Pueblo Community College Dental Hygiene Faculty have identified the following graduate competencies as essential in the education of our students for the profession of dental hygiene.

Pueblo Community College Dental Hygiene Graduates will:

1.                  Demonstrate a professional code of ethics in all endeavors.

2.                  Be educated to perform duties to the full extent of the Colorado Dental Practice Act.

3.                  Perform self assessment while in the program as a basis for life-long learning and professional growth.

4.                  Advance the profession through service activities and affiliations with profession organizations.

5.                  Provide accurate, consistent and complete documentation for assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation of dental hygiene services.

6.                  Evaluate and utilize methods to ensure the health and safety of the patient and the dental hygienist in the delivery of dental hygiene.

7.                  Provide community oral health educational services.

8.                  Systematically collect, analyze and record data on the general, oral and psychosocial health status of a variety of patients using methods consistent with medicolegal principles.

9.                  Use critical decision making skills to reach conclusions about the patient’s dental hygiene needs based on all available assessment data.

10.              Collaborate with the patient and/or other health professionals, to formulate a comprehensive dental hygiene patient-centered treatment plan that is based on current scientific evidence.

11.              Provide specialized treatment that includes preventive and therapeutic services designed to achieve and maintain oral health.  Assist in achieving oral health goals formulated in collaboration with the patient.

12.              Evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented clinical, preventive and education patient services and modify as needed.