Dental Hygienists: Fairness And Responsibility

Professional Values: Fairness and Responsibility

Practicing dental hygienists, are expected to maintain certain level of professionalism during interaction with patients, collegues and other professionals. There are six values defined by the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) that serve to guide dental hygienists to maintain and improve their level of professionalism. These six values include, competence, fairness, integrity, responsibility, respect, and service-mindedness. Integrating fairness and responsibility into everyday dental hygiene practice will be discussed in this paper. First of all, it is imperative to describe what fairness means when it is applied in a dental setting. The ADEA (2009) defines fairness as demonstrating consistency and even-handedness in dealings with others. Therefore, in the eyes of a dental hygienist,

Cortell (2008) lists the following responsibilities that all dental hygienists must maintain in order to practice. First and most important professional obligation is to maintain licenses and appropriate certification to be able to practice legally. The second is to demonstrate comprehension of and follow the American Dental Hygienists’ Association Code of Ethics that ensures ethical patient care. The third professional responsibility is to maintain ADHA membership and support the profession. Fourth responsibility following the changes in health and dental hygiene profession that may affect dental hygiene care. One good example to this was a change in certain health conditions that does not require pre-medications by the American Heart Association for dental procedures. The fifth responsibility is that dental hygienists must participate in activities that maintain continued competence. Being committed to life-long learning to remain competent is the sixth responsibility of the dental