Dental Hygienist Ethics

The career of a dental hygienist entails a variety of challenges and substantial responsibilities. Dental hygienists work, collectively with dentists, to satisfy the oral health needs of patients. The general scope of practice permitted for hygienists include: removing tartar or plaque, applying sealants or fluorides to ensure protection, taking and analyzing dental radiographs, assessing the condition of a patient’s oral health, documenting treatment plans or reporting findings to dentists, and educating their patients on certain oral hygiene techniques that can be practiced ("Dental Hygienists: Career, Salary and Education Information - CollegeGrad.com", 2016). Dental hygienists may perform their duties in the office of a licensed dentist,
Patients expect to be put in the hands of knowledgeable but also ethical professionals. With this in mind, the American Dental Hygienists' Association has provided a Code of Ethics to set the behavioral standards for all dental hygienists. This code describes the following core values: autonomy, confidentiality, societal trust, no maleficence, beneficence, justice and fairness, and veracity. These requirements guarantee and ensure the professionalism of every hygienist by reinforcing acceptable behavioral conduct. Violation of any values stated in the ADHA Code of Ethics will result in serious consequences ("Ethics in dental hygiene",
A local organization is South Florida District Dental Association located in Coral gables with a fee of $75 a year for students. On the state level, Florida Dental Hygiene Association provides continuing educations and support programs with a student cost of $190 yearly ("Florida Dental Hygiene Association", 2016). Last but not least, National Dental Hygiene Association and America Dental Association are two national level organizations. The cost of ADA Is significantly high at $522 per year, where as NDHA is a total cost of $190 a year ("Join or Renew ADA Membership", 2016). Along with different national professional organizations, a great way to stay up to date with news and updates is with professional journals. Dental Economics is the leading business journal for the dental profession, with insight on new dental products and technologies. Magazine subscriptions are free to dentists and select groups of dental professionals. The journal headquarters is located in 1421 S. Sheridan Road,Tulsa, S. Oklahoma 74112("Subscribe", 2016). Another great magazine which is also located within the same address as DE is RDH, Registered Dental Hygienist, which provides dental hygienist important information of professional growth, continuing education opportunities and career strategies with a free