Dental Hygienist

 Dental Hygienist

A dental hygienist provides oral care to patients that include preventative treatment, examination and educating patients. The yearly salary for this profession is estimated around $67,000 all the way to $100,000. Now let's take a look at how to become one, what the work environment is like and some job responsibilities. 

Google Images

Education
In order to become a dental hygienist you will need to obtain either an associates or bachelors degree in dental hygiene. You can even further your education by getting a masters but it is not necessary. Programs are offered through community colleges that typically take about three years to complete. These programs will give you laboratory experience as well as the in class discussions needed for you to succeed in this field. Once completing your education you will have to pass written and clinical exams to be able to obtain the licensing needed to work. In California You can obtain your license through the Western Regional Examination Board (WREB).   
Google Images

Work Environment
A dental hygienist has a couple options as far as options where they can work. Most commonly you may work in a private dental office but there is also the ability to work in a hospital, public health facilities, schools and long term care facilities. Depending upon the workplace you choose will determine the stress levels of the environment. Let's focus on a private dental office since that is the most common choice for this field. In a private dental office you can expect to help many patients in one day. However these are all appointment based so it is not often you will have something unexpected happen. You can also expect to have a nine to five, Monday through Friday schedule which is a major plus to most people. Like many health care professions you can also expect great benefits and pretty decent pay. Lastly, when working in a private dental office you can also expect to only work with people who have the same career unlike in public health facilities where multiple services are offered. 
Google Images

Job Responsibilities
Some responsibilities a dental hygienist has are the removal of tartar, plaque and stains from teeth. They can apply sealant and fluoride to teeth in hope to help protect them. Performing and analyzing oral x-rays is also a part of the job. They will assist the doctor as he makes observations and records the findings for records. Lastly, they will educate patients on how to keep and maintain good oral hygiene. 

                                                                                                                       (Word Count 409)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Medical Field Careers

Image
Welcome to Medical Careers This blog is to hopefully help anyone curious and needing more information in medical field professions. I personally have always been interested in obtaining a career in the medical field. The information I would come across in my search would never give any detailed specifications and only gave the bare minimum when searching a broad range of jobs. In my blog I hope to give a short learning experience on a large range of careers that can peak someones interest. I hope that the research I come across and compose can be of help to those also in search of this kind of knowledge.  OpenStax, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Medical Field Background The medical field is a wide range of careers with various schooling education qualifications needed. Annual income is also widely ranged depending on the career of interest. The great thing about preceding with a job in the medical field is that those jobs will a...
Read more

X-ray Technician

Image
  X-ray Technician A X-ray Technician is a radiologist who specifically focuses on only certain parts of the body and are responsible for limited scopes of care. As of 2022 the median pay in this field was $67,180 per year but this can vary depending on the state you work in as well as the facility you choose to be employed by. This career has a 6% growth rate from 2022 to 2032. If you are interested read further to see what education is needed, work environment and job responsibilities. Google Images Education For this job you will need predominately science classes such as anatomy, chemistry, biology and physics. You will need to obtain an associates degree first then following that you will need to attend an accredited radiography program. This can be done through a college or even sometimes a hospital where they will give you a degree along with the schooling necessary before entering the field. Next you will need to take a certification exam administered by the American Regist...
Read more