Oral Health Care for All
New North Idaho College dental hygiene program strengthens dental health workforce
An NIC Student Dental Hygienist practices on another student in the dental lab at Heritage Health.
North Idaho College’s new Dental Hygiene degree program is positioned to help the region’s dental health workforce meet increasing demand for dental services in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the nation.
At the same time, students in the new program are positioning themselves to enter one of the country’s fastest growing professions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor projects employment for dental hygienists will grow 6 percent by 2029, which is faster than the average for all occupations.
Projected, steady job growth for dental hygienists is tied to an increasing demand nationwide for dental services as the population ages, a situation already unfolding in North Idaho where population growth has surged in recent years, and many of the area’s new residents are retirees over 65.
“This creates a fantastic opportunity for our students, who are all local, to achieve our program’s mission of improving access to oral health care in our North Idaho communities,” said NIC Dental Hygiene Program Director Janis McClelland.
The first cohort of students in the two-year degree program began taking courses in January. The program is offered in two locations, on the NIC main campus in partnership with Heritage Health, and at Lewis-Clark State College’s dental clinic in Lewiston. There are now 15 students, 10 in Coeur d’Alene and five in Lewiston, who are on track to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene and become eligible to sit for the national board examination to become a registered dental hygienist.
NIC’s Dental Hygiene program was granted initial accreditation last August. It is delivered through online courses, internet video conferencing that allows students from each institution to participate in lectures as a large group, and then lab and clinic time on the respective campuses and in partnership with clinics. McClelland said the hybrid delivery model is unique and has required in-depth development and coordination to achieve initial accreditation status.
“The students gain valuable clinical experience while providing services that patients would normally have to wait months for,” McClelland said.
Since 2014, when the college began developing the program, several North Idaho dentists have served on the college’s dental hygiene advisory board. The region’s dentists continue to show great support for the new program.
“Many local dentists kept in touch as we went through the accreditation process,” McClelland said. “Many have applied to be supervising dentists. My own dentist has followed the step-by-step development and connected us with Delta Dental of Idaho for further collaborations.”
North Idaho College Dental Hygiene Program Director and Assistant Professor Janis McClelland, left, instructs students in the dental lab at Heritage Health in Coeur d’Alene.
Dental hygienists in the region are also enthusiastic about the emergence of the NIC degree program. The North Idaho Dental Hygienists Society just donated $1,000 to start a student chapter for NIC students.
“We are happy to know our local dentists and dental hygienists are excited to have the program here, and we’re very grateful for their support,” McClelland said.
For more information: nic.edu/programs/dental-hygiene
Story by Maureen Dolan, NIC Communications and Marketing, maureen.dolan@nic.edu
Photos by Chelsie Shackelford, NIC Communications and Marketing, chelsie.shackelford@nic.edu
Posted: Thursday, March 4, 2021
