Dental Hygienist Job Description
The job of a Dental Hygienist involves assisting dentists in providing treatment of gums, mouth and teeth. He/she is responsible for examining a patient’s teeth and gums, removing tartar and stains on teeth, performing dental procedures such as root planning, developing dental x-rays during diagnosis, teaching patients how to avoid dental problems, serving as the laboratory technician or performing various clerical work.
Education/Experience Requirements for the job of a Dental Hygienist: A successful candidate must possess a 4-year bachelor’s degree in life sciences or math and a two-year associate’s degree dental hygiene program. In most places, dental hygienists need to obtain licensure by taking a written and clinical exam administered by the state. Courses in hygiene school include pharmacology, dental material, gum disease, radiography, microbiology, clinical dental hygiene, tissue structure and nutrition, among others.
Skills of a Dental Hygienist include but are not limited to: Strong interpersonal skills, effective listening and communication skills, good manual dexterity, excellent analytical and problem-solving skills and ability to determine if something is wrong and act quickly to resolve such problems.
Specific work elements of the job as a Dental Hygienist include but are not limited to: Cleaning calcareous deposits or stains from teeth and gums, examining gums for signs of disease, feeling lymph nodes to detect oral cancer, applying fluorides to prevent dental decay, exposing and developing x-ray films, providing health education and clinical services, making impressions for casts, administering local anesthetic agents, and removing dressings or sutures, among others.
