Dental Hygiene Articles

Pennsylvania College of Technology will once again host a Pre-Health Plunge Program, set for Aug. 3 through 12. The 10-day residential opportunity, funded through a gift from AllOne Charities, is designed to help prepare students, at no cost, with foundational human anatomy and physiology content, introduce them to campus support services and provide opportunities to build rapport with a cohort of peers.

Eighty-four Penn College dental hygiene alumni and 20 students were among those attending a recent continuing education event hosted by Penn College’s Student Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Pennsylvania College of Technology dental hygiene students recently took part in outreach events that focused on two unique populations: infants and veterans.

Shawn A. Kiser, director of the dental hygiene program at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently was honored with the William K. Collins Sr. Meritorious Service Award from the American Board of Dental Examiners.

Second-year dental hygiene students and dental hygiene faculty provided care for 34 children at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Kids Oral Health Day – an expanded version of the familiar Sealant Saturday events that began in 2003.

Can you survive a month in poverty? That was the key question at a recent Community Action Poverty Simulation explored by Penn College students in various majors in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences and School of Business, Arts & Sciences. Poverty simulations have been held at the college since Spring 2019, but the Spring 2025 event was the first to cast a wider net of cross-curricular collaboration.

Three dental hygiene students recently learned by teaching in the college’s Children’s Learning Center. As part of a Community Dental Health class project, students worked with 4- and 5-year-olds at the center, teaching them about the effects of nutrition on oral health, cavities and how they occur, and brushing technique.

Supporting Pennsylvania College of Technology’s mission to equip future leaders with real-world experience, faculty members led students in exploring new parts of that world through six 2024 Global Experience classes. In Europe, students explored the origin and future of objects of their study, and in Latin America, they used their budding skills to serve others. Around 135 students participated in the classes.

On Saturday, Nov. 9, Pennsylvania College of Technology will provide free dental care to children and teens age 7-18. From 9 a.m. to noon in the college’s Dental Hygiene Clinic, volunteer dentists and dental hygienists and Penn College students will provide free oral screenings, sealants and education during an activity dubbed “Sealant Saturday.” Appointments are required and can be made by calling 570-320-8007.

Alumni who, as students, provided oral health care in third-world countries reunited on campus last week to reminisce and to celebrate how the experience continues to shape their outlooks. Since 2008, Rhonda J. Seebold, part-time instructor of dental hygiene, has taught classes that concluded with travel to Nicaragua (2008-2015), and Dominican Republic (2016-2024). With a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the 15th class traveled to the Dominican this summer.