Overview
The mission of The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry is educating tomorrow’s oral health leaders in a community of service and inclusion by utilizing emerging technologies and innovative research to provide comprehensive oral health care for all. In support of this mission, the Division of Dental Hygiene leads the dental hygiene profession in its commitment to students by providing an exemplary comprehensive education in evidence-based knowledge, patient-centered clinical care and public health access to care for all.
Dental Hygiene program
The Dental Hygiene program at VCU School of Dentistry is one of two B.S. in Dental Hygiene programs in Virginia and the only that trains students alongside their D.D.S. counterparts.
VCU School of Dentistry’s Dental Hygiene program is the ONLY baccalaureate program in Virginia housed in a dental school. This collaborative environment fosters comprehensive care, the appreciation of the team and collegiality from the start of a students' tenure in the program. The program provides high quality oral health care services to residents of Virginia, and provides consultative and other services to governmental and private agencies, professional organizations and the community through the leadership and expertise of its faculty and contributions of its students.
Faculty members are committed to creating an educational environment that facilitates the development of creative, critical thinking, ethical professionals who are capable of realistically assessing their own performance and directing their own professional growth and development during and beyond the education at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry.
Faculty and teaching
The Division of Dental Hygiene endeavors to recruit, retain and develop high quality, productive faculty who accept responsibility for advancing knowledge in the field of dental hygiene. Faculty foster intellectualism and offer a professional education for dental hygiene students that embodies leadership, excellence and relevance. The faculty strives to prepare graduates who can provide dental hygiene services with competence in any setting in accordance with ethical codes of the profession and statutory provisions for dental hygiene practice. Our faculty also strives to maintain a quality curriculum that is continually reviewed and updated to reflect emerging healthcare trends and future roles in dental hygiene practice.
In addition to didactic and clinical teaching of our dental hygiene students, our faculty also teaches dental students in the classroom and in clinical situations, and have worked interprofessionally teaching in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care (IPEC) programs on campus.
Advocacy
Our full and part-time faculty are leaders in the dental hygiene profession, locally, statewide and nationally. Through service and advocacy, our faculty members are making a difference by providing access to oral health care for all and developing future leaders of the profession. Division Director Marion Manski, M.S. R.D.H., is the chair of the American Dental Education Association's Council of Allied Dental Program Directors and has served for the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA). Our faculty also includes the 2023 President of the Virginia Dental Hygienists' Association and delegates of the ADHA.
Research
While in the dental hygiene program, students conduct research through various modalities. A research specific course is taught to students whereby they research a relevant topic by review of the literature. They then develop their papers for presentation in an all school Research Day.
Students also create case studies on their patients during their senior year as part of their clinical experiences. They utilize research, patient data, impressions, intra oral pictures, radiographs, and patient assessment data to create a comprehensive paper and poster. They present their case studies to faculty and junior students as a Case Conference Day.
Patient care and community service
Many Division of Dental Hygiene faculty members provide high-quality care in our faculty practice, in addition to volunteering in the community or in Missions of Mercy projects to provide access to oral health care for all.