Hygienist Licensing Examination case studies
Hygienist Licensing Examination · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The dental hygienist licensing examination is the entry-to-practice assessment that a jurisdiction's dental board or regulatory body uses to decide whether a graduate may be licensed as a registered dental hygienist and treat patients independently or under supervision. It is written for students finishing an accredited dental hygiene program and for internationally trained hygienists seeking licensure, and it assumes you already hold the clinical skills - the exam tests whether you can apply them safely and defensibly. The Hygienist Licensing Examination case studies are 5 cases and about 3,796 words.
1A New Patient With Suppressed Bleeding and Drug-Induced Enlargement
K, 58, is a new patient booked for a 45-minute comprehensive examination. He has type 2 diabetes with an HbA1c of 8.9% drawn last week, smokes 20 cigarettes a day, and finished a 10-day course of amoxicillin–clavulanate for sinusitis 12 days ago.
773 words, about 4 min2Active Root Caries, Dry Mouth, and a Wedding-Deadline Whitening Request
L, 71, requests whitening before her daughter's wedding in three weeks. Her medical history includes hypertension, depression, and urge incontinence; medications are amlodipine 10 mg, sertraline 100 mg, oxybutynin 15 mg extended release, and omeprazole 20 mg.
749 words, about 4 min3Anticoagulated Patient Wanting Full-Mouth Scaling Before Travel
R, 67, is scheduled for full-mouth scaling and root planing in two sessions. He has atrial fibrillation and a mechanical mitral valve, takes warfarin (last INR 3.4, drawn six days ago) and aspirin 81 mg, and has been taking ibuprofen 400 mg three times daily for knee pain.
750 words, about 4 min4Positive Spore Test and Fourteen Loads Already Used
The office has one steam autoclave. On Monday morning the weekly biological indicator (Geobacillus stearothermophilus) from the Friday load is positive.
771 words, about 4 min5Pressure to Falsify Charting, Forge a Signature, and Skip the Exam
At a corporate-affiliated practice, the regional manager tells the hygienist to make the schedule more profitable. Specifically, she is asked to (1) change the periodontal charting on three recall patients from 5–6 mm pockets with bleeding to 3 mm without bleeding because insurance never pays for perio; (2) sign the dentist's name on the periodontal screening portion of the record because the dentist is double-booked and will look at it later; and (3) start scaling and root planing on a new patient before the dentist has done the required comprehensive examination.
753 words, about 4 min