Adha's Focus on Advancing the Profession: Minnesota's Dental Hygiene Educators' Response‪.‬

Introduction Since its inception, the profession of dental hygiene has been a preventive oral health care provider, primarily focused as clinical providers, health educators, and community health advocates. Nearly 100 years later, the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) has called for a review of the direction of dental hygiene with direct implications for educational institutions, in recognition of the nation's demand for increased access to oral health care. Specifically, the ADHA has recommended development of degree completion programs to enable licensed hygienists to pursue their baccalaureate degree and prepare hygienists of the future.