth whitening and give patient education on preventive dental care. The dental hygienist is the dental team member who does the prophylaxis procedure. They do this procedure unsupervised and they clean your teeth of plaque or calculus. Dental hygienists are able to do many procedures under their scope of practice and they can still further their scope of practice with continuing their education and gaining more …show more content…
It is very important to check the dental state board where you work for the procedures you can and cannot perform. If you perform a procedure that does not fall under your scope of practice you will be held legally accountable and possibly lose your license. The overall goal of the scopes of practice is to protect the patient from harm. In order for a dental team professional to expand their scope of practice they will need to take continuing education courses or seek further skills in training. The scope of practice not only protects patients but also the dental team from doing procedures that they are not educationally qualified to perform. In my opinion the scope of practice is very important information that all dental team members should know before performing