STANDARD COMPETENCIES

 

 1. Compare and contrast the different roles of a dental hygienist in a public health setting including oral health educators, client advocates,

        oral health policy advocates, and oral health resource professionals in the public health or school-based setting.

 2. Analyze and dissect the concept of health literacy as applied to oral health and public health education.

 3. Analyze and debate the concept of risk reduction and associated strategies with emphasis on how these techniques are utilized and

        performed in a public health setting for oral health.

 4. Analyze oral health public policy and the direct effects on community health centers, program plans, and implementation of new oral health services.

 5. Dissect and evaluate current financing systems primarily used in public health settings throughout the US and specific to Colorado including Medicaid,

        Medicare, TRICARE and VA financing systems, CHP, and CICP.

 

 

 

 

 

 TOPICAL OUTLINE

 

 I. Roles of the Dental Hygienist in public health

      a. Compare and contrast specific roles:

              i. Oral health educator

             ii. Client advocate

            iii. Public health resource professional/community educator

            iv. Tele-health dental professional

             v. School-based oral health practitioner

            vi. Oral health policy advocate

      b. Understand the individual function of each in an oral health setting

      c. Determine all applicable skills and education for each role and why required

      d. Identify career outcomes and position goals

 II. Epidemiology of oral health

      a. Terminology and definitions

              i. Observational vs. experimental epidemiology

             ii. Descriptive epidemiology

            iii. Analytic epidemiology

      b. Evaluate oral health surveillance techniques

      c. Define and assess multiple types of study designs

      d. Understand and evaluate data management techniques and analysis

 III. Risk Reduction

      a. Terminology and definitions

      b. Determine applicable techniques for risk reduction with emphasis on oral health

      c. Establish identifiable risks for particular populations and patterns among socio-cultural groups

      d. Evaluate recent innovative risk reduction techniques and relationship to historically used strategies for oral health

      e. Establish similarities and differences between risk reduction in oral health and other lifestyle factors

 IV. Health literacy and oral health promotion

      a. Terminology, definitions, and statistics specific to oral health

      b. Create educational material for oral health to increase oral health literacy

      c. Evaluate and dissect various interventional approaches based on success and failure

      d. Assess importance of communication with various populations in determining health literacy among socio-cultural groups

 V. Public Health Financing Systems

     a. Compare and contrast differences among the various financing systems

              i. Medicaid

             ii. Medicare

            iii. CHP

            iv. CICP

             v. TRICARE

      b. Assess the development and implementation of these systems from a public policy standpoint

      c. Evaluate the differences in oral health coverage/benefits from these various systems