Skip to main content
Main Penn College Website

News about Dental Hygiene

Alumni Architectural Technology Art and Graphic Design Aviation Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Building Construction Business & Hospitality Business & Hospitality Management Collision Repair & Restoration Construction & Design Technologies Dental Hygiene Electronics & Computer Engineering Technology Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Engineering Design Technology Faculty & Staff Health Information Technology Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Information Technology Landscape/Horticulture Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Assistant Physician Assistant Radiography Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Surgical Technology Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies Welding

From living space to makerspace, summer visitors have their hands full

Learning the skills and craftsmanship required of a builder in the newest pre-college offering: Building Construction.

A dozen residential Pre-College Programs and a daytime Creative Art Camp brought hundreds of young women and men to Penn College’s campuses in mid-June, providing hands-on entry to the myriad career opportunities reflected in the institution’s postsecondary curriculum. Keeping campers (and PCToday photographers) busy in recent days were these fun learning opportunities, some of which involved culminating projects: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience (ASPIE), Automotive Restoration, Aviation, Building Construction (new this year), Creative Art Camp, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Graphic Design Summer Studio, Grow & Design Horticulture, Health Careers, Information Technology and SMART (Science and Math in Real-world Technologies) Girls.

Read more

Dental Hygiene Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Plastics & Polymer

Instructional space yields informative tour for state legislators

The college's newest (and most lifelike) medical mannequin is introduced by Christopher T. Boyer (left), director of paramedic technology programs, and Sandra L. Richmond (right), dean of nursing and health sciences. Getting a closer look are (from right) Sens. Yaw, Phillips-Hill and Ward – a registered nurse.
The college’s newest (and most lifelike) medical mannequin is introduced by Christopher T. Boyer (left), director of paramedic technology programs, and Sandra L. Richmond (right), dean of nursing and health sciences. Getting a closer look are (from right) Sens. Yaw, Phillips-Hill and Ward – a registered nurse.
Bradley M. Webb, assistant dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, explained the processes taught in three of the college's plastics labs: thermoforming, blow-molding and rotational molding. First stop? Thermoforming, where Webb shows how clamshell packaging is produced.
Bradley M. Webb, assistant dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, explained the processes taught in three of the college’s plastics labs: thermoforming, blow-molding and rotational molding. First stop? Thermoforming, where Webb shows how clamshell packaging is produced.

A pair of first-term state senators visited Penn College on Thursday, stopping by several academic areas in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences and the School of Industrial, Engineering & Computing Technologies. The tour, abbreviated by a stormy forecast (but no less valuable), took Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) and Judy Ward (R-Altoona) to nursing, dental hygiene and three labs in the college’s ABET-accredited plastics program. The tour covered substantial ground: In addition to curricular information on all six schools, the legislators were apprised of the college’s integral corporate advisers, the focused global experiences of students traveling abroad, high-profile internship opportunities, and the essential contributions of equipment and expertise by business and industry. Also on the tour were President Davie Jane Gilmour; state Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the college’s board of directors; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic operations/associate provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; Zack Moore, vice president for government and community relations at Penn State; Jon Hopcraft, chief of staff to Phillips-Hill; and Senate photographer Christopher J. Guerrisi.

Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Brewing & Fermentation Science Business & Hospitality Collision Repair & Restoration Dental Hygiene General Information Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Nursing & Health Sciences Plastics & Polymer Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies Welding Workforce Development

Wide-ranging tour enlightens state Senate committee chairs

Haywood marvels at the breathing chest of a "patient" in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences, where Dean Sandra L. Richmond (left) explained the simulation aids available to nursing students.

A bipartisan group of state legislators, all present for President Davie Jane Gilmour’s budget request to the Senate Appropriations Committee in February, got a follow-up look at Penn College during a trip to main campus on Tuesday. Touring a number of instructional labs with Sen. Gene Yaw (chairman of the college’s board of directors), administrators, faculty and staff were Sen. Art Haywood (D-Cheltenham), minority chair of the Health and Human Services Committee; Sen. Thomas H. Killion (R-Middletown), who chairs the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee; Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R-Erie), chair of the Game and Fisheries Committee; and Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), minority chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee. Along for the visit were H. Fred Walker, director of Erie County Technical School; Kendall Alexander, Haywood’s communications director; and three members of Street’s staff: policy assistant Micah Mahjoubian, legislative aide Angel Betancourt and special assistant Kenneth Carter. Some members of the Senate contingent, who collectively represent highly populated areas from Erie in the northwest to Philadelphia in the southeast corner of the commonwealth, also enjoyed lunch in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant.

Read more

Alumni Dental Hygiene Nursing & Health Sciences Students

Student, grad promote dental hygiene program

Gearhart (left) and Harkins team up for dental hygiene.
Gearhart (left) and Harkins team up for dental hygiene.

Second-year student Hailey A. Gearhart joined forces with 1992 alumna Michele D. (Heitsenrether) Harkins on Friday to represent the Penn College dental hygiene program at a Philipsburg-Osceola High School career fair. During the event, the duo interacted with approximately 100 prospective students from grades 9-12.
Photo provided

Dental Hygiene Emergency Management Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Assistant Physical Therapist Assistant Physician Assistant Radiography Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Students Surgical Technology

Mock crisis authentically adds to interdisciplinary preparedness

Samer R. Doss, a PA student from Montoursville, listens to the heartbeat of dental hygiene student Megan P. Fitzsimmons, of Portville, N.Y.

Students from Penn College’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences and School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications joined area law enforcement, emergency management and health care professionals in a recent simulation at UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center and a variety of other locations.

The college’s paramedic program has participated in the drill since its inception, and this year, the School of Nursing & Health Sciences decided to participate schoolwide to provide an interdisciplinary learning opportunity. The school had conducted its own Interdisciplinary Professional Experience on campus for several years.

Read more

Alumni Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business & Hospitality Dental Hygiene Nursing & Health Sciences Physician Assistant

Beneficent college crew continues ‘pay it forward’ tradition

In the church’s kitchen, students form an assembly line to pack giveaway bags with toothpaste and toothbrushes.
In the church’s kitchen, students form an assembly line to pack giveaway bags with toothpaste and toothbrushes.
The crew of helpers: Front row (from left): dental hygiene students Hailey A. Gearhart, of Phillipsburg; Kaeli A. Plezia, of Sellersville; Taylor E. Allison, of Allport; Emily N. Renninger, of East Greenville; Jordyn M. Kahler, of York; and Megan P. Fitzsimmons, of Portville, N.Y., with Nolan Strouse. Back row (from left): dental hygiene student Pavel Dariychuk, of Leola, with Derek W. Baldwin, a physician assistant studies student, Barbara K. Emert-Strouse, Robert Strouse and Scott Neff II, ’16. Also helping was dental hygiene student Christina M. Kiessling, of Muncy.
The crew of helpers: Front row (from left): dental hygiene students Hailey A. Gearhart, of Phillipsburg; Kaeli A. Plezia, of Sellersville; Taylor E. Allison, of Allport; Emily N. Renninger, of East Greenville; Jordyn M. Kahler, of York; and Megan P. Fitzsimmons, of Portville, N.Y., with Nolan Strouse. Back row (from left): dental hygiene student Pavel Dariychuk, of Leola, with Derek W. Baldwin, a physician assistant studies student, Barbara K. Emert-Strouse, Robert Strouse and Scott Neff II, ’16. Also helping was dental hygiene student Christina M. Kiessling, of Muncy.

For the ninth year, faculty member Barbara K. Emert-Strouse, assistant professor of dental hygiene, and her family, joined by several dental hygiene students,  provided a “pay it forward” dinner at Christ Episcopal Church on Mulberry Street. The group served around 180 diners with a menu of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, Jell-O with fruit, and cake. They also offered free toothbrushes and toothpaste. The church serves a free “First Saturday” community dinner each month, and the family – including sons Scott L. Neff II, a 2016 culinary arts and systems graduate, and Derek W. Baldwin, a physician assistant studies student – provides one of those monthly dinners each spring. The April 6 dinner and the Penn College crew helping to serve it were featured on WBRE.
Photos provided

Dental Hygiene General Information Nursing & Health Sciences

Penn College dental hygiene degrees receive reaccreditation

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene degrees were recently reaccredited by the Commission Dental Accreditation. Students are educated in classrooms and the technology-driven Dental Hygiene Clinic, which offers low-cost services to the public.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation recently approved continued accreditation for Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene program through 2025.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. It serves the public and the profession by developing and implementing accreditation standards that promote and monitor the continuous quality and improvement of dental education programs.

Read more

Dental Hygiene Events Nursing & Health Sciences Students

‘Sealant Saturday’ volunteers strengthen children’s smiles

Dental hygiene students provide fun learning stations for families visiting the event. Standing, from left, are Lori M. Weaver, of Newmanstown; Hailey A. Gearhart, of Philipsburg; Dana L. Kraft, of Royersford; Samantha K. Steiger, of Howard; and Michayla J. Roberts, of Newville. Kneeling are Sydney E. Brewer, of Gettysburg, and Staci M. Senior, of State College.
Dental hygiene students provide fun learning stations for families visiting the event. Standing, from left, are Lori M. Weaver, of Newmanstown; Hailey A. Gearhart, of Philipsburg; Dana L. Kraft, of Royersford; Samantha K. Steiger, of Howard; and Michayla J. Roberts, of Newville. Kneeling are Sydney E. Brewer, of Gettysburg, and Staci M. Senior, of State College.
Weaver shows youngsters the best way to brush teeth.
Weaver shows youngsters the best way to brush teeth.
Student Kelsey L. McKenrick, of Gilbertsville, provides services to a youngster.
Student Kelsey L. McKenrick, of Gilbertsville, provides services to a youngster.
From left, students Madison P. Weaver, of Belleville; Shelby L. Schreiber, of Saint Marys; and McKaila F. Daniels, of Roulette, practice their skill in the college’s well-equipped dental hygiene clinic to serve the community.
From left, students Madison P. Weaver, of Belleville; Shelby L. Schreiber, of Saint Marys; and McKaila F. Daniels, of Roulette, practice their skill in the college’s well-equipped dental hygiene clinic to serve the community.

The college’s dental hygiene program partnered with the Pennsylvania Dental Hygienists’ Association and local dentists and hygienists, who volunteered their efforts, to provide free dental services to 32 children during “Sealant Saturday” on March 2. Their work included placing 184 dental sealants, equaling about $6,000 worth of free services, during this community outreach event.

Architectural Technology Art and Graphic Design Automated Manufacturing & Machining Aviation Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Building Construction Business & Hospitality Collision Repair & Restoration Construction & Design Technologies Dental Hygiene Electronics & Computer Engineering Technology General Information Health Information Technology Information Technology Landscape/Horticulture Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Assistant Physical Therapist Assistant Physician Assistant Plastics & Polymer Radiography Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications Surgical Technology Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies Welding

Pre-College Programs to enrich participants’ summer experience

Young women enrolled in SMART Girls, among the wide-ranging roster of pre-college programs at Pennsylvania College of Technology, assemble a robot during last summer’s camp.

Building construction has been added to the abounding schedule of pre-college initiatives offered at Pennsylvania College of Technology, hands-on summer activities that mirror the nationally renowned opportunities afforded postsecondary students.

“Our Pre-College Programs offer living and learning experiences in which students have opportunities to explore unique academic interests in a state-of-the-art environment,” said Deborah B. Wescott, manager of conference and guest relations. “It’s a chance to work and make connections with industry leaders, meet and mingle with your peers, and establish a path that could lead to all sorts of future possibilities.”

The signup deadline is May 31 for the institution’s 12 residential programs and its one day camp.

Read more

Dental Hygiene Events Nursing & Health Sciences Students

Free dental services available to children on March 2

Pennsylvania College of Technology dental hygiene students Abigail S. Way, ’17, of Williamsport, and Rebekah L. Caretti, ’18, of Weedville, provide free preventive dental services to a child during the 2017 Sealant Saturday event at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Volunteer dentists, dental hygienists and dental hygiene students will again provide free services in the Penn College Dental Hygiene Clinic during Sealant Saturday on March 2.

Free dental care – including screenings, sealants, fluoride varnish treatment and education – is available to children ages 7 to 15 on Saturday, March 2, in the Pennsylvania College of Technology Dental Hygiene Clinic.

The event is co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Dental Hygienists’ Association as part of its Sealant Saturday initiative. Sealant Saturday events are held across the state.

The Penn College event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon. The college’s Dental Hygiene Clinic is on the second floor in the west wing of the Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center.

Read more

Alumni Automotive Aviation Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts Business & Hospitality Business & Hospitality Management Collision Repair & Restoration Dental Hygiene General Information Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Nursing & Health Sciences PIRC Plastics & Polymer Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies Welding Workforce Development

State Senate Appropriations Committee chair tours campus

Always engaged and advocating for the college, Yaw (right) converses with Browne in the atrium of the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center.

State Sen. Patrick M. Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology on Thursday.

Browne, who represents the 16th District – which includes Allentown and other municipalities within Lehigh County – came to campus after presenting an election and legislative update at a breakfast sponsored by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

He was invited by fellow Appropriations Committee member Sen. Gene Yaw, who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. Yaw also hosted the Chamber legislative update event, held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport.

Read more

Alumni Applied Health Dental Hygiene Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Events Exercise Science Faculty & Staff Health Information Technology Nursing Nursing & Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Assistant Physical Therapist Assistant Physician Assistant President Radiography Students Surgical Technology

School of Nursing & Health Sciences hosts celebration

Pennsylvania College of Technology welcomed several School of Nursing & Health Sciences alumni back to campus to speak at an event celebrating the school’s name change, its academic majors, and milestone anniversaries for two programs: occupational therapy assistant (30 years) and physician assistant (20 years). From left are Megan Wright, ’12, a physician assistant practicing physical medicine and rehabilitation; Brian Webster, ’06, a nurse practitioner specializing in emergency and family nursing; President Davie Jane Gilmour; Sandra L. Richmond, dean of nursing and health sciences; and Michele “Mindy” Tedesco, ’88, a registered occupational therapist specializing in home health care.

The School of Nursing & Health Sciences at Pennsylvania College of Technology held a multifaceted celebration on Oct. 4 by hosting an open house of its facilities and welcoming accomplished alumni, who reflected on how their education has shaped their careers.

“We come together … to celebrate the positive impact all 10 of our nursing and health sciences programs have on our students’ lives, the professions in which they work, and the communities they serve,” said Sandra L. Richmond, dean of nursing and health sciences.

Of particular significance during the celebration was a change to the school’s name: from the School of Health Sciences to the School of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the anniversaries of the occupational therapy assistant program, whose first students graduated 30 years ago, and the physician assistant program, which graduated its first students 20 years ago.

Read more

Dental Hygiene Events Faculty & Staff Nursing & Health Sciences Students

Free oral cancer screening available at Penn College on Oct. 6

Members of the Pennsylvania College of Technology chapter of the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association, along with dentist and dental hygienist volunteers, will provide free oral cancer screenings on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 9-11 a.m.

The event will be held in the college’s Dental Hygiene Clinic, on the second floor of the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center. This is a walk-in event; no appointments are necessary.

Read more

Dental Hygiene Faculty & Staff Nursing & Health Sciences Students

Dental Hygiene Students Treat 400 Children in Dominican Republic

From left, Penn College dental hygiene students Megan M. Mecouch, of Peach Bottom, Lancaster County; Kayla C. Summerson, of Emporium, Cameron County, and Lori M. Weaver, of Newmanstown, Lebanon County, join classmates in cleaning children’s teeth at a school in the Dominican Republic.

Seventeen Pennsylvania College of Technology students recently returned from the Dominican Republic, where they provided dental care to children at six schools in the Las Terrenas area.

The students are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in dental hygiene. Most were enrolled in Oral Health Care Field Experience, an elective course that allows them to increase their cultural competency by planning, providing and evaluating primary oral health services for an underserved population.

Read more