Dental Hygiene Clinic

• Your first appointment will be a limited examination appointment approximately for 1 hour.
• A thorough health/dental history and a limited soft/hard tissue exam will be performed at this time.
• If dental x-rays are necessary for proper treatment, they may also be taken at this appointment; or if available, please bring your x-rays with you.
• After the initial visit, you will be reappointed with a student operator for your care. Please note the waiting time for actual teeth cleaning might take weeks or months depending on each student operator’s clinic schedule, actual time during the academic quarter when you are screened, and school holidays.
• For new patients, please download the Medical History, HIPAA and Consent forms (English| Español), complete and bring them to your appointment or email them to dentalhygieneclinic@foothill.edu    

• Each appointment is typically 3 hours.
• Expect to have at least 2 to 4 appointments or more depending upon your treatment needs and the students' educational level in the two year Dental Hygiene Program.

• Our clinic does not provide restorative dentistry (fillings), oral surgery, periodontal surgery or orthodontics.
• You will be referred to your own private dentist for follow-up care.
• If you do not have a dentist, the directory of community dental resources will be given to you upon completion of treatment.

• Dental X-rays will be taken as necessary and as appropriate for dental hygiene assessments, dental examinations, diagnosis, consultation, and treatment. If you have a current dental x-rays, you can email to dentalhygieneclinic@foothill.edu (must include patient's full name, date of birth and the x-rays taken date)
• In certain cases, treatment in the Foothill College Dental Hygiene Clinic may be refused without current x-rays available.

The following are conditions of patient acceptability for treatment in the Dental Hygiene Clinic:

1. Free from any medical or dental condition that would make treatment hazardous to patient or operator.
2. Oral conditions are considered acceptable for student learning.
3. Patient interest in learning preventive oral hygiene techniques.
4. Patient cooperation in keeping all clinic appointments on time.
5. Patient is compliant with all clinic procedures and follows appropriate guidelines for behavior.

• If you have a medical or dental condition that precludes proper treatment, we may not be able to provide services to you in our clinic facility.
• The initial examination appointment will identify conditions which may warrant referral to a medical doctor or a dentist before you can be seen by a student in our clinic.
• Please bring a list of all current medications.

NOTE: The clinic supervisor reserves the right at any time to refuse or discontinue treatment when indicated.

• Patients are required to be on time for their appointments.
• If cancellation of your appointment is necessary, 24-hours notice within Monday through Friday campus week is required to allow your student adequate time to refill the empty appointment time.
• The student's final grade is based on the number of patients completed. Last minute cancellations and missed appointments can jeopardize the students ability to complete clinical assignments and course requirements.
• A total of TWO cancellations without 24 hours notice, TWO missed appointments, or repeated unsuccessful attempts to arrange for an appointment may be cause to discontinue a patient from further treatment in the Dental Hygiene Clinic.

• Children under three years of age must be mature enough for clinical care.
• All children must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, who must remain in the clinical facility during patient care.
• A consent form for treatment must be signed by parent or legal guardian before treatment is rendered for children under 18 years of age.