DH 180: Head and Neck Anatomy

Ethics involves a wide realm of disciplines in the dental hygiene field. As a health care professional, it is important to stay up to date on current research in order to understand the needs of the patient. This is especially true in regards to patients with special needs. In Head and Neck Anatomy, I chose to write a research paper on Isolated Cleft Palate. This condition, although rare can go undiagnosed in mild cases, leading to developmental problems in speech and occlusion. With the knowledge that I have gained from this paper, if I ever encounter a patient that has or has had an isolated cleft palate, I know more about the condition and how to work with their needs. This ensures that the values of nonmaleficence and beneficence are being applied.

DH 111: Dental Radiography II

Ethical decision making is a major component of being a dental hygienist. Every day we have to make decisions in order to provide the patient with the best care possible. One of these is the decision to retake radiographs. In a learning environment, there is more of a possibility of errors. Then we have to make the decision between a nondiagnostic image and exposing the patient to more radiation. Although, for example if you miss the distal of the last molar, there could be decay that could be missed without a retake. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the patient to retake the image in order to catch any possible disease. On the other hand there are instances where we may not be able to get a better diagnostic image, for example in the occassion that the patient has a severe gagging reflex or their anatomy does'nt allow the film to get any better. Therefore it is worth not exposing the patient to more radiation in these instances.

DH 223: Dental Hygiene Theory IV

Ethical decision making is a skill that we as dental hygienists will make throughout our career. During the last semester of dental hygiene school we had an assignment where we practiced ethical decision making. We had to discuss the ethical decision making model when considering ethical dilemmas that we might encounter in real life. Overall, it was a good exercise and put into perspective how difficult it is to make ethical decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma. This experience will help me make ethical decisions in the future.

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