Dental Hygiene Program

DUTIES OF A DENTAL HYGIENIST
A dental hygienist is a licensed dental professional who is part of the dental care team. They perform such services as oral examination, oral prophylaxis (scaling, root planing, soft tissue curettage and polishing the teeth). They expose and process dental x-rays, administer local anesthesia and nitrous oxide sedation for pain control. Also, they apply preventive medications such as topical fluorides and dental sealants along with instructing patients in oral disease control and nutrition.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Dental hygienists usually work in private dental offices or clinics. In addition, there are opportunities to be employed in alternative settings such as hospitals, community health programs or public health institutions such as the Indian Health Service.

DENTAL HYGIENE WEB RESOURCES
• www.adha.org - American Dental Hygiene Association
• www.cdha.org - California Dental Hygiene Association
• www.ada.org - American Dental Association
• www.adea.org/ - American Dental Education Association
• www.comda.ca.gov- Committee on Dental Auxiliaries (RDA, RDAEF, RDH licensing)

Apply to the Dental Hygiene Program

• Applications can be obtained from December 1st-March 1st by calling 805/986-5823. The application deadline is March 1st of the admission year.

PREPARATION/ELIGIBILITY
Listed below are the program admissions requirements. In order for a student to be considered a qualified candidate for the lottery process, all requirements listed must be met. It is highly recommended for students wishing to apply to see the Oxnard College Dental Hygiene Program Counselor as soon as possible for assistance.
Because admission to the program requires a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA, all students who have completed courses outside the U.S. will need to have a foreign record evaluation (contact the counseling office for approved foreign records evaluation agencies). Call the counseling office at (805) 986-5816.

PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENTS
Admission to the Dental Hygiene requires a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent. All prerequisites must be completed before students can apply to the program.*
*Students may have one science course in progress at time of application but the course must be completed with a passing grade by the end of the spring session of the applying year.

Program prerequisites are as follows:
Courses Units
MATH R011 Elementary Algebra* 3
BIOL 101 General Biology* 3
BIOL 100L General Biology lab* 1
CIS R020A Intro to Microcomputers* 3
CHEM R110 Elementary Chemistry 5
CHEM R112 Elem. Organic/Bio Chem. 5
ANAT R100 General Human Anatomy** 3
ANAT R100L Anatomy lab 2
PHSO R100 Human Physiology ** 3
PHSO R100L Human Physiology lab 2
MICR R100 Principles of Microbiology 3
MICR R100L Prin. of Microbiology Lab 2
ENGL R101 College Composition 3
PSY R101 General Psychology 3
SOC R101 Intro to Sociology 3
SPCH R101 Intro to Oral Communication 3
*These items are only recommended.
**Combined Anatomy/Physiology not accepted, effective 2008

The courses listed above are not necessarily entry-level courses. Oxnard College offers courses to prepare students to succeed in these prerequisites, see a counselor for more information. A basic ability to converse in Spanish is also beneficial for applicants as the dental clinic serves a large population of Spanish-speaking patients.

DEGREE COMPLETION
The Dental Hygiene Program is a two-year degree program. Therefore, in addition to the dental hygiene program prerequisites and the actual dental hygiene courses, students are required to complete general education courses. It is recommended that these courses be taken prior to entry into the program. Listed below are the required general education courses to graduate, but are not considered prerequisites to the program. For class descriptions, call the counseling office (805) 986-5816.
One course in each of the following:
• Communication / Analytical Thinking
• Fine Arts
• Physical Education (one activity course)
• Health Science
• U.S. History or Political Science
• Humanities
Graduation requires successful completion of one math class (equivalent to elementary algebra or higher) and one reading/college literature class, as approved by transcript evaluator.

SELECTION
Application packets are available every December for the fall class and are accepted from January 1st to March 1st of the year entrance is desired. Students must have all prerequisites completed by the end of the fall semester of the prior year.* Contact the Dental Hygiene Department to have an application sent to you (805/986-5823).

The Oxnard College Dental Hygiene Program utilizes a lottery-type selection process. Upon verification of program admission requirements, all qualified candidates will be included in a selection pool. A random selection process will be initiated to select the dental hygiene candidates. Alternates will also be selected using the same method, and alternates will be used in the event of any resigning candidates. The alternates will be notified as soon as we are aware of the openings.

Applicant Selection is based on the following criteria:
1. Completion of all prerequisites by the end of the Fall Semester prior to program entry*
2. 3.0 or better cumulative college GPA
3. 3.0 or better GPA in all college science prerequisites
4. Five-year recency requirement for all science related courses
5. High School Diploma or equivalent
6. Current CPR card
*one science course may be in progress at the time of application (separate sections of correlating lecture and laboratory classes are considered one class)

GPA & COURSE RECENCY
Students must have a 3.0 or better cumulative college grade point average (GPA) and a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA in prerequisite science courses in order to apply to the program. All prerequisite science courses (with the exception of General Biology) must be completed within the last 5 years.

CPR CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT
A valid adult, child, and infant CPR card including two-person CPR is required prior to applying to the Dental Hygiene Program. Courses can be obtained through Oxnard College (Course #HED R010), The American Heart Association, or The American Red Cross. This certification must be kept current throughout the two-year program

ELIGIBILITY
Please be sure to confirm your eligibility with an Oxnard College academic counselor. You can contact the counseling office at (805) 986-5816.

• Catalog description Courses

Important note: clicking on this link will download the entire Oxnard College Catalog (which might take a few moments). You will be taken to the catalog pages for this area of study. If you want to print just these pages you must go to File, Print and then select the page numbers of the range of pages you want to print in order to insure that you do not print the entire catalog.