Dental Hygiene

Dental Hygiene Program

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, offers a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene. This program is fully accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation.

The UT dental hygiene program prepares students through didactic, laboratory, and clinical experience to function as licensed dental hygienists.

The UT dental hygiene program is a 2 plus 2 program:

• 2 years of prerequisites
• 2 years at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis

Curriculum

Education in a Health Science Center

The patients seen by dental hygiene students in the dental hygiene clinics are registered patients of the College of Dentistry who are receiving limited or comprehensive dental care through the under-graduate and graduate dental education programs. These patients are recruited from the city of Memphis and the surrounding tri-state area with a composite population of well over one million. The program maintains the College of Dentistry’s primary patient recall system and provides regular ongoing preventative maintenance care in the dental hygiene clinic to a patient base of over 2,700. In addition to the dental hygiene clinic, students have scheduled clinical rotations to provide preventative services to patients seen in dental specialty clinics. Approximately 60% of all student dental hygiene clinical experiences are provided in UT clinics.

Goals

• Prepare a qualified dental hygienist who will be competent with respect to “Competencies for the Dental Hygienist”.
• Satisfy patients with the quality of student dental hygiene care.
• The program will participate in community service initiatives.
• The program will maintain admissions policies to ensure qualified students, with appropriate emphasis on under-represented groups.
• The program will increase departmental income from external sources.
• The program will maintain a knowledgeable, productive, and diverse faculty.

The campus is part of the largest health science center in the Mid-South, providing great potential for access to diverse population groups. Formal agreements have been reached between the university and several local clinics for student clinical rotations outside the program’s primary on campus teaching clinic. Specific learning objectives and experiences have been identified for such rotations.

Return to Dental Hygiene Home Page