Assessing Participants’ Feedback to Dental Screening Provided by New York City College of Technology’s Dental Hygiene Students

The purpose of this research is to determine if CUNY students, faculty and staff are aware of the Dental Hygiene Program and services located at New York City College of Technology (NYCCT). Dental Hygiene students at NYCCT provide educational, clinical and therapeutic services to the public in accordance with individual state Dental Hygiene practice acts. Prevention and treatment of oral disease are recognized as important factors in a patient\u27s overall health and well-being. Dental hygienists are important members of the dental health care team providing these services. The first phase of the project consisted of a free dental screening event that was held during a Wellness Fair at the CUNY Graduate Center on May 2nd, 2018. The individuals that participated in this event were contacted to schedule an appointment in order to receive a prophylaxis (comprehensive Dental Hygiene examination and treatment/care) with a Dental Hygiene student. The second phase of the project involves an electronic survey completed by the dental screening participants as well as a hard copy (paper) survey that will be given to individuals who complete dental treatment at NYCCT’s Dental Hygiene clinic. The findings of this research will demonstrate that those individuals who received the dental screening are likely to schedule an appointment to receive a prophylaxis. Additional benefits associated with this study are that the findings will support raising the level of awareness of the services available in our dental clinic in terms of future dental screenings