Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
Dental hygienists must be aware of the complications and needs among different communities, understand health determinants, and the characteristics that differentiate between various populations. A dental hygienist's role is to use personal knowledge to develop care for populations, or individual patients, that are in need of specific resources or assistance.
HP.1 Promote positive values of overall health and wellness to the public and organizations within and outside the profession.
Nutritional Counseling
Diet and nutrition is strongly connected to oral and systemic health. The content and number of exposures to sugar can be detrimental to enamel and the tissues that form teeth. In order to properly treat a patient, it is important for a hygienist to understand the reasons why the issue occurred first and provide recommendations based on the information provided by the patient.
Below is a reflection of my experience with nutritional counseling that I provided for my case study patient. This assignment allowed me to see the importance of further questioning and incorporating specific recommendations in consideration of their likes, dislikes, and allergies.
Tobacco Cessation Counseling
Although many individuals may not associate smoking and tobacco use with oral health, it has the ability to influence the risk of periodontal disease and oral cancer. As a dental hygienist, it is important to inform and educate patients not only about the negative implications a habit can have on their health, but also the benefits of cessation.
Below is a reflection on my case study patient and how I incorporated tobacco cessation in his treatment plan. I provided this patient with resources that may aid in cessation as well as education on how this habit directly applies to his diagnosis and oral health state.
Linked below also is an essay on the knowledge I learned on the use of marijuana and how its use affects oral health.
Bulletin Board Fall 2025 Theme
In December of 2025, my group decorated a bulletin board in the hallways of the Health Science building at MSSU. This project was designed to grab the attention of professors, students, and other visitors and provide instruction on ways that people can be included in their personal hygiene. On this board, we included short and simplified methods that people can do to reduce periodontal disease and plaque accumulation.