Author: Thy Huynh

Personal reflection

I cannot believe I am almost done with dental hygiene school. It has been a tough road but I am happy for the accomplishments.

It was a great learning experience in the past two years. It was challenging at times because of the busy schedule. When my hard work reflected through my grades, it motivated me to work harder to achieve my goals. Looking back at these two years, I would not trade this experience for anything. I learned a lot about the field and also learned so much about myself. I am passionate about the dental hygiene field and that has kept me motivated. Throughout the program, I learned how to manage my time wisely and found different strategies to study for each class. I also learned how to enjoy my time at the school without getting stressed over little things. I saw myself improving in communicating with patients and time management. It was a great to have faculties by my side throughout the appointment. They taught me many new skills and gave my feedbacks. The second year of Fones school was tough in terms of handling both classes, clinic and outside rotation. It was a great experience to go to different facilities, treat varieties patients. I believe it is important to stay involved in the community.

As dental hygienists, I am able to educate my patients about oral health, nutritional counseling and smoking cessation prevent them from having future decay, gum diseases, infections, heart disease, stroke, etc. I am able to provide prophylaxis to all patients. My radiographic skill, debridement skill have improved over the past two years.


Additional information

-I shadowed in dental offices to be familiar with the normal flow of a day
-I have a pending certification in the WAND (STA) System: Computer- controlled dental injection.

-I had an opportunity to attend Mission of Mercy 2018. It was an experience that I will never forget.

I had an opportunity to attend Advocacy day at Hartford Capital.

-I had opportunities to treat patients at Norwalk hospital and SouthWest Community Health Center. I also observed oral surgeons.

-Every 2 years, I will be updating my CPR certification to ensure my competence.

  • CPR certificate
  • WAND training
  • Volunteer
  • Our last day of Clinic of our first semester
  • We first got our loupes
  • Board Screening day
  • Advocacy Day

CDHA Nutmeg Conferences

I attended the Connecticut Dental Hygienist Associations Annual Nutmeg Conference two years in a row. It was a great experience. As a dental hygiene student, I am so proud to be a part of ADHA. I am happy to know that my opinion might help other people in this program in the future. I would like to become more involved in the future. I feel so proud to be in this program.

Community Public Health

In this rotation, I went to different facilities such as mental health center, alcohol and drug addiction, nursing home. I had opportunities to do BSS and give them fluoride. I also gave a presentation about how to take care their oral health. My group also made a Jeopardy game.

Pediatric Rotation

In this rotation, I had opportunities to do Basic Screening Survey of young children at Head Start Facilities in Bridgeport. I collected data on the presence of carious lesions, as well as provide fluoride varnish to those with their parents’s permission. I also made a lesson plan and gave presentations about nutrition and how sugar is harmful to teeth to the children at Six to Six magnet school.

Jetti S. Tisdale School

Jetti S. Tisdale School is one of my Dental Public Health rotations. 90% of the students are participate in a free lunch program. They are at high risk for caries. We provide dental prophylaxis, radiographs, sealants and fluoride. Our green group made a board for our project. We also collected coats, hats, gloves and scarves for students.