Study Guide

Descriptions

PROGRAMME
Degree Programme in Dental Hygiene

DEGREE
Dental Hygienist

EXTENT (ECTS CREDITS, YEARS)
The total extent of the Degree Programme is 210 ECTS (1 ECTS = 27 hours of work by the student). This means approximately 3.5 years of full-time study. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level is 6.

OBJECTIVE OF STUDIES
As the division of work in oral health care evolves, the work carried out by dental hygienists with a degree from a university of applied sciences is increasingly focused on patient-centred clinical activities that promote oral health among the population as well as on influencing social issues.
After completing the Degree Programme in Dental Hygiene, you can work as an independent expert who takes care of oral health in different age groups and prevents infectious oral diseases. You promote and maintain oral health, treat and prevent oral and dental diseases and guide and advise people of different ages. Your skill requirements include manual skills, interaction and presentation skills as well as systematic planning and creative problem-solving ability. In addition, you will have skills required for the tasks of an immediate supervisor and for research and development competence needed for oral health care development work. Dental hygienist is able to operate in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, where applicable, taking into account the ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability and the capital provided by them.

Work may be carried out in health centres, hospitals, institutions providing care and services, at a private dentist’s practice or as an entrepreneur with an own practice. Cooperation with other health care professionals and parties that promote health is an essential part of the job.

Only a licensed professional, who has completed a degree in dental hygiene, may work as a dental hygienist. After graduation, students submit an application for the right to practice as a licensed health care professional to the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira). A Bachelor’s degree opens the door to further education in the form of a Master’s degree or a university degree.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF STUDIES
The total extent of the Degree Programme in Dental Hygiene is 210 ECTS. This means approximately 3.5 years of full-time study. The studies comprise core competence and complementary competence that include core studies common to the entire university of applied sciences, professional studies, practical training, the Bachelor’s thesis with the related maturity test as well as optional studies. Some of the studies are carried out in a foreign language. There are no specialization programmes or areas in the Degree Programme in Dental Hygiene. Growing into a dental hygiene expert is a continuum of learning that continues throughout the Degree Programme, with the language and communication studies required by the Bachelor’s degree forming an integral part of the continuum.

Turku University of Applied Sciences provides students with a dental hygienist’s professional competence, including the legal and ethical foundation on the basis of which students know how to act according to the values of nursing. Safe and effective oral health care work is based on research evidence and is usually executed in a care team. Front-line management, development tasks and risk management are part of practical training. Customer-focused oral health care work is based on core knowledge and competence that consists of clinical collection of oral health care information and provision of care in accordance with the treatment plan. In addition, dental hygienist students operate in various networks and participate in cooperation to promote oral health.

Professional studies focus on the profession’s key tasks and problematic areas in order to ensure that, after completing their studies, graduates are capable of working independently in the specialist tasks of the profession and as an entrepreneur, participating in work community development and acting as an immediate supervisor, if necessary.

The studies include practical training in the classrooms and simulations on the TUAS campus and in different health care units. Some of the studies and practical training can also be completed in the higher education institutions of the international collaboration network.
In the Bachelor’s thesis, students demonstrate their capacity for independent work and their ability to use research-based information with a critical perspective. Bachelor’s theses are written as part of working life oriented research and development projects and programmes.
A dental hygienist’s professional competence consists of core competence and complementary competence that include the following competence areas: health promotion, oral health care work, the safety of oral health care work and the working environment, and the management and improvement of oral health care work. Complementary competence studies allow students deepen their competence by writing a Bachelor’s thesis on key topics of their professional field. In optional studies, students complement their competence by working in the social welfare and health care sector and by taking courses offered by Turku University of Applied Sciences and other higher education institutions.

Objective

The innovation competences specified by Turku University of Applied Sciences for individual, community and network levels, including their applications, are a central component of studies.

Competence at the individual level can be seen in the student’s creative problem-solving ability, holistic attitude and determination during the studies.

Competence at the community level refers to the ability to act in a professional group taking its members’ views into account.
Competence at the network level refers to the ability to network and cooperate constructively with the representatives of different professional fields, also internationally.

The student is able to operate in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, where applicable, taking into account the ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability and the capital provided by them.

A dental hygienist’s professional competence consists of the following core competences, for which coaching is provided during the studies:
In the area of health promotion, dental hygienists know how to coach a customer or groups of customers in the self-care of oral hygiene as part of one’s general health.

- In the area of oral health care work, dental hygienists know how to determine the customer’s oral health and act in the profession.

- In the area of the safety of work and the working environment, dental hygienists know how to identify the internal and external stress factors in work and the working environment and prevent them.

- In the area of the management and improvement of oral health care work, dental hygienists know how to act as an immediate supervisor and develop the social welfare and health care service system.

Development

Learning methods

The dental hygienist studies are based on the innovation pedagogy defined in the strategy of Turku University of Applied Sciences. This includes innovative teaching methods, various social learning environments, optional ways of taking courses, flexible curricula, international activity and an entrepreneurship-oriented approach. Innovation may manifest itself as, for instance, participation in projects where working life in one’s own professional field is developed.

Studying in the Degree Programme in Dental Hygiene takes place on the campus, in social welfare and health care units, different social welfare and health care organizations, organizations involved in working life and virtual environments.

Multidisciplinary and multiprofessional cooperation in the field of training and education is carried out with the region’s health service organizations and providers of practical nurse, dental technician and dentist training and education. The studies consist of lecture, online and simulation teaching, independent study and practical training. Entrepreneurship-oriented and multidisciplinary approach is practised in Medisiina D’s facilities.
In 2015, the higher education institutions in Turku signed a partnership agreement with the aim of increasing mutual cooperation in teaching, research, development and innovation activities. Training and education of different oral health care professional groups is concentrated in the Kupittaa area and forms a national hub of education.

The operations of Turku University of Applied Sciences are based on its quality management model and process descriptions. The students have the right and the duty to contribute to the development of the higher education institution through various channels. They can exert influence by participating in education development events and working groups, for instance.

Further information

The assessment of students is based on the competence requirements specified for the degree programme. The assessment is based on competence and its improvement. The elements being assessed include the learning process and the output of the student or a group of students. Versatile interactive methods are used for the assessment, including self-assessment, peer assessment, assessment by the teacher/instructor and development discussions. Continuous assessment supports students’ development and own goal-setting as well as the identification of one’s strengths and areas that need improvement.

The assessment criteria are specific to each course. The criteria are prepared for grades satisfactory (1–2), good (3–4) and excellent (5). The bases for assessment are described in the implementation plans. The teacher(s) of the course is in charge of the course’s assessment. The assessment is supported by a preliminary assessment framework that is applied on a course-specific basis. The framework takes into account the phase of your studies (beginner, advanced, expert) and field-specific and general competence goals.