Dental Hygiene: A.A.S.

SUNY Broome’s Dental Hygiene Department offers a unique program that provides quality educational experience for dental hygiene students.

Dental hygiene is the science and practice of the recognition, treatment and prevention of oral diseases. SUNY Broome graduated its first class more than 50 years ago and the Dental Hygiene Department has become a premier program in New York State. The program’s reputation and examination results attest to the department’s outstanding accomplishments.

This Associate’s degree program is designed to prepare competent dental hygiene professionals, capable of providing quality dental hygiene care in a variety of settings within a changing healthcare system and a culturally diverse society. Students gain skills and knowledge required to take the National Dental Hygiene Board and the Northeast Regional Board Examinations required for licensure.

The on-campus dental hygiene program’s state-of-the-art clinic houses 26 dental units, seven x-ray operatories, two labs and various classrooms for student use. All of the dental and x-ray units have computers using computerized patient data management software, digital radiographs and clinical evaluation. Internet components are used as supplements to enhance instruction and promote student learning in the clinical and classroom setting.

The program is designed to nurture student growth, promote development of critical and ethical judgment, and encourage life-long learning. The curriculum includes didactic, laboratory and clinical instruction sufficient to graduate competent clinicians who are capable of practicing contemporary dental hygiene procedures. Students are educated to clinical competencies in both traditional and advanced procedures, with emphasis on the preventive and therapeutic services essential for providing total patient care to the public.

Pain Management Certification

SUNY Broome’s Dental Hygiene two-year curriculum includes the NYS certification course in local infiltration anesthesia and nitrous oxide analgesia. This is noteworthy because many New York dental hygiene schools do not include this certification course in their curriculum. Their graduates must then seek this education at additional time and expense. Our graduates are competent and are ready to enter the current practice of dental hygiene care in New York State.

Program Notes

Course Requirements