General Information

In support of non-discrimination policies, applicants to Health Programs are not required to provide evidence of health history and physical examination. Once accepted into the program, the student must provide required documentation of health history and physical examination signed by a physician indicating the student’s ability to safely continue with the program of study. Students must acknowledge by signature their willingness to comply with all policies as outlined in the Nursing&Allied Health Handbook.

Dental Hygiene is a full-time program, but students may prepare for a dental hygiene career by taking classes in the curriculum that do not have a “DH” prefix. Please Note: Students must be aware of the risk they may come in contact with blood borne pathogens (HIV,Hepatitis B) and aerosols while seeing patients.

For more information regarding the Dental Hygiene Program, please contact the N&AH office at (423) 697-4450 or visit the N&AH website. All forms necessary to successfully complete the DH application process, can be found on the website.

Additional Requirements & Expectations:

Technical Standards

The goal of all Chattanooga State health programs is to produce practitioners who can function safely in the health care arena. For that reason, the following standards have been established. All candidates must:

• have normal or corrected vision within the range of 20/20 to less than 20/200 and able to distinguish color shade changes.
• hear or possess the ability to lip read.
• possess in both hands the ability to perceive temperature changes, recognize an object by touching and handling and differentiate between various textures of substances.
• possess the ability to verbally communicate.
• possess four functional limbs (normal or artificial) which allow the following actions:
  • grasp securely with both hands
  • walk without human assistance
  • lift at least 20 pounds without assistance

Health Awareness Information

Infectious Diseases

Students enrolled in the dental hygiene program may be exposed to environmental hazards and infectious diseases including, but not limited to, tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, COVID, and HIV  while in a clinical facility. Students will be responsible for following safety guidelines addressed in the program and maintaining safe clinical practice.