Grace Reinhard ePortfolio Capstone
Grace Reinhard, RDH
Dental Hygiene Portfolio
Welcome!
Hello! My name is Grace Reinhard. I am excited to tell you more about myself and how I achieved my goal of becoming a Registered Dental Hygienist!
About Me.
I have wanted to become a dental hygienist for as long as I can remember! My mom gave me the idea, knowing I love routine, organization, and helping people become more confident. The more I learned in school, the more I fell in love with my career choice! I prioritize my health and living a balanced lifestyle, making time for my parents and siblings, and challenging myself to learn more and grow daily. I am so excited to give back to my community and aid with my area of expertise! In this portfolio, you will find projects, papers, and competencies completed throughout my time in dental hygiene school.
Core Competencies
Core Competencies reflect the ethics, values, skills, and knowledge integral to all aspects of each of the allied dental professions. These core competencies are foundational to the specific roles of each allied dental professional.
As a dental hygiene student, I was taught the importance of making ethical decisions for my doctor, for myself, and for my patients. During my final year in the dental hygiene program, I took a class focusing on ethics and how they apply to the dental hygiene profession. I was taught the core ethical principles and how to make critical decisions. Throughout my clinical experience and ethics class, I was given real-life experience with ethical dilemmas and pushed outside of my comfort zone. I was taught the importance of not only my autonomy but also my patient's autonomy. I was given a project that deepened my understanding of this concept. Throughout the fall semester of my senior year, I developed a case study on an assigned ethical dilemma. This assignment expanded my knowledge and understanding of applying a professional code of ethics in a possible real-life scenario that could arise in the future. I am so grateful that I was given this opportunity that helped me prepare for experiences that could challenge my character when working with patients. I was able to think deeply about ethical actions to take when faced with dilemmas, develop a strategy for making these decisions, and evaluation of these decisions after making them in a clinical setting. These skills will aid my personal and professional success in the future, as well as challenge my critical thinking skills and judgment. I will never forget the key concepts from this class, and from my clinical experience in dental hygiene school.
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
HP. 3
Identify individual and population risk factors, and develop strategies that promote health-related quality of life.
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During my final year, we were assigned a tobacco cessation assignment. To complete this assignment, we were instructed to find a patient who partook in tobacco or marijuana usage, screen them for oral cancer, and provide cessation to aid them in their journey to stop smoking. In all honesty, I was not looking forward to this assignment. I did not think individuals who smoked were interested in smoking cessation, and I was nervous that my patient would be annoyed and unappreciative of my efforts. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was incorrect in my thinking! My patient was very appreciative and receptive to the information and tools I provided and began her journey to completely cut out smoking tobacco and marijuana from her life. This assignment and aspect of care proved to me that I can make a difference in someone's oral health, and that I am capable of providing high levels of care.
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During the senior year of my dental hygiene program, I was given the task of tying my clinical experience into a presentation that fully encapsulated a more challenging patient. It was a case study project and turned out to be quite extensive. This project married my ability to carry out clinical treatment for a complex patient, and accurately record all treatments performed. For the clinical portion of this assignment, I chose a patient that was classified as a calculus 3 and perio 2 and 3 in all four quadrants of the mouth. I saw this patient for a total of eight appointments and recorded everything about this patient in full detail. A full treatment plan was developed and carried out for this patient, as well as recorded in detail for the assignment. I credit this case study assignment for teaching me how to educate a patient about their oral health, and teaching me how to motivate a patient to take accountability for their oral health. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity this project gave me, aiding me to become the most professional and efficient hygienist I can be.
Carthage Outside Sealants Rotation, Fall 2024
Community, Patient Care, Professional Growth and Development
Summary Statement
Throughout my time in the dental hygiene program, I gained much more than academic education. Reflecting on my first semester in the program, I can see measurable personal and professional growth. I started the dental hygiene program intimidated, scared, and not at all confident that I could complete the program. My experience in becoming a hygienist has been life-changing. I gained confidence not only in my clinical skills as a hygienist but also in my ability to persevere in times of intense stress. I proved to myself that I could do hard tasks and excel at said-tasks. I have loved the comprehensive benefits I gained from the program. I also gained the ability to give grace not only to myself, but to my peers, instructors, and patients. I believe from the bottom of my heart that my instructors and peers want me to succeed. Specifically, my instructors did everything in their power to help me accomplish my goal of becoming a registered dental hygienist. I will forever be grateful for them.
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The knowledge I gained throughout my time in the dental hygiene program is invaluable. I am proud to say that my growth throughout my educational journey has been measurable. I began the dental hygiene program with only a basline dental knowledge, and have gained so many effective tools. Not only have I learned all of the necessary skills to effectively provide treatment for all demographics of patients, but I have gained the necessary knowledge to educate those patient on their oral health. I know how to explain bone loss to a patient in a manner they are able to comprehend, and give them the tools to positively and effectively manage their own oral health. I know how to listen and assess a patient's level of interest and comprehension when discussing their oral health and at-home routines. I now know how to provide tobacco cessation and nutritional counseling to a patient as it pertains to oral health. I am so excited to utilize these tools in clinical practice and make a difference in the lives of my patients!
Thank you!
