UAMS Turned Pandemic Challenges Into Opportunities for Dental Hygiene Program

The COVID-19 pandemic initially presented a challenge to teaching and delivering dental hygiene care at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), but ultimately offered an opportunity to strengthen the program.

The Department of Dental Hygiene in the UAMS College of Health Professions operates the UAMS Dental Hygiene Clinic to train students and serve patients at low or no cost to them.

Until 2021, the clinic operated on the main campus in Little Rock and had an open floor plan with treatment bays clustered together. Safety restrictions like social distancing put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic made using the space more difficult. It also meant reducing the number of patients that the clinic could see at any one time, which also decreased the opportunities that dental hygiene students had for hands-on training.

An effective pause in operations in 2020 due to the pandemic, along with important funding from the university, afforded the department the opportunity to move to an upgraded space.

“Because we have separate treatment rooms in the new clinic, patient safety is enhanced,” said Claire Tucker, Ed.D., RDH, the Department Chair. “The access now is on a major city thoroughfare off campus, and parking is easier for the public than where we were.”

The new clinic has 20 individual treatment rooms and five radiograph rooms. Every patient has their own room to eliminate the spread of aerosols to other patients and provide enhanced patient privacy.

Between July 2021 and July 2022, students at the clinic saw about 200 children as patients, many of them from underserved, low-income families, as well as Afghan refugee families and other patients referred from the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Clinic, a free, student-run multidisciplinary clinic. Faculty supervised all visits.

A child receives preventive care at one of the two Summer of Smiles clinics in June 2022 by the Department of Dental Hygiene in the UAMS College of Health Professions.

The Dental Hygiene Program requires students to complete a community project and log hours of community service for graduation. Students fulfilled this requirement at the sealant clinics, which includes dental examinations and dental hygiene education.

Also in the new space, the clinic upgraded to the latest state-of-the-art dental equipment, enhancing the students’ hands-on training so they were better prepared for jobs after graduation.

“The new clinic has afforded our students the opportunity to get outside themselves and work with patient populations they have not had experiences with,” said Dr. Tucker. “It is eye opening. It is as well from a faculty perspective.”

Dr. Tucker said she never had the chance to work with Afghan refugee families before, most of whom had limited experience with dental care. 

An Afghan refugee woman receives an oral health assessment and dental cleaning at the UAMS Dental Hygiene Clinic.

Students and faculty strive to continue to educate children and parents about the proper ways to care for their dental health. Educating parents is also especially important because they can follow up with the youngest children, who might not yet have the manual dexterity to brush on their own teeth.

One student said the only way he and his classmates can gain hands-on experience is by working with different patients and case types. Doing that in the new clinic better prepares them to work as professional dental hygienists.

Dr. Tucker said these outreach clinics give the students “a heart for community” with the goal that when they are practitioners, they continue the mindset of service in their professional lives.

Courtesy of Ben Boulden, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Published on February 8, 2023