WEST CAMPUS — Valencia College offers several medical and nursing degrees, but some students at Valencia do more than just study. Valencia’s dental hygiene program allows them to perform dental cleaning and other dental procedures on campus.

Pamela Sandy, program chair, went over the procedure and offered some insight into the dental hygiene program.

“Most of the students have completed their general studies courses so can concentrate on dental and lab courses,” said Sandy.

The program is an associate degree program in the Allied Health Sciences division and requires two years of time composed of two to six semesters total and 88 accumulated credit hours. Students are required to take microbiology, physiology, anatomy and some general medical education classes.

Services offered by students in the Valencia Dental Program are open to the general public. It’s just $20 for an oral exam and teeth cleaning and they also offer digital x-rays. They also sell a variety of dental tools for reasonable price.

Valencia’s dental lab is located in the AHS building near the HSB building on West Campus.

“The Valencia dental program always host events for the community,” said Sandy.

The student dental hygienists do their job under trained professionals and with a high level of supervision.

For more information on the program visit http://valenciacc.edu/west/health/alliedhealth/.