My Dental Hygiene Philosophy and Primary Care Provider Definition
Dental hygiene is a service to the community in fulfillment of basic basic human needs of oral health, as well as systemic health including education, prevention, promotion of health, and treatment of oral disease. I will provide safe and effective dental hygiene care to help people retain and improve their oral health for greater quality of life. I will practice safely, ethically and with integrity. I will communicate effectively, utilize collaboration to assit in treatment, and always use evidence based critical thinking to reinforce the decisions I make. I will be culturally sensitive, and provide compassionate care at all times in the dental workplace.
To explain what a primary care provider is, a few other terminologies much first be identified. The first of which is primary health. This is a type of care that takes into account the entire person as a whole and includes elements such as income, education, housing and environment. Next is primary care, which is the element within primary health care that focuses on health care services, including health promotion, illness and injury prevention, and the diagnosis and treatment of illness or injury. A Primary care provider is a patient’s first point of access to the health care system, and they provide on going care for maintenance and illness therapy (1). They take responsibility for the overall coordination and implementation of the care of the patient’s health issues using community resources (1,2), and evidence based research. A Primary health care prodiver also takes into account health care should be based on practical, scientifically sound, socially acceptable methods as well as modern technology (3). Dental hygienists as primary health care providers should promote lifestyles that are conducive to health, educate the public and prevent disease through self-care and regular checkups (3), on top of treating a patient as a whole.
References
1. Odrich J.Can dental hygienists affect the periodontal health of the nation? The dental hygienist: a primary health care provider. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 1985;45(2):64-9.
2. Monajem S. Integration of oral health into primary health care: the role of dental hygienists and the WHO stewardship. Int J Dent Hygiene. 2006;4:47-51.
3. Cobban SJ. A dialectical analysis of an art of dental hygiene practice. Int J Dent Hygiene. 2009;7:217-225.
October 9th, 2020 at 11:50 am
Best ever content