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Dental hygiene program serves students, patients and the community
Story by Gloria Biersdorff

Dental hygiene students at work in the Lane Dental Clinic. Photo by John Bauguess.

"We really form friendships with our patients; we come to understand many social issues and problems," observes Amy Hogan, a second-year student in Lane Community College's Dental Hygiene program in Eugene. Hogan, 24, is training in Lane's new, expansive state-of-the-art clinic with 18 patient chairs. The clinic provides periodontal care to the community's most vulnerable: children, elderly, migrant workers, minorities, those falling between the cracks of Oregon's health care system." After graduating in June, 2005 Hogan hopes to volunteer in facilities such as the Children's Dental Clinic, Riverstone Community Health Center and Eugene's school-based health centers to offer dental care and education to under-served children and adults in this area.

Each year more than 200 elementary students receive preventive care through a grant partnership between 4-J Community Health Centers and Lane. Another 700 adult patients receive cleanings or periodontal therapy annually. As many as 2,000 people visit the clinic each year, according to Dental Hygiene Program Coordinator Sharon Hagan. "The college is really running a very large dental practice," she observes. "The reality is, we have a vast number of people who need access to dental care."

According to an August 26, 2004 U.S. Census Bureau report, in 2002-03 uninsured Oregonians numbered 15.9 percent or 613,000.

In an effort to both provide students with extramural dental care experience and offer preventive dental care to under-served Oregonians outside Lane County, Hagan has collaborated with Sheri Billetter, department chair for Linn-Benton Community College's Dental Assistant program, to work in Linn-Benton's clinical facility. Community Outreach, Inc. in Corvallis refers low-income patients to the six-chair clinic. Linn-Benton students provide emergent restorative care and education, and Lane students offer preventive care under the supervision of volunteer dentists. "We provide more than half a million dollars in dentistry services," Billetter says. This partnership with Lane, which began spring 2004, offers many vulnerable populations access to complete periodontal and restorative care, from cleaning and fluoride varnishing to root canals and oral surgery.

At Lane's clinic, patients with advanced periodontal needs are referred to private dental practices, White Bird Clinic, Riverstone Community Health Center, or the Children's Dental Clinic. Last year CDC served 419 patients, the greatest number in its 26-year history, according to Linda Eichner, clinic manager. Lane students, along with community volunteers, provide cleanings, X-rays, exams and fluoride treatments to children referred there. Three 2004 graduates of Lane's DH program committed many hours to the clinic last summer, says Eichner. "They all would volunteer as many days as I needed. They are good hygienists."

Graduates of Lane's 18-student, two-year associate of applied science program consistently achieve a minimum 98 percent pass rate on both the National Board of Dental Hygiene examination and the Western Regional Examination Board. They typically find full employment, earning up to $63,000 annually.

Oregon requires dental hygienists to work under the supervision of a dentist. The February 2004 Dental Hygienists Workforce Initiative Final Report reports a dentist shortage in Oregon, particularly in rural areas. Hagan and others on the Workforce Advisory Board recommend expansion of dental hygiene practice, including reimbursement for alternative services that provide urgent preventative care to the state's most vulnerable. "We need a school sealant program and an infant prevention program for Lane County," Hagan stresses. "We need to use preventive public health methods to reduce dental decay, and use dental hygienists for this initiative."