A Misunderstood Concept
When most students arrive in the dental hygiene program, they have a preconceived notion that the dental hygienist needs supervision from a dentist (DDS), and that a dental hygienist (DH) cannot work unless there is a dentist on site. I believe this is because the general public experience this model when they visit their DH in the dental office. The DDS usually owns the practice, therefore there is the misconception that they are “the boss”. While they may be the employer, the DH does not “answer” to them in terms of the services they provide and therefore do not require supervision. Both of these professions are regulated by their own regulatory college. This is an in-depth concept for students to grasp and one of high importance for the graduating DH. I had difficulty coming up with an analogy but I thought a hierarchy/organizational diagram would work well to break down the important pieces that make up this concept. As well, using this learning tool will help in addressing the visual learning. I used Google Drawings to create the diagram and it was very easy to use.
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