Dental hygienists are subject to the Code of Ethics and declare their commitment to competence, integrity and morality, altruism and public goods within their field.[2] Canadian dental hygienist’s responsibilities aligned with my idea of what “oral health expert” should be. Dental hygienist play 'professionalism' by wearing professional attire and giving kind reminder for regular check-up, maintaining practice license, annually continuing competency record (CCR) and attending conference as well as updating knowledge and expertise skills to gain access to clients and public oral health based on understanding and treatment of overall physical health or phenomenon. In that sense, professionalism is one of the core abilities of dental hygiene. 

 

Dental hygiene's profession emphasizes ethical spirit in various areas to encourage healthy behavior of ourselves, colleagues, clients and the public, and to practice honest attitudes, reduce risks and report on unethical and offending services. [2] Let me introduce some of the experiences that changed my perception for the profession through the courses of school of dental hygiene. 

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    I had a white coat ceremony shortly after the start of the new school year in 2018. The students, including myself, had a meaningful day with excitement about the new life in school and the expectation that it would be a step forward to become a "profession" for ourselves. As a future oral health professional, we pledged our commitment to community, patient contributions, and sincere attitudes based on ethics and also received a "white coat" from our professors. All of us in white coats received the community code on this day. Signing and reading the oath to our family and friends were a symbolic moment. From this moment, I have managed the oral health of more than 20 patients, my community members whom I have met, and provided optimal results based on the ethical spirit for their ongoing health. [Evidence 1]

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EVIDENCE 1. White Coat Ceremony in 2018 & The community code

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    Community service, partnerships with professional agencies, and the role of preventing and managing viral emergencies are parts of the dental hygiene profession [2]. Community members get their oral health needs from dental hygienists. 

   When I volunteered at the Winnipeg Interdisciplinary Student-Run Health (WISH) clinic, I met my community members who had demands on mental and physical caring, such as free vaccine, food and snack, and places to interact with other community members. In that volunteering place, there were other volunteers from different majors. We helped each other in welcoming community members by performing different tasks, such as preparing community meeting room, food and vaccination. From this volunteering experience, I have learned about patrons’ needs and their characters, such as what kind of family types, their physical disability, cultural and language barriers. However, inherently, they all were willing to engage our services although they seemed to be unfriendly at the first glance. As a dental hygiene student, I thought of their social determinant of health from a health promotor’s perspective and now I can think my role not only as an oral hygiene profession, but also as a supporter for their well-being, such as disease prevention and mental wellness. Also, this perspective could be part of the ethical base which is converged to professionalism of dental hygiene. [Evidence 2]

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EVIDENCE 2. Volunteer at WISH clinic and meeting with community members.

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