Dental hygiene self-regulation: an educational perspective

Dental hygiene's pursuit of self-regulation has been impeded from its beginning by conceptual discrepancies. It is often confused with independent practice and/or other scope of practice issues, all of which cloud the real impetus: true professional status. The authors suggest this confusion could be addressed by the educational system. Students in schools offering education to future professionals must have an opportunity to gain insight into the political environment of their respective fields in addition to acquiring the theory and skills designed to make them clinically proficient. Through increased awareness of issues related to governance, they will be able to make informed decisions about matters affecting their chosen profession. From the outset, the objective of this investigation was to unveil some of the common misconceptions about self-regulation held by students of dental hygiene and dentistry. Following a review of the literature, 11 of the most recurrent points of confusion were incorporated into a true/false survey. The survey addressed the following issues as they relate to dental hygiene self-regulation: ability to practice independent of dentists' supervision, ability to diagnose dental caries, scope of practice expansion, dissolution of the "dental team", compromised client safety and increased income-generating potential. The survey was distributed to dental hygiene and dentistry students across Canada. The results indicate a general lack of understanding of the concept of self-regulation among the Canadian dental hygiene and dentistry student population.