Dental Hygiene Students' Perceptions of Importance and Confidence in Applying Motivational Interviewing During Patient Care.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based, patient-centered counseling approach for eliciting behavior change. In 2012, the University of Michigan (U-M) Dental Hygiene Program significantly enhanced their behavior change curriculum by reinforcing and building upon the Motivational Interviewing segment. The purpose of this study was to examine students' perceptions of the importance of MI and their confidence in applying it during patient care.

ePortfolio: developing a catalyst for critical self-assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes.

There is a growing trend among college accreditation bodies, especially in professional schools, to incorporate self-assessment in the curriculum and deliver evidence of students' learning outcomes. Both as product and process, reflective ePortfolios have the potential to promote learning and transfer of knowledge by fostering the ability to make connections between learning outcomes and leaning experiences. This article describes a model for a program-wide integrated reflective ePortfolio developed by the University of Michigan Dental Hygiene Degree Completion E-Learning (online) Program.

Using multiple methods to assess learning and outcomes in an online degree-granting dental hygiene program.

Program evaluation is a necessary component of curricular change and innovation. It ascertains whether an innovation has met benchmarks and contributes to the body of knowledge about educational methodologies and supports the use of evidence-based practice in teaching. Education researchers argue that rigorous program evaluation should utilize a mixed-method approach, triangulating both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand program effectiveness.

Using online program development to foster curricular change and innovation.

Distance education offers an opportunity to catalyze sweeping curricular change. Faculty members of the University of Michigan Dental Hygiene Program spent eighteen months researching best practices, planning outcomes and courses, and implementing an e-learning (online) dental hygiene degree completion program. The result is a collaborative and portfolio-integrated program that focuses on the development of reflective practitioners and leaders in the profession.

Online directed journaling in dental hygiene clinical education.

Reflecting upon and sharing of clinical experiences in dental hygiene education is a strategy used to support the application of didactic material to patient care. The promotion of interactive, clinically focused discussions creates opportunities for students to foster critical thinking and socialization skills in dental hygiene practice. Twenty-eight dental hygiene students in their first semester of patient care utilized online directed journaling via blogging software, as a reflection and sharing strategy.

Dental hygiene education about patients with special needs: a survey of U.S. programs.

The objective of this study was to explore how dental hygiene programs in the United States educate their students about treating patients with special needs. Data were collected from 102 U.S.

The utilization of Computer Mediated Communication for case study collaboration.

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) can be used as an effective tool for student communication and collaboration. First-year, first-semester dental hygiene students self-selected groups to develop dental hygiene process of care treatment plans, written reports, and oral case presentations based on assigned clinical cases. In consultation with the University of Michigan (UM) Digital Media Commons Collaborative Technologies Teams, CMC options were identified.

Integration of oral health care and mental health services: Dental hygienists' readiness and capacity for secondary prevention of eating disorders.

Often the first to observe overt health effects of eating disorders, dentists and dental hygienists play a fundamental role in the secondary prevention of eating disorders. The purpose of this study was to explore readiness and capacity for integration of oral health and mental health services. Employing a randomized cross-sectional study based upon the Transtheoretical and Health Belief Models, data were collected from 378 dental hygienists.

Knowledge of oral and physical manifestations of anorexia and bulimia nervosa among dentists and dental hygienists.

Despite the crucial role oral health care providers can have in the early identification of eating disorders and the referral and case management of patients with these disorders, little is known concerning their knowledge of oral complications of these disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge among dentists and dental hygienists concerning the oral and physical manifestations of eating disorders. Employing a randomized cross-sectional study, data were collected from 576 dentists and dental hygienists randomly selected from the American Dental Association and the American Dental Hygienists' Association.

Radiographic detection of approximal caries: a comparison between senior dental students and senior dental hygiene students.

Purpose: Dental hygienists do not legally (or definitively) diagnose caries, but they often are responsible for preliminary interpretation of bitewing (BW) radiographs taken during prophylaxis appointments. Given this custom of practice, it is important to understand whether there is a difference between the capabilities of dental hygienists and dentists in interpreting BWs based on education and clinical experience. This study compared proximal carious lesion classification from BWs by senior dental students and senior dental hygiene students.