Dental Hygiene

What You'll Learn:

The first year of the program includes 6-14 hours per week of lab, pre-clinical and clinical instruction. The second year of the program includes 17-22 hours per week of clinical instruction. First year is listed above.

In your second year of the program, you’ll begin clinical courses and learn how to: 

• Conduct initial dental assessment exams
• Thoroughly review patient health history, contraindications for care and other health concerns
• Conduct intra/extraoral exam, periodontal evaluation and develop treatment plans for patient dental needs
• Remove plaque and tartar from teeth with hand and ultrasonic instrumentation techniques
• Apply fluoride and sealants to prevent dental decay
• Treat gingivitis and periodontitis and provide instructions for perio-maintenance
• Classify periodontal disease and administer sonic and hand scaling techniques
• Utilize diagnostic and panoramic x-rays and digital imaging
• Take dental impressions
• Assist dentists with restorative procedures like placement of fillings, local anesthetics and dental care techniques
• Directly administer local anesthetics/nitrous oxide to patients and implement periodontal procedures, using Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment strategies
• Electronically document treatment plans and care performed on patients
• Educate patients on proper brushing and flossing
• Provide nutritional counseling for patients experiencing high-risk decay rates
• Learn prevention of blood-borne diseases, and application of OSHA standards in the dental environment
• Learn and practice Dental Hygiene Expanded Practice functions under Oregon state law
• Develop skills in interpersonal communication and collaboration to effectively interact with diverse populations and age groups, health care providers, dental professionals and community groups
• Apply principles of ethical reasoning, decision making, and professional responsibility
• Learn restorative dentistry skills while providing dental fillings to children and adults in preparation for employment in busy dental practices

Experiential learning is an important aspect of the Dental Hygiene program. As a student, you’ll be able to participate in off-campus experiences with community clinics, school-based screenings, presentations for health fairs, treatment of specialty populations at distance clinical sites, and inter-professional collaboration and visitations to local specialty and general dentistry offices/clinics.

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State of the art facilities

As a Dental Hygiene student, you’ll use state-of-the-art dental equipment in our brand-new dental lab on Lane’s main campus, and gain experience and confidence at the college Dental Clinic on Willamette Street in Eugene. Some of the equipment you’ll use includes:

• Ultrasonic and sonic instruments for periodontal care
• Intraoral camera for visual documentation and teledentistry communication with community dental clinics
• Eaglesoft electronic patient records management system; utilizing electronic record documentation to facilitate distance communication with dentists
• Intraoral polishing with Prophy Jet equipment
• Portable dentistry units to provide dental services to underserved populations.

Additional Information

• Essential Abilities
• FAQ (including prerequisite courses and admissions)
• Dental Hygiene Articulation, Employment, and Professional Links
• Notice of scheduled site visit for the LCC Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting Programs by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (Posted July 13th, 2023)

Notice to students and prospective students:

This program and career includes exposure to bloodborne pathogens and infectious diseases. Training is included to protect both students and patients.