Rough Draft
When is the last time you looked in the mirror and admired your beautiful smile? You can thank a dental hygienist for that. Dental hygienist are crucial to providing a high quality of healthcare as they assist with cleaning teeth and emphasising the importance of good oral care after earning a technical certificate.
One of the major jobs of being a dental hygienist involves being able to work with people. Children do not understand the importance of keeping their teeth clean so they explain to them. Being a dental hygienist means knowing the importance of dental care and being able of explaining how to do it. They watch over a patients teeth and gums, and write notes about problems they notice. They clean, polish, and floss a patients
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teeth. Depending what a patient needs they may do x-rays, apply fluoride treatments, or smooth metal restorations.
They often offer suggestions on dental care. The infusion of technology in the dental hygiene profession can be seen all around a dental office– from examining patients’ records and digital X-rays on the laptop, to studying a new medication a patient is taking, to showing a YouTube video on proper flossing techniques on your iPad. The incorporation of technology in dentistry has improved the way we help our patients, and we have begun to notice the results. (Health Care #)
The flexibility of the work schedule is appealing to dental hygienists, who often schedule hours to meet family obligations or other personal interests. “Nationally, just 47% of dental hygienists work 30 to 40 hours a week.” Dental hygienists must be able to perform all requirements to be a dental hygienist. A doctor with certain skeletal conditions may have problems performing the daily jobs required of a dental hygienist. These include, but are not limited to, injuries to the neck, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, or hands. Examples include the following, hernias or bulging disks,
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chronic rotator cuff symptoms, and carpal tunnel. It is extremely recommended that people with any of these problems be evaluated by their physician before deciding to pursue the dental hygiene degree. You need to be able to stand on your feet all day. Over two-thirds of dental hygienists experience neck pain as the most commonly found areas of discomfort, followed by shoulder pains. Many dental hygienists report pain or discomfort in the lower back and in the hand that they use the most. 27% of hygienists have mid to upper back issues and 20% experience pain with their nondominant hand or thumb. In addition, hygienists are known to have elbow, hip, forearm, ankle, and venous issues. Basically, most of dental hygienists are slow motion train wrecks; their bodies are ready to crash. Traveling dental hygienist jobs are new, at least compared to traveling registered nurse jobs, which have been around a long time. However, the evolution of oral health care and dental practices has given rise to similar opportunities for hygienists. As a traveling dental hygienist, you will be given a temporary assignment to live and work in a particular area. You can typically find travel opportunities through a placement program or through an international association travel abroad program.(Top Careers in two years: Health Care, Medicine, and Science.) A good eye, steady hands and the ability to delicately maneuver tools in small spaces is important to dental hygienists. You want to avoid adding to any pain or discomfort a patient might be feeling. Being patient and sympathetic to patients in pain is also important. The ability to put people at ease is helpful, as not everyone enjoys visiting the dentist. In addition, you will need physical stamina to be on your feet for considerable stretches of time. Dental hygienists receive their education through academic programs at community colleges, technical colleges, dental schools or universities. The majority of community college programs take at least two years to complete, with graduates receiving associate degrees. Receipt of this degree allows a hygienist to take licensure examinations (national and state or regional), become licensed and to work in a dental office. A dental hygienist needs to graduate from an accredited school. Most dental hygienist programs grant associate's degrees, but some offer bachelor's and master's degrees. Training requires anywhere from 2-3 years of school, including prerequisites and any licensing examinations. (Health Care) The employment rate of dental hygienists is expected to grow 22 percent from 2011 to 2021, extremely faster than average occupations.
Continuous research linking oral health and general health will spur the demand for preventative dental services, which are usually by dental hygienists. Most of the 183,000 or more registered dental hygienists work in dental offices with regular dentists. They will normally see a patient first and clean the patient’s teeth. They remove tartar, stains and plaque as they brush, floss and scrape. Dental hygienists are involved in helping patients on the best ways to brush and floss teeth, as well as the best products to use on their teeth. Even with all their technical skills and classes they took, dental hygienists need to be excellent communicators. “ The client’s head is in their lap basically,” Swanson Jaecks says. “They should know how to read a client and relate to a client.” She also says that good hand-eye coordination is a necessity, and so are the critical-thinking skills, since dental hygienists are on the front lines of a client’s oral health. (Dental Hygienist Association PG. 103)
Dental hygienists usually make feasible salaries especially since more than half of them only work part time. In 2012, the average salary for dental hygienists was $73,100. The best-paid dental hygienists earned about $98,420, and the bottom 8 percent earned $45,620. Most of the high end hygienists work in dental offices, but ambulatory health care services
can pay well too. In california they pay their dental hygienists well, and extremely well in metropolitan parts of san francisco, etc.(United States. Department of Labor) Women are employed in the majority of dental hygienist in the United States. Most start off making $32.29 an hour. Some of the benefits dental hygienists get include health insurance coverage, membership dues for professional affiliations, paid vacations, sick leave, maternity leave, and tuition aid for dental hygienists continuing education. (“Benefits”) Dental hygienist are extremely important in dental care because they teach you how to clean your teeth and the importance of oral care. However, its a very short, but difficult task to complete. If you stick to it, you will be helping people with their smiles soon!
"Dental Hygienist Jobs Offer High Rates of Satisfaction." Health Jobs Nationwide Blog. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Dental hygiene is amongst many professions that come with an increased risk of injury. In fact, evidence suggests that the incidence of dental professionals acquiring musculoskeletal disorders is reaching 96%. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), these complications are a result of “repetitive motion or awkward posture for more than 2 hours at a time, unassisted frequent manual handling (eg, scaling an area using the same strokes), and unassisted forced manual handling (eg, heavy calculus removal using hand-activated instruments)”. These complications not only affect the quality of life for the
To become a dental hygienist, one must attend a college or university that has a dental hygiene program. “Your coursework will include classes such as the
As long as there is Dentistry, there will always be a need for dental hygienists. The salary for an experienced dental hygiene is excellent. According to “Careers in Dental Hygiene”, the current annual average salary for a dental hygienist would be around $96,000. But as with most professions, the wages for a dental hygienist should just be part of the reason a person chooses this as their career path. According to “How To Become a Dental Hygienist”, the pay a dental hygienist receives when they begin is good, however, there is definitely a “glass ceiling” with regard to
People that decide to become a Dental Hygienist for many reasons, and one is because it is listed as the 5th out of the “100 best jobs” in 2015. Other reasons are because the “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics” projects that the employment will grow to 33.3% in 2022, and one more reason is because Dental Hygienists make up to $71, 110 a year (Money.usnews.com). In addition, there are certain degrees and amounts of education that are required to become a Dental Hygienist. A daily routine for a Dental Hygienist is to wake up to get to work at least a half hour before the first patient arrives.
When most people think of dental hygienists, the first and only thing they think about it cleaning and whitening teeth. However, that is mainly what dental hygienists do, but they also learn to do a lot more than that. According the occupational outlook handbook, hygienists clean teeth, examine patients for signs of oral diseases such as gingivitis, and provide other preventative dental care. They also educate patients on ways to improve and maintain good oral health. As explained on American Dental Association, the dental hygienist...
...ntal hygienists do not only have jobs that have a great salary and have more flexible hours than almost any other career out there, but they also have a job that helps people too. If one was to become a dental hygienist, at the end of the day they would be a lot more proud of this than anything else (“Dental Hygienists” Coin Career).
In the Dental Hygiene field, many challenges come about every day and during different situations. Every day there are new challenges and unusual situations that occur in the dental field, but one challenge that continues to come about and has been a big dispute over the years is the ability to provide beneficial information about oral health care for the underprivileged. For the individuals that are not fortunate enough to pay to have services done in the dental office, lack the knowledge of how important good oral health care is. They do not receive the one on one conversations explaining the significance of taking care of your teeth and gums that the patients who can afford to make appointments and receive essential services do. That
The average pay is around $72,000 a year. “I usually work around 34 hours a week” (Lewellen). Most hygienists work four hours a week. The pay may increase depending on where you work and also how long you’ve worked there. Education for dental hygiene is semi-difficult but most people can accomplish it. “Dental hygienists need an associate’s degree in dental hygiene. Programs typically take 3 years to complete. All states require dental hygienists to be licensed; requirements vary by state” (College). Depending on where you live and where you go to college will determine what requirements and skills will be needed.
RDH usually work part time, at multiple dentist offices, even though you work part-time, RDH salaries range from $50,000 to $70,000 yearly or $35 an hour. Dental hygiene is one of the highest paid jobs in America that doesn't require a bachelor's degree. The job growth outlook for dental hygiene is 19% according to U.S. Bureau, which is much faster than average so I feel I will have job security with this
It’s been a long time since the last narrative and a lot has changed. The internship with the dental hygienist failed miserably. After three sessions, my mentor just stopped communicating and cut all ties with me. I attempted to email her multiple times but I remained unheard. So, I had to find a way to troubleshoot and look for another mentor and place to intern at.
If you are thinking about becoming a dental assistant, then ponder over this. The median pay of a dental assistant is $17.30 per hour or $35,980 per year. And as we mentioned above it's one of the fastest growing professions there is. Additionally, you can become a dental assistant much faster than other professions as well. There is also plenty of room for advancement from there if that's what you'd like to do.
As I started my new journey of becoming a dental hygienist, I came into the program with no background of dental. I came into this program with an open mind and willing to embrace new concepts as well as develop new skills. During my time at the Canadian Academy of Dental Hygiene (CADH), I learned that as a dental hygienist that I am committed to promoting and helping each individual achieve their optimal oral health goals. In support of my client’s goals, I may assume any or all of the roles included in the dental hygiene scope of practice. My goal throughout this program was to help my clients achieve their optimal oral health goals through education, health promotion and providing preventive and clinical therapy.
The daily tasks of a dental hygienist are concerning. They complete tasks similar to a dentist, because customers make appointments to receive their teeth health needs. For example, they
Having shadowed a dental hygienist prior to that of a dental assistant I didn’t know what to expect their job to be. Although I did assume a dental assistant’s job consisted of handing instruments to the doctor during the various procedures so I was surprised to see just how many responsibilities they have. Each dental clinic has different expectations of what they require their dental assistant to do in my shadowing experience they were responsible for: preparing the room prior to the patients arrival, greeting the patient upon arrival and inviting them into the operation room, confirming dental history with the patient, briefing them on the procedure they are about to have and what to expect, answering the clients questions to the best of their abilities, assisting the doctor in the procedure and aiding with any tasks required of you, when the patient is ready to leave helping them to look presentable and explaining what to expect after that kind of procedure, updating and verifying dental records, and sanitizing and sterilization of the room and all instruments after departure of