Dental Hygiene (A.A.S.)

A.A.S. Degree: 92 Hours

The Dental Hygiene profession offers a variety of career opportunities:  clinical practice in general and specialty dental offices; federal, state, and county health clinics; hospital-based treatment; long-term care facilities; industrial clinics; armed services; pharmaceutical sales; research institutions; and educational settings.

Contemporary dental hygiene practice requires that dental hygienists possess a breadth of knowledge and skills in a variety of areas.  Dental hygiene practice includes:  oral prophylaxis (cleaning); patient education; exposing, processing, and mounting radiographs; collecting and evaluating patient medical history information; performing head and neck examinations; periodontal assessment and non-surgical therapy; applying preventive agents; application of desensitizing and antimicrobial agents; and administering local anesthesia and nitrous oxide analgesia.

The dental hygiene program is a selective admission program.  A separate application process is required for acceptance into the program; the application deadline is May 31st.  Upon acceptance, the student may take the "program specific courses". A grade of "C" or better is required for all program required courses. The dental hygiene program is a five-semester program which prepares the student for their national, regional, and state licensure examinations.  Contact the Health Sciences Office for an application packet.

The dental hygiene program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association (ADA), 211 E. Chicago, Suite 1900, Chicago, IL 60611, (312) 621-8099.  800.232.6108  https://coda.ada.org/

The Missouri Department of Higher Education has identified a common set of general education courses that have been adopted statewide. These courses are called the "CORE 42."  CORE 42 courses are guaranteed to transfer to any Missouri public college or university to satisfy general education requirements.

Courses in knowledge areas below, designated with the CORE 42 logo indicates courses in that area have been evaluated and provided a MOTR number for transfer to all Missouri public institutions of higher education.

Courses that do not have this designation may still transfer to public and private colleges and universities in Missouri and elsewhere, but students are encouraged to check the transfer equivalency website of the institution to which they plan to transfer to confirm.

Please refer to the MDHE Core Transfer Curriculum for detailed information on CORE 42 courses.