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Etsu Dental Hygiene Students’ Interest In And Perceived Preparedness For Nontraditional Or Expanded Roles After Graduation, Olivia Rowell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Purpose

This study assessed ETSU dental hygiene students’ perceptions and attitudes toward their careers after graduation in relation to underserved populations’ lack of access to dental care and nontraditional roles for dental hygienists.

Methods

A voluntary simple survey was used to assess the following: dental hygiene students’ exposure to and knowledge about underserved populations and nontraditional roles for dental hygienists, students’ favor or opposition toward these nontraditional roles, students’ interest in nontraditional roles, and students’ perceived preparedness to work outside of a traditional dental office in nontraditional roles to provide care for underserved populations. The survey data was aggregated and …