How to Train as a Dental Hygienist
The health care industry is always in demand as a career, and the need for dental hygienists is going to increase. If you want variety in the dental field, you'll find it in this career, outside of the routine of checking a patient's teeth for cavities. Dental hygienists are also educators and teach people what to do and eat to keep proper dental health. All of that starts with a hygiene student getting a proper education that leads to a challenging state test to become accredited.
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Things You'll Need
- Associate Degree or higher
- Written test for national accreditation
- State clinical test
- State multiple choice test on computer (optional)
- Exam fees
Instructions
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Education
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Prepare for your career early by taking science courses in high school. Classes in biology and chemistry are a good idea since you'll be taking those courses once you start studying dental hygiene in a community college, vocational school or university. You must have a high school diploma before considering a dental hygiene career.
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Find a community college, vocational school or university that's accredited by the American Dental Association. Obtain an associate's degree or certificate in an accredited school. You can also get a bachelor's or master's degree to expand your dental hygiene career horizons into working for government agencies or even high-end research companies.
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Create good study habits since you'll be taking extremely complex science courses in everything from anatomy to nutrition. Other courses include learning about gum tissue, gum diseases and how to apply dental hygiene procedures to prevent gum disease.
Testing
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Study for a three-part state and national test that you must pass before practicing as a dental hygienist. The first part will be a written test that may take you an entire day to complete at your college or a testing center. This written exam will get you accredited on a national level through the American Dental Association's Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.
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Set aside time for the second part of the test, which is a state test taken in your college or a testing center. Choose which state exam you'll take according to where you live. These state agencies include the Western Regional Examining Board or the Northeast Regional Board of Dental Examiners. This part of the test examines your clinical skills in a real-world scenario.
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Ask a friend to be your patient in the clinical test to prove your dental hygiene skills. Here, you'll demonstrate basic skills such as scoping out cavities, tarter removal and taking X-rays. You'll also be graded on how your patient reacts to your dental skills.
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Take a state-level multiple choice exam on a computer as the third part of the testing. This is also taken either at your college or testing center, although it isn't used in all state testing locations. It consists of 150 questions and generally takes half a day to complete.
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Pay the fee of the exams, which can run up to $940, depending on the state exam you choose. Some state exams require an additional fee to test your ability to apply anesthesia. Anesthesia test fees can run anywhere from $130 to $225.
Employment
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Acquire your dental hygiene license in the mail after passing the tests and start searching for a job.
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Work as part of a dentist's office staff and enjoy the benefits of a flexible schedule while earning an excellent salary. According to Simply Hired job search, an average, full-time dental hygienist makes around $47,000. That can increase, depending on your degree and the location where you work.
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Collaborate well with the dentist you'll be working with. You'll fill in for the dentist once in a while when he isn't available and conduct general dentistry duties other than diagnosis. Only dentists can make a diagnosis, although you'll prepare X-rays and other tests so the doctor can read them and make a diagnosis.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider taking postgraduate studies after you've developed your dental hygiene career and advance yourself to a doctorate. The opportunities for dental hygienists in the academic world are great through 2010 and well beyond.
Take your state tests again if you didn't pass them the first time. If you do, you'll have to pay the same total test fees you paid the first time.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Dentist at work in dental room image by Vladimir Melnik from Fotolia.com
