In-Person Local Anesthesia Refresher Course for Dental Hygienists

Join us for the In-Person Local Anesthesia Refresher Course for Dental Hygienists!

Looking to sharpen your skills in administering local anesthesia? This course is perfect for dental hygienists wanting to enhance their knowledge and techniques. The event will take place at the University of New Haven's Dental Hygiene Clinic at 419 Boston Post Rd, West Haven, providing a convenient location for attendees. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and network with fellow professionals. Reserve your spot today!

This course is offered to licensed, Registered Dental Hygienists who have already been certified in local anesthesia but feel they would benefit from instruction and review of injection landmarks and correct techniques. In addition, course instructors will share helpful suggestions for eliminating common errors and discuss how to avoid some post injection side-effects. Instructors will demonstrate proper clinical techniques both in an in-person lecture format and a post lecture clinical session when attendees have opportunity to practice with safety needles. No actual injections will be administered during this course.

**Please wear scrubs and bring safety glasses, since we will be working in clinic for the 2nd half of the course. **

Course Fee

$100 (+ Eventbrite fee), payable through this site. This fee includes the disposables we will use in the clinical part of the course.

Full refund through this site if you cancel 3 or more days prior to the course. There are no refunds after that time period.

3 CEU's

Instructor Biographies:

Marie Paulis, RDH, MSDH

Marie has been a dental hygienist for over 30 years and a dental hygiene educator for 20 years. Her clinical and educational experiences include general practice, periodontal practice, and public health. Currently, Marie is the Dental Hygiene Program Director at the University of New Haven and teaches the local anesthesia course and lab for students and RDH’s, and Introduction to Dental Hygiene I and II.

Marie’s current research interests include the acquisition of dental hygiene and dental care for underserved populations and the benefits of interprofessional education and practice. Marie was awarded the Dean’s Award for Service (2020) and for Research (2024). Marie has presented for various professional organizations, including the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments, and the American Dental Education Association. She has published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene, Access Magazine, and Dentistry IQ.

Gwen Grosso, RDH, MS

Gwen has been in academia for 28 years and a practicing hygienist for 39 years. She has taught in a variety of clinical and public health settings. She teaches at both the associate and baccalaureate levels at the University of New Haven. She currently teaches Pharmacology and Pain Management, Periodontology, Local Anesthesia Laboratory, and Principles of Communication for Health Professionals.

She has developed a course in accordance with the Connecticut Dental Hygiene Practice Act, to educate registered dental hygienists in the certification of Local Anesthesia. Her professional speaking engagements included invitations from Old Dominion University and the University of Maryland to present the Local Anesthesia certification course to faculty.

She co-authored, DH Notes: A Dental Hygienists’ Chairside Pocket Guide (2017) and a chapter titled “Local Anesthesia and Pain Management” Dental Hygiene: Application to Clinical Practice. R. Henry, M. Perno Goldie, (2016).

Info: After attending this course, dental hygienists will:
1. Identify and locate the landmarks for local anesthetic injections commonly administered by dental hygienists.
2. Examine intricacies of the IA and palatal injections.
3. Employ corrective techniques for common local anesthesia administration errors.
4. Recognize and avoid systemic complications of local anesthesia administration.
5. Recognize contraindications to local anesthesia utilization.

Info: Attendees will be able to apply what they have learned in lecture and have their questions answered by instructors as they practice positioning and syringe placement techniques in clinic using safety needles (with a ball on the end of the needle). Attendees will not be inserting the needle into the tissue, getting or receiving actual injections.

Host or Publisher Marie Paulis