The fundamental mission of the dental hygiene program is to prepare competent oral
health care professionals. The education of a dental hygienist and dental assistant
requires assimilation of knowledge, acquisition of skills, and development of judgment
through patient care experience in preparation for appropriate decisions needed in
practice.
Each participant in a dental studies program must have the ability, unaided or with
the assistance of reasonable accommodation, to perform these Technical Standards and
Essential Functions. A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment that
enables an otherwise qualified individual with a disability to have an opportunity
to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges
that are available to similarly situated individuals without a disability. A reasonable
accommodation is defined on a case-by-case basis by the MCC Services for Students
with Disabilities office, consult with MCC Health & Wellness and the Dental Studies
Program, and must be considered.
These technical standards and essential functions encompass the physical, cognitive,
psychomotor, and affective requirements necessary for performing the duties of a dental
studies student. They reflect dental hygiene and dental assisting performance abilities
and characteristics that are necessary to complete the requirements of the dental
hygiene and dental assisting programs at this College. These standards and essential
functions are conditions of admission and completion of the program. Persons applying
for admission to the programs should review these standards to understand better the
physical abilities and behavioral characteristics necessary to successfully enter
and complete the program. As a potential student, it is essential to assess your ability
to achieve these technical standards and essential functions.
Technical Standards
- Must be able to physically assist and move patients in and out of the dental chair.
- Must be able to physically and mentally work in a confined space, including but not
limited to a dental operatory.
- Must possess the physical ability to reach, manipulate, and operate procedures such
as dental equipment, dental chair, x-ray machines, laboratory equipment, and sterilization
and disinfection.
- Must possess the ability to sit/stand for long periods.
- Must possess the physical ability to function with both hands and arms and have the
adequate manual dexterity to perform dental hygiene procedures.
- Must possess the physical and mental ability to wear CDC-appropriate and program-designated
personal protective equipment for long periods.
- Must possess the physical ability to clearly see the patient’s teeth from a standardized
distance and the visual and mental ability to interpret radiographs.
- Must visibly differentiate the color spectrum for tissue discrimination and discern
normal from abnormal structures.
- Must possess adequate hearing to communicate with patients, faculty, and peers (student
self-evaluation of the level of hearing, reasonable accommodations, the establishment
of support services, and ability to practice effectively and safely in dental hygiene
and dental assisting should occur before considering a dental career).
- Must possess adequate hand-eye coordination and the ability to distinguish right from
left to perform dental hygiene procedures.
- Must possess adequate sensory perception, range of motion, and stability in hands
and fingers to manipulate instruments and detect and remove tooth deposits.
- Must possess the ability to handle clinical and laboratory instruments and syringes
with sufficient fine motor control and safely avoid patient and provider injury.
- Must possess the ability to clearly communicate verbally and in writing, in English,
to and from patients and the interprofessional healthcare team.
- *The College complies with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Therefore, the College will
make reasonable accommodations for participants with disabilities who are otherwise
qualified.
Essential Functions
Sensory/Observation
Students must acquire defined required information and skills as presented through
demonstrations and experiences in the basic, behavioral, biomedical, and clinical
sciences. For example, a student must observe patients accurately and understand verbal
and non-verbal communication when assessing a patient.
The student must be able to:
- Perform dental examinations and treatments that require the use of sight and touch
- See fine detail, focus at various distances, and distinguish the differences and variations
in color, shape, size, and texture of soft and hard tissues, including discerning
accurate depth of field.
- Employ tactile sensitivity to assess directly by palpation or indirectly by sensations
transmitted through instruments
- Use visual acuity to read charts, radiographs, computers, videos
- Acquire information from written documents and evaluate information presented as images
from paper, films, slides, photographs, or video
- Interpret radiographs and other illustrative images
- Demonstrate sufficient manual dexterity and fine and gross muscular coordination to
provide safe general care and specific treatments.
Cognitive
A student must be able to use critical thinking skills to problem-solve, measure,
calculate, reason, analyze, integrate, and synthesize. In addition, a student must
be able to perform these problem-solving skills in a timely fashion for effective
patient treatment and as required in emergency clinical situations.
The student must also be able to:
- Comprehend and mentally visualize three-dimensional relationships and understand the
spatial relationships of structures
- Demonstrates an appropriate and timely response to emergencies, including any circumstance
requiring immediate and rapid resolution.
- Accurately follow course syllabi, assignment direction, patient care protocols, and
clinical and didactic procedures developed by faculty or the healthcare facility.
- Convey appropriate information to a diverse population of patients and the interprofessional
healthcare team.
Motor Skills
A student must have sufficient motor function to execute movements essential to providing
all necessary patient treatment. Such actions require coordination of both gross and
fine muscular movements and equilibrium. This includes the use of motor skills for:
- Performing palpation, percussion, auscultation, and other diagnostic exercises.
- Coordination of gross and fine muscular movements
- Maintaining self-equilibrium
- Functional uses of the senses during dental procedures such as sound, touch, and vision
- The ability to operate controls for the use of dental equipment
- The ability to use hand or power instrumentation for such procedures as scaling, root
debridement, and polishing
Communication
A student must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients, faculty,
staff, and classmates to:
- Convey or exchange information at a sufficient level that produces an accurate health
history
- Identify health and treatment problems and provide alternative solutions and treatment
options using evidence-based decision-making skills.
- Provide patient directions during treatment and post-treatment
- Provide and understand effective and efficient instructions with all members of the
health care team
- Teach, direct and counsel a wide variety of individuals
Emotional and Behavioral
A student must possess the physiological, psychological, and emotional health competencies
essential to utilize their intellectual abilities fully. This includes:
- Professionally exercising good judgment at all times, including in the classroom,
clinical, and social situations (i.e., social media, personal conversations)
- Development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients and colleagues
- Enduring physically and mentally challenging workloads and functioning effectively
under stress
- Managing apprehensive patients with a range of behaviors in a respectful and congenial
manner
- Accepting criticism and responding with appropriate modification of behavior
Ethics and Professionalism
A student must maintain the standards of conduct for ethics and professionalism as
outlined in The American Dental Association Principles of Ethics and Code of Conduct,
The American Dental Hygiene Association Codes of Ethics, The ADEA Statement on Professionalism
in Dental Education, and the Monroe Community College Academic Student Policies Handbook.
The Standards are as follows:
- Maintains effective, appropriate and empathetic communication and relationships with
clients/patients, students, faculty, staff, and other professionals under all circumstances.
- Being accountable for one’s actions, recognizing and acting upon the special obligations
to others that one assumes in joining a profession.
- Develop collaborative professional relationships and exchange knowledge to enhance
our lifelong professional development.
- Acquiring and maintaining the high level of special knowledge, technical ability,
and professional behavior necessary for providing clinical care to patients and for
functioning in the dental education environment.
- Being honest and demonstrating congruence between one’s values, words, and actions.
