Dental Hygienist Education

These days, more and more people are turning to dental hygiene in order to prevent the dreaded and sometimes painful dental procedures and therapies we all fear. This has led to the increase in demand for dentists and hygienists.


This increase in demand has led to dental hygiene becoming a very lucrative profession choice. A dental hygienist salary will range anywhere from $45,000 to $100,000 per year. When you have made the decision to take on this career path, the first thing you will need is a dental hygienist education. It is quite critical to obtain your education at an accredited system. Lucky for you, there are actually many dental hygienist schools which are accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

There are several education choices. You'll be able to enroll in a two-year associate degree program. This is the most popular alternative and is usually the minimum education requirement for most states. It is possible to also pursue a four-year bachelor's degree. A bachelor's degree may offer you greater professional prospects than an associate degree and a much better dental hygienist salary.

A dental hygiene program offers graduates with the skills necessary for the provision of oral healthcare. Soon after completion of the program, graduates are prepared to practice clinical dental hygiene.

Admission into a program is highly competitive. Admission needs are unique for most schools, but usually include a high school diploma, a very good score in graduate level college, graduate college courses in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English, and excellent college entrance test scores.

When acquiring a dental hygienist education a few of the courses you will study involve physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, oral pathology, periodontology, microbiology, nutrition, clinical dental hygiene, dental hygiene instrumentation and dental supplies. All of these courses are associated with dentistry. However, your education can also include other courses like social sciences, mathematics, psychology, sociology and English.

To graduate, college students are supposed to participate in 'clinicals' that are on-the-job instruction at a dentist's workplace, which are best used to gain practical knowledge before graduation. These clinical hours are a students first opportunity to get their hands on the job and see if it's right for them.

There are plenty of study selections. You could enroll in a full-time semester-based course which is usually the most popular choice, or a part-time course which might be done via long distance learning.

As soon as you have completed your study program and clinical hours, you will need to sit and pass state examinations to continue towards your dental hygienist dream job.

I hope this brief outline of the dental hygienist education path is helpful and propels you to a successful career in dental hygiene.