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Dental hygienist |
A dental hygienist is a licensed dental professional who specializes in preventive dental care, typically, but not limited to, focusing on techniques in oral hygiene. Local dental regulations determine the duties hygienists are able to perform. In most jurisdictions, hygienists work for a dentist, and some are licensed to administer local anesthesia. Common procedures performed by hygienists include cleaning, scaling and root planing, radiography, and dental sealing.
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The dental hygiene process of care has five steps:
Over a period of months or years a dental hygienist may have evaluated his or her work several times, altering the diagnosis and plan numerous times as the client's condition changes
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1 To become a dental hygienist in United States, you must graduate from a dental hygiene program, with either an associates degree (most common), a certificate, a bachelor's degree or a master's degree from a dental hygienist school that is accredited by the American Dental Association (ADA). All dental hygienists in the United States must be licensed by the state in which they practice, after completing a minimum of two years of school.
Dental hygienists school programs usually require both general education courses and courses specific to the field of dental hygiene. General education courses important to dental hygiene degrees include college level algebra, biology, and chemistry. Courses specific to dental hygiene may include anatomy, oral anatomy, materials science, pharmacology, radiography, periodontology, nutrition, and clinical skills.
A Bachelor's of Science in Dental Hygiene is typically a four-year program. Students entering a bachelor's degree program are required to have a high school diploma or equivalent, but many dental hygienists with an associate's degree or certification enter the bachelor's degree programs to expand their clinical expertise and help advance their careers.
Graduate degrees in the field of dental hygiene are typically two-year programs and are completed after the bachelor's degree. Common graduate courses in dental hygiene include Healthcare Management, Lab Instruction, and Clinical Instruction.
After completing one of the more than 200 accredited dental hygiene programs in the United States, dental hygienists must be licensed in the state in which they work. Licensure requirements for becoming a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) vary from state to state, but most require a two-year degree, a written examination, and a clinical examination. The National Board Dental Hygiene Examination is intended to fulfill the written examination requirements. The clinical examination is typically administered by the state licensing board.
In addition, the American Dental Hygienists' Association has defined a more advanced level of dental hygiene, the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner.
Pay
Salaries for dental hygienists vary depending on experience and geographic location. The median hourly wage for hygienists in 2004 in the US was $30.19 per hour.2
Jobs
As with most healthcare jobs, dental hygienist jobs are currently plentiful. There are several web sites that provide dental hygienist job listings. Many of these sites also allow for resume posting. Such web sites, or job boards include http://www.dentalpost.net, http://www.indeed.com, and http://www.careersindental.com, to name a few.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
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