Oral Systemic Educator Certification NNHH

Revitalize Your Career 

  • Gain confidence to speak to your patient's providers
  • Start your own speaking or consulting business
  • Offer lunch & learns to your local medical systems
  • Create new public health programs in your community
  • Create your own position on an integrated care team
  • Approach your local hospital administration about utilizing your knowledge and skills to improve patient outcomes
  • Help your dental office become an integrated oral medicine office preventing oral and systemic disease
  • Practice true "Patient Centered Care" and serve those you treat at a higher level

TOP EDUCATORS 

IN OUR FIELD

Learn from Registered Dental Hygienists who have spent years studying and/or working in each field

100% ONLINE & SELF-PACED

Learn from anywhere, when it's convenient for you

PLUS RECEIVE 34 CE!

 

IMPLEMENT WHAT YOU LEARN 

With ungraded assignments and a Capstone Project, plus optional Practicum

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This foundational, comprehensive certificate program from National Network of Healthcare Hygienists features instructors who specialize in specific areas of healthcare or integration (and/or have direct experience), and have developed learning modules to prepare Registered Dental Hygienists to work with or speak to medical professionals about the importance of the oral systemic link and collaborative care. Along with a basic review of medical terminology, physiology, current diagnostic methods and treatment modalities, students will learn how the different specialties in medicine overlap, especially when it comes to oral systemic implications. Upon completion of this program, students will be more confident speaking to and educating multidisciplinary providers and patients about the research-based links between the mouth and the body. You will have the necessary tools to be successful working in medicine and on integrated care teams, helping you rise as leaders in the prevention of oral systemic disease. 

OVERALL OBJECTIVES

  1. Examine basic medical terminology and systems in multiple specialties of medicine
  2. Discuss oral systemic implications and factors for each specialty or subsection of medicine
  3. Illustrate working in collaborative care environments as part of an interprofessional team
  4. Use the knowledge to educate medical providers and healthcare systems on the oral systemic link

Hear from passionate hygienists who have already completed this course

Nan C. Portmann, RDH, CH-OSE

I just want to say - THANK YOU! I have had ideas, hopes and dreams of integrating my knowledge and skills that I have acquired during the 20+ years I have worked in the dental field, now I feel like I have a roadmap to achieve those goals.

Kriston Reisnour RDH, BSDH, CCSH, CSOM, CH-OSE

I lost both of my parents young to end stage diseases and I thought 'What can I do as a clinician to help patients not go down that path?' I know if I can stop inflammation and chronic disease, I can help them have a long, productive life. This course is a must for any RDH interested in integration.

Griselda Lopez, CDA, RDH, CH-OSE

5 STARS! I learned so much! It all makes sense and helps connect medical and dental and the mouth and body. I also liked how you even incorporated the business side of being an Oral Systemic Educator.

ENROLLMENT

  • Distinguish yourself among your peers in job applications
  • Feel better prepared to work collaboratively
  • Fully online & self-paced with no expiration date
  • Unlimited LIFETIME ACCESS to future versions & updates as research & best practices expand
  • No renewal - once you complete the program you own your certificate for life
ENROLL IN PROGRAM

Meet Your Instructors 

These experts have been handpicked by our Board of Directors and Education Committee for their dedication to oral systemic health, their expertise and/or experience in their specialty, and their commitment to medical dental integration.

  • Click the photo to connect with them on social media or their website
  • Click the arrow to the right of the drop down box to view their bio, course description, and objectives
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Capstone Options

Choose ONE applied learning project to deepen and implement your understanding of the material and receive your certificate of completion:

  • Develop and present an Oral Systemic Education Course to non-dental providers in your chosen focus of study (can be general or specialized) of at least 30 minutes in length.
  • Donate 4-8 hours to educate patients and/or providers in a medical office.
  • Procure and run a booth at a community health fair in your chosen focus of study.
  • Write and submit an article for publication to a peer-reviewed digest.
  • Create an Oral Health Education Video or handout for providers or patients.

Optional (in addition to Capstone): Complete a 6 week internship to earn "Practicum Level Educator" status 

What are actual students saying inside the program?

Do Hygienists Work in Healthcare? YES.

 

 

 

 

Katharine Martinez, RDH, MPH | ORAL HEALTH EDUCATOR

PHOENIX CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

is a perfect example of where our profession is needed, and headed

"There is a sense of gratitude among nurses and doctors for the expertise that I bring to the hospital. For many of these providers, their education only touched briefly upon the oral cavity, and they rely heavily on an otolaryngologist for help with conditions of the mouth. Now that my role exists, I help these providers navigate and educate patients on oral conditions. I work very closely with medical residents to educate them on performing assessments and how to classify a patient’s oral status. These residents will take that education with them to other hospitals and hopefully provide better overall care for their future patients."

ENROLLMENT

  • Distinguish yourself among your peers in job applications
  • Feel better prepared to work collaboratively
  • Fully online & self-paced with no expiration date
  • Unlimited LIFETIME ACCESS to future versions & updates as research & best practices expand
  • No renewal - once you complete the program you own your certificate for life
ENROLL IN PROGRAM

How can this program help you inside a clinical setting?

 

 

 

 

Dr Marc Cooper, a periodontist and integration thought leader,

believes hygienists are an integral part of an oral medicine practice.

"I believe hygiene in most dental practices is basically held as an overpriced revenue center and dental maintenance shop. This will be dramatically altered in an integrated office. In the integrated office, the hygienist's value, worth, and stature will be directly uplifted.

Of course, their training, development, and education will need to correspond with performing primary care functions. In this paradigm, the hygienist becomes a "starter" on the team.

Who better to handle this component of healthcare but a hygienist? Expanding a hygienist's wingspan to include select primary care protocols and procedures and working with patients at their hygiene appointments on compliance and behavioral change is a natural fit."

Thank You!

13 FULL scholarships were awarded to public health hygienists in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina through a grant by Delta Dental Foundation.

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