By SPENCER WARD
Beginning in 1998, two more Utah schools will offer an associate degree in dental hygiene. The Utah Board of Regents voted Friday to fund programs at Dixie College in St. George, Utah, and Utah Valley State College.
'Each program will graduate 12 students a year,' said Laurie Fugate, assistant director of the Utah Dental Association. 'UVSC will start their program January of 1998, and Dixie will begin September of 1998.'
This decision was made following heavy discussion in the June meeting of the Board of Regents.
Before Friday's decision, Weber State University in Ogden and Salt Lake Community College were the only Utah schools with a dental hygiene program until Dixie College and UVSC school requested to offer the dental hygiene program, said Patricia Crane, assistant commissioner for government and media relations.
The Utah Dental Hygienists' Association was initially not in favor of the addition of new programs. 'Is every higher education institute going to have a dental hygiene program, and is that the best use of state funds, or should we focus more on improving and expanding things?' said Marianne Carter, president of the Utah Dental Hygienists' Association.
Currently, 436 hygienists are needed to work 25 hours a week, 3 days a week, Fugate said.
'Dental hygiene is a growing profession,' Carter said. 'Dentists are saying they are having a hard time finding hygienists, and I think the Board of Regents was convinced that there was a need out there. However, some hygienists are having a difficult time finding a job, and sometimes, the right job with the right dentist. It is a concern, but I don't think it is the major concern.'
'To double the number of dental hygienists in Utah at this time would create an overabundance of individuals in the profession,' said Wendy St. Cyr, a dental hygienist from Sandy, Utah, in a letter to the Board of Regents.
According to St. Cyr's letter, dentists are trying to flood the market with hygienists, making it possible for them to hire at lower wages.
Carter disagrees. 'I don't know if it is the biggest concern, but it is somewhat of a concern,' she said. 'Some major concerns are the quality of education and whether the schools are going in too quickly to teach them adequately. We are also concerned with the number of schools.'
Hygienists are concerned with what these additional programs, balanced with the growth in the dental field, will bring. 'Time will tell,' Carter said. 'I think right now we are fine. We have a lot of good options for jobs right now, which I think is healthy, but what is 10 years going to bring? Are there going to be enough hygienists? Are there going to be hygienists who will be trained but will not be able to find jobs?'
The Utah Dental Hygienists' Association presented these concerns and others to the Board of Regents. 'They listened to our side of the issue. We would have rather not seen both schools approved,' Carter said.
Carter said the association would have preferred that a program begin only at one school. St. George would have been the choice because there is a bigger need there, she said.
The Utah Dental Hygienists' Association feels this way because the program at Salt Lake Community College has just started to work out the kinks.
'The school at Weber is excellent, established and has been around a long time. It's a good program,' Carter said. 'The one at Salt Lake Community College is just about a year and a half old. They just graduated their first class. It's coming along, but they're still working out their kinks. They're off to a good start.'
Although the decision has been made, Carter is hoping Dixie College and UVSC will learn from the past.
'I hope these new schools will take a little bit more time and learn some things from Salt Lake Community College and maybe do their homework before they actually start the program,' Carter said.
Carter said representatives from the Utah Dental Hygienists' Association currently sit on the advisory board for Weber State University and Salt Lake Community College.