Hi and welcome to our site. Here you will find all sorts of relevant information that deals with the dental hygienist industry, from dental hygienist schools to work-related, career and industry news.
Since you are here on this website, it would be safe to assume that you are at a point where you’ve completed high school or a diploma, and you are looking at getting yourself into the dental field. You are also probably wondering which schools in your state accredited and how much your higher education is going to cost you, and what their requirements for admission are. We have all the information you need right here!
The Job Outlook
According to the BLS, this is an excellent career path to take up right now. The stats show that employment growth is going through a boom right now and will continue all the way up to 2018, at the least. You can’t really go wrong without those figures and there probably aren’t many other types of occupations that are growing this quickly.
What is is the cause for this employment “boom”?
Well, the demand for services in the dental industry is growing rapidly year by year and as the older generation of the population is increasing, so are their needs for oral care… preventative oral care that is. Research has also shown that there oral health affects one’s general health as well, and when we tie this together with the government educating the entire population about preventative dental care, we get a huge demand for skilled workers.
In the past, dental nurses used to fill the role of dental hygienists but these days, more dental offices are looking towards hiring hygienists to take over the work that nurses are just not qualified to do. This leaves the dentist more time to work on the more important procedures, and thus an office is able to take in more patients per day, resulting in higher revenues in general. It is as simple as that.
The usnews.com website reports that in 2008, the Labor Department’s statistics showed that there were 174,000 dental hygienist jobs within the USA. That number is forecasted to double by 2018. The site also pointed out that although many old school dentists are still doing things the old way, the next generation of dentists are already more aware of the benefits brought about by incorporating hygienists into their operations.
In general, you can become qualified to work as a hygienist upon completing an associate’s degree but a wider field of career options will be available to you should you obtain a bachelor’s degree (or master’s) allowing you to work in the fields of academia, marketing, research and even in the departments of consumer protection.
What Is the Job Like?
In short, this is a very personally rewarding career path, especially if you enjoy dealing with people, lots of people. If patient care and advisory is something you enjoy, and you like helping people in general, then you are definitely looking into the right occupation.
There is also a financially beneficial side to it as well with average wages ranging between $21 to $32 per hour, depending on various other factors (see dental hygienist salary). It is also not unusual for some dental hygienists to earn up to $44 per hour in certain areas.
This is quite an astounding number as there aren’t many other occupations that pay out this much with the only qualifications being an Associate’s Degree. More advanced degrees are not necessary if being employed as a hygienist is all that you are interested in. That is another bit of good news considering Associate’s Degrees are much cheaper to obtain than a Bachelor’s Degree.
The job itself is not a physically demanding one but does require you to be on your feet all day. The work is fairly routine and that means you stress levels are moderate and not over the top, but then again, that really depends on the office you are employed in.
Conclusion
Choosing a career path is never an easy one, because unless you have had some previous work experience in the field, you won’t know what to expect until it happens. In most cases, getting into the wrong occupation can not only cost you a lot of money, but time as well.
The best way to start your journey is to read up on as much as you can about the industry, investigate the schools of choice, and try and speak to dental hygienists (both working professionals and students) if you can to find out what it is really like working in the field. After all, nothing beats first hand knowledge. Please view the rest of our website to get acquainted with information on dental hygienist programs, schools, job prospects and other career advice.