The discourse of dental hygiene practice in Canada

Recently the discourse in Canada relating to dental hygiene practice has changed. While dentistry still exercises controlling power over the public's oral cavity, dental hygienists have made inroads through legislative changes. A description of Canadian dental hygiene practice is provided to set the stage for a discussion about current discourse in the dental hygiene profession. Although power is often perceived as a shifting changing set of relations, these can be frozen in abstraction. It is rather like taking a photo of a single moment or event in an ongoing activity. This moment provides a starting point, an event that can be analysed. Four such events are evident in Canadian dental hygiene practice; they include, education, recognition of dental hygienists as primary care providers, the culture of dental hygiene and self-regulation. While all the events are important, self-regulation is critical to the viability and development of the profession. It is the central event that provides the backdrop for effecting change. With self-regulation comes responsibility and accountability for professional actions. It also provides possibilities for changing the discourse in oral care. As oral health care discourse is transformed through legislation and public awareness, the public will, hopefully, be able to directly access dental hygiene services, and dental hygienists themselves might increasingly recognise their importance as contributors in the health care system.