Increasing cultural competence in the dental hygiene profession.

North American societies are becoming increasingly diverse in their ethnocultural makeup. According to the Canadian Public health association, immigrants and refugees as well as aboriginal people and people in such disadvantaged circumstances as the poor, elderly, and disabled are most vulnerable to disease, and experience the greatest degree of health disparities. Differences in cultural values, beliefs, and language are cited as barriers to accessing health care, and it is possible that health providers may contribute to these disparities by stereotyping, being prejudiced, and being clinically uncertain as to how to provide care to this population. Increasing cultural competence among health providers has been suggested as a possible strategy for reducing such disparities. These strategies include recruiting students and educators of ethnically diverse backgrounds to the health professions, and incorporating cultural education into the curricula in order to improve culturally sensitive communication, to foster respect for cultural differences, and to educate future health professionals in the process of culturally competent, client centred care. This paper discusses the need for increased cultural competency in dental hygiene with the intent of encouraging further research into this highly required area.