Dental Hygiene Commons^™

From Silos To Systems: A Conceptual Framework For Workforce Aligned Oral Health Education, Meghan Bastin

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

In the current U.S. educational system, becoming a dentist follows a few prescriptive pathways.  Learners typically complete an undergraduate degree before entering time-intensive doctoral training.  This results in only 3-4 years of direct professional education embedded within an eight -year process, while learners accumulate significant financial investment in their education.  With the average cost of graduate-level dental education alone exceeding $300,000 and new federal borrowing limits likely to further constrain access, there is an opportunity to explore alternative ways of structuring oral health education.

This poster presents a conceptual, system-level framework that explores a perspective in which oral health education …

Wv Dental Hygienists' Knowledge And Educational Approach For Pregnant Women, Isabella Hope Mcdaniel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes have become a concern for dental professionals caring for pregnant women with poor oral health. Pregnant women may not be aware of their increased risk of bacterial infections in their oral tissues and how it could relate to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as pre- term birth (PTB) and low birthweight babies (LBW). Dental healthcare professionals need to be well informed of risk related to poor oral health and have confidence to effectively educate pregnant women. PTB and LBW babies account for 1 million infant deaths annually. It is the responsibility of dental healthcare professionals to be …

Tobacco Cessation In A Dental School Setting, Kerri T. Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death in the United States. Currently, the prevalence of tobacco use is 20.7% in adults (≥18 years old) and 31.2% among high school students. According to various studies, over 60% of Americans want to quit tobacco, but it takes a person several attempts to quit before they are successful. There is limited data in the literature that discusses the effectiveness of tobacco cessation programs in US dental schools. Therefore, information on the effectiveness of a tobacco cessation program in a dental school setting could benefit this state and the problem …

West Virginia Dentists' Perception Of The Knowledge And Skills Of Two Vs. Four Year Dental Hygiene Graduates, Kaitlyn M. Mcquain

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The entry level for the dental hygiene profession has, historically been an associate degree. In 2016 the American Dental Hygiene Association (ADHA) approved the Bachelor’s Degree level of education as the preferred for entry level degree. This study is to determine practicing West Virginia dentists preference for the education level of their entry-level dental hygiene employees. There were 1020 surveys electronically distributed to practicing WV dentists to obtain their opinions and preferences. WVU Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) was used to determine response percentages and Chi-square statistics were used to compare 2017 to 2019 response rates. Between 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, …