Literature review

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Hawra alabdulla

Dr.Varty

ENG 3010

26 January 2025

Discourse community of dental hygiene

For my research essay, I'll be focusing on the dental hygiene field. This discourse community is one I plan on entering in the future. As someone who has many family members in this field or in the dental field in general, I have a good amount of knowledge on this topic. To get more information on my essay, I'm going to approach my brother-in-law for an interview and pose the question, do you feel comfortable in your field?

I once was at my sister's house, and my brother-in-law had just come home from work with a glum-looking face on. My sister immediately noticed and asked him what happened. He told her he thought he hated his job. I looked at him, confused, he used to be so excited to graduate and work with his degree. What happened? He mentioned how his superiors would treat him differently and would constantly be harsher on him than anyone else. This raised the question for me: was it because he's clearly Middle Eastern, or was it because his name was Mohammed? My brother-in-law engaged with dentists and other hygienists. He would say he puts all he can into his work and to his patients. I know these are topics that matter because, in this day and age, we shouldn't be experiencing discrimination in the workplace.

To see how my brother-in-law felt at this discourse community I decided the first piece of research I would do is an interview. The first question I asked him was: Were you mistreated during the program? He answered pretty clearly and said no. My next question was, would you say this discourse community is comfortably yours? He said not really, this community is predominantly white females. Next I asked do you think it'll be easier if I'm a woman in the field? He said possibly, but the fact that you’re a hijabi might cause some discrimination. Then I asked him, If you could go back, would you change your career? He said even though I've had bad moments I do like my job. Next, Do you think their mistreatment is purposeful or it's underlying racism? He said it could be a little bit of both but people won’t want to admit that it’s

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racism. And my last question was, what should I do differently than you? He said he couldn’t tell me that because everyone has their own experience.

Dental hygienists all form a distinct discourse community with a shared goal: their commitment to advancing and caring for oral health. An important part of this community is the ADHA, the american dental hygiene association. This association consists of over 185,000 dental hygienists who all share the common goal of oral health. Through the journal of dental hygiene I explored topics like fluoride treatment , patient compliance and more. Our current administration in the United States would like to remove fluoride from water which increases cavity rates. They wish to do this under the idea that they want chemical free water. If you were to ask any person in the dental field they would be able to tell you how ridiculous that statement is and would only take oral care backwards.

My last source would be from a local clinic of a hygienist I shadowed. She took her time to explain to me everything within her discourse community. As a hijabi woman in the field, she and I share a very similar experience. Except her experience would be what my future might look like. She told me one particular thing that stood out to me, she said in this community she wasn’t only working against low quality or bad oral health. As a hijabi woman in this field she felt as though she had to consistently prove to people that she was just as good as anyone else at her job. She said her experience was a bit harder than expected because she’s had patients who would refuse treatment as long as she was their hygienist. I asked her what she did in those situations, she told me “what could I do but step back and honor their request?” Hearing her experience didn’t discourage me though, rather it motivated me to prove people like that wrong. My hijab wasn’t a testimony on how well I will be able to do my job and the fact that people do believe that is truly saddening.

My findings from the two interviews and journal I read was that people like me, my brother-in-law, and Fatima, the dental hygienist I spoke to, would likely always face that discrimination. But what I found more interesting is regardless of those hardships they would all have one thing in common in this discourse community: their love for oral health. These professionals always have to adapt with new technology, advance patient care, and maintain their professionalism.

In conclusion, this research essay showed me that dental hygienists are way more than just the people who clean your teeth. They are educators,advocates for oral health, researches, they offer so much more than what we thought to the community. Reflecting on my research, I'm

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amazed by this discourse community's continual learning and inclusivity . With that being said I’m left with 3 questions for the remainder of the semester, the first one being how can dental hygienists reach more underserved communities? My second question is what role will AI have in the advancement of patient care? My last question is what can cultural competent training do to improve patient trust and outcomes in places that aren’t as used to diversity?

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Reflective memo

Goals and Achievement

My primary goal was to familiarize myself with the dental hygiene discourse community,

the potentials and challenges it as a field offers especially to people of my background. I also

sought to develop my ability to conduct research and writing in a narrative format. To that end, I

would categorize my progress towards these goals as significant. The interviews conducted, and

the journal articles read expanded my knowledge base, and the draft that I prepared deepened my

understanding while helping me to structure my insights. There is still scope to be more effective

in my writing with respect to clarity and engagement, however.

Progress Made Towards Learning Outcomes

This project required me to engage in critical discourse analysis, appropriate research

techniques, and organize my arguments in an effective manner. I think I have made relevant

progress towards these outcomes. For example, their analysis of the interviews allowed me to

relate individual’s experiences to the broader picture. Utilization of the ADHA journal was a

good demonstration of the fact that I am able to use credible literature in my narrative. On the

other hand, the improvement I want to make is to the ability to evaluate how systemic issues

affect the discourse communities.

During my learning, my brother in law’s interview was quite revealing. His anecdotes

brought forth the detailed patterns of discrimination that exist within the dental profession. This

encounter forced me to question how their culture is likely to influence their professional

identity. My exchange with Fatima, the dental hygienist brought into focus the need to be

resilient and the need for representation in overcoming these obstacles. These conversations

made sense with what I had learnt about cultural prejudice.

I was unaware of the degree of disenfranchisement minority groups encounter in

professional spaces. This understanding has made me think deeper about inclusivity and

advocacy in compassion. There is a lot more that I need to learn about how to effectively combat

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these barriers, including cultural sensitivity and policy changes. I intend to review more literature

and try to find ways to speak to those who practice so that I can learn how it is done in reality.

This project is commendable and it has uplifted me to take some steps towards developing and

advocating for inclusiveness and equitability within the dental hygiene profession.

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CITATIONS:

"Fluoride Varnishes in Caries Prevention." Journal of Dental Hygiene, vol. 78, no. 1, 2004, pp. 10–15. https://jdh.adha.org/external-ref?access_num=15467304&link_type=MED