Dental Hygienist Training Requirements

The dental hygienist position is a part of ensuring a successful team by increasing efficiency in the office.  They have a wide range of duties, such as patient care and remedial dentistry work. Dental hygienists work very closely with dentists, patients, and other staff members. They handle the lighter patient needs so dentists can concentrate on more complex procedures.

Dental hygienists may prepare patients for the dentist by performing a variety of tasks. These tasks include: examine/evaluate/clean patient’s teeth and gums, take and develop x-rays, make assessments on a patients’ oral health, remove stains and/or plaque from a patients’ teeth, and teach proper dental hygiene in order to maintain excellent oral health.

The field of Dentistry has a large need for dental hygienists and that need is expected to grow in a huge way. The reason for this growth is that many dental hygienists are being hired to complete some of those tasks that have been handled by dentists and dentists can focus on those procedures that are more complex

Education and Admission Requirements

Perspective students can attend schooling to become a dental hygienist. This training is available at trade or vocational schools, community colleges, or technical institutes.

To attend school to become a dental hygienist, the prerequisites are a high school diploma or GED and usually college entrance test scores.   Prerequisites vary depending on the location of education. There are some high school courses that students can take that will be beneficial in this field and those include: health, biology, psychology, chemistry, math, and speech. Some hygienist programs require that students have one year of college prior to admission into a program. Each facility has its own set of requirements for previous education and experience.

Education Curriculum, Length, and Cost

Most of the dental hygienist programs take at least 2 years to complete, with those graduating receiving associate degrees. After completion of a degree, students have the opportunity to take an exam to become licensed to work in a dental office. Some facilities offer a bachelor or master’s degree, and that is primarily used for dentistry instruction positions.

Costs of training to become a dental hygienist vary greatly by state. Usually, hygienist programs are made up of one year of classes and one year of clinical experience. On average, tuition for an associate’s degree costs between $4,600 and $10,000. For a bachelor or master’s degree, the cost of education is an average of $20,000 to $27,000 for the four year program.

There are also fees for books, instruments, uniforms, clinical fees, and $950 for the exam to become licensed.

The education curriculum to become a dental hygienist is as follows.

• English, speech, sociology, psychology
• Anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, immunology, chemistry, pathology
• Clinical sciences; dental hygiene, radiology, dental materials
• Tooth morphology, histology, radiology, pain management, radiography
• Oral embryology, head/neck/oral anatomy
• Education
• Business administration
• Basic sciences
• Marketing
• Public health
• Clinical education offers some sort of experiences in supervised patient care aspect