Patient Information

Dear Patients: Please remember the SUNY Orange Dental Hygiene clinic is an educational clinic. Students are supervised and evaluated by faculty as they proceed through the patient assessment and treatment, and develop their skills. Our educational program and Dental Hygiene Care clinic are inclusive learning environments welcoming to all patients and students.

• Once you are assigned to the student-clinician, that assignment is final and you cannot request to be seen by a different student. However, depending on the educational needs of the student, we may ask you to be seen by another student-clinician and this transfer will only be done with you agreement.
• Our patients should expect to be in clinic for about 3 hours each visit.
• Multiple re-visit appointments may be required to complete your Dental Hygiene care, depending on the difficulty of the case/skill level of the student-clinician and any additional assessments necessary.
• Additional assessments, such as x-rays, may be needed to determine if your care can be completed in our Dental Hygiene clinic.
• If the patient's medical or dental/periodontal condition is determined to be too complex for dental care in an educational setting, we will provide the referral and a comprehensive list of dental treatment facilities.
• Medical consultation and medical clearance may be required to ensure the safety of your treatment in our clinic.
• Please make sure to arrive on time for your appointments. Arriving late or missing the appointment impedes the students' educational progress.
• A referral for care and a comprehensive list of dental facilities will be provided if you do not have a dental home.
• Upon completion of dental hygiene care, patients will be informed of their recommended recare interval, and they should contact the Dental Hygiene clinic to schedule the next recare appointment.

Providing dental hygiene care in a safe environment is our priority. Our implemented infection control protocols continue to follow recommended CDC and ADA/ADHA guidelines.

Infection Control and Bloodborne Pathogen Policy

The Commission of Dental Accreditation states that the policies on bloodborne and infectious diseases be made available to patients. This information has always been made available upon request to the clinic patients but now will be more readily accessed on the department website. There will also be a sign posted in the clinic to remind patients that these policies are available to them.

The current Post Exposure Protocol (PEP) is also included in the policy.