Patient Care
Competency Domain 6 - Patient Care
6.1 Obtain, record, update and organize accurate and complete medical/dental histories
including pertinent psychological and socioeconomic information.
- Establishment of a patient dialogue to obtain demographic, medical, family and dental
histories, psychological and socioeconomic information relevant to dental hygiene care;
and patient expectations and goals for dental hygiene care
- Establishment of a patient dialogue to obtain and record the chief complaint of the
patient and the history of the present illness
- Establishment of and maintenance of the patient record as an accurate and consistent
legal document of patient encounters
- Identification of the patient’s record including but not limited to medication(s), potential
effect(s) on dental and systemic health, and impact on dental treatment
- Initiation of necessary medical and/or dental consultation or referral in legal media to clarify questions related to the patient’s dental and systemic health
6.2 Perform, record and organize a physical assessment appropriate for dental hygiene
care.
- Performance and recording of an appropriate physical examination not limited to the
head and neck
- Recording of intraoral examination findings including but not limited to dental charting,
periodontal examination and indices
- Identification of the need and/or performance of and recording of results of other
diagnostic procedures and tests
- Identification of the signs and management of the symptoms of medical emergencies
- Identification of the signs of physical, psychological, verbal and substance abuse
- Performance of risk assessments
6.3 Formulate a dental hygiene diagnosis utilizing and congruent with the dental diagnosis
and other health professionals.
- Interpretation and correlation of examination and assessment findings
- Determination of the unmet needs of the patient based on analysis of assessment
findings
- Formulation of dental hygiene diagnosis
- Determination of priorities and establishes oral health goals with the patient and/or
family and/or guardian as an active participant
- Planning of treatments that reflect the impact of behavioral, social and cultural
differences in the provision of dental health care
- Development of dental hygiene care plans that reflect the impact of systemic disease
and its management on the provision of dental care
- Development of dental hygiene care plans consistent with and supportive of the
patient’s overall dental treatment plan
- Establishment of a planned sequence of educational and clinical services that include
health promotion, and therapeutic and maintenance care
- Communication of the plan for dental hygiene care to interdisciplinary health team members to determine its congruence with the overall plan for oral health care
6.4 Establish a mutually acceptable dental hygiene care plan with the patient.
- Presentation of findings and/or diagnoses to the patient
- Explanation of dental hygiene care plan options to patients using understandable and
professional terminology
- Response to patient’s questions and concerns
- Recording of the final dental hygiene care plan
- Obtainment of written informed consent
6.5 Monitor and provide for patient comfort associated with dental hygiene care.
- Utilization of psychological and/or behavioral techniques to assure patient comfort
- Utilization of accepted evidence- based clinical techniques to provide for control of pain
and anxiety
6.6 Prevent, recognize and manage medical emergencies and maintain basic life support.
- Emergency protocols
- Applied biomedical sciences related to emergency care
6.7 Utilize current infection control guidelines for all clinical procedures.
- Local/state/federal regulatory guidelines
- Current infection control protocols
- Applied biomedical sciences related to transmission of disease
6.8 Deliver and/or manage the planned dental hygiene evidence-based treatment and
education in sequence and in accordance with accepted Standards of Care.
- Delivery of and/or manages dental hygiene treatment considering the impact of
behavioral, social, and cultural manifestations contributing to difficulty
- Provision of humane and compassionate care to all patients
- Delivery of and/or manages periodontal therapy utilizing basic and advanced principles
of instrumentation
- Modification of dental hygiene care based on changing patient needs and/or evaluation
of achievement of established care plan goals
- Delivery of and/or manages oral health maintenance care
- Provision of adjunct dental hygiene services
- Identification of the need for chemotherapeutic agents, selection and administration of them as appropriate and provision of pre-and post-treatment instructions
6.9 Evaluate outcomes of comprehensive dental hygiene care and determines an
individualized maintenance schedule or additional treatment needs or referral to the
appropriate health care provider.
- Criteria for evaluation
- Evaluation methods
- Mechanismsfor continuous quality improvement
- Routine evaluation of professional skills, knowledge, and outcomes of clinical practice
For a complete list of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry