During the past year, Pennsylvania has updated its regulations for licensed dental hygienists to allow them to administer local anesthesia under direct supervision of a dentist and upon completion of a board-accredited anesthesia course. To prepare licensed dental hygienists for this change, Montgomery County Community College is now offering a 30-hour accredited course in a convenient format.
The course, which begins September 15, focuses on anatomy, mechanism of action, local anesthetic agents and vasoconstrictors, patient evaluation, and local and systemic effects and complications. Additionally, participants will perform safe and effective local anesthesia administration on clinical partners under the supervision of qualified faculty.
"We offer a hybrid course," said Jenny Sheaffer, R.D.H., a professor and the director of the Dental Hygiene Program. "This allows the working hygienist to complete most of the course -- six computerized modules -- online and then complete the laboratory sessions in the Dental Hygiene Clinic at the Central Campus in Blue Bell."
To enroll in this course, students must have minimal computer skills and must provide a copy of their dental hygiene license, copies of their current CPR certification, and proof of liability insurance.
The program will become part of the college's curriculum for the Dental Hygiene Program in the fall of 2011, Sheaffer said. In the meantime, current students can take the 30-hour hybrid course as an independent study course.
The college's Dental Hygiene Program is a 70-credit hour associate in applied science (A.A.S.) educational program that prepares students to perform dental hygiene procedures in various dental hygiene practice settings and pursue an advanced degree.
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