Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should:

• Be prepared to sit for the Dental Assisting National Board Exam in Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) written exam.
• Demonstrate how to expose a Full Mouth X-ray (FMX) on a patient in a safe and effective manner and document services rendered accurately.

That every student becomes competent to expose images at industry standards.

Satisfy the competency requirement for certification in Oregon by exposing and processing Full mouth Series (FMS)  and Bitewings (BWXs) on patients in a safe and effective manner. (The number of total patients needed to become competent enough to quality for Oregon Certification will be dependent on student's level of competency at the end of the term.  Some students may need to take more images to attain appropriate competency level.

1. Using diagrams and images, locate and label normal anatomic landmarks.
2. Complete regular workbook assignments, unit quizzes and final exam.

• Biological effects of radiation
• Normal radiographic landmarks
• Exposure and processing errors
• Recognizing restorations
• Quality control
• Image quality
• Bisecting technique
• Film holders
• Introduction to identification of abnormalities
• Automatic processing
• PCC policy and Oregon rules
• Extraoral and panoramic radiography
• Patient management
• Legal requirements of record keeping
• Application of knowledge and skills to patient care
• Infection control review

COMPETENCIES:

1. Explain the biological effects of x-radiation on living tissue.
2. Analyze the quality of images relative to quality of the image and placement.
3. Identify major oral landmarks on both intra- and extra- oral images.
4. Troubleshoot exposure and processing errors and make appropriate corrections.
5. Read and interpret dentist's radiographic prescriptions.
6. Explain Oregon Rules and Regulations and PCC policies and procedures as it applies to dental radiography.
7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of bisecting, occlusal, panoramic and extra-oral radiographic techniques and use these techniques as appropriate.
8. Discuss patient management considerations associated with medically compromised, disabled, elderly and very young patients.
9. Identify and locate various abnormalities, lesions and types of dental work on images at an introductory level.
10. Discuss the legal implications in regard to record-keeping, patient identification, record ownership and referrals.
11. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of film holding devices for taking periapical images.
12. Describe the uses, advantages and maintenance of the automatic processor and use it to process patient films.
13. Demonstrate professional courtesy and standards when working with patients and co-workers.
14. Maintain accurate and timely records of x-ray exposure in patients' charts.
15. Demonstrate proper infection control protocols.