Examination services provided by dental hygienists

The information presented in this paper was obtained as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of 1982 dental hygiene graduates. This paper presents information contracted by the American Dental Hygienists' Association and includes information on examination services provided to new and recall, child and adult dental hygiene patients by dental hygienists. Mail questionnaires were sent to a cohort of 1,008 dental hygienists who graduated in 1982. Data presented here were collected in September 1986. Surveys were returned from 766 subjects, 77% of those with valid addresses. Of the respondents, 455 were working in traditional clinical dental hygiene positions and provided information on patient examination services. The frequencies reported for the 15 examination services investigated by the dental hygienists varied for child and adult patients and for new and recall patients. Visual gingival examination was the most frequently provided service. In conclusion, dental hygienists need to incorporate additional patient examination services into their diagnostic workups to ensure adequate patient care and to provide adequate information to evaluate their dental hygiene care.