Sunday, December 13th, 2009 | Author: Positive Path Recovery
Watch the video related to dental hygienist
The UNM Health Sciences Center’s Dental Hygiene Program is the only such program in the country housed within a medical school. Offering the state’s only bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in dental hygiene, the University of New Mexico is preparing students for successful careers in both private practice and public health care settings, as well as in research and teaching.
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Category: Dental Health
It takes 2, 3 or 4 years to be a DH. Depending on which college you go to. Community colleges teach it 2 years and a few four year colleges have a 3 year and a 4 year program. You get an AS or a BS in hygiene. The only difference is that to work for the government you have to have a BS. But it makes much more sense to get an AS (2 years).
First go to http://www.ada.org and look up all the colleges in your state that have DH program. Then look at the college's websites and read about what you need to get in. There are many requirements to get in. You cant just apply nowadays, you have to have many things done before you can apply. It is very hard to get into a program.
Also you want to make sure there are enough jobs in your state. Im in MA and I just graduated from DH program and I cant find a job right now. There are too many hygienists and not enough jobs in MA right now.
So look online and see how many job openings there are right now.
Nursing is also a good profession and more jobs available all over the US. I kind of wish I had just done the nursing program instead because I would be working fulltime right now if I had.
You normally need to go into a dental hygiene program after one year of college. You should be taking classes such as biology, chemistry, and math. Most programs give you an associates degree whereas others can give you a bachelors or a masters. The higher degree you get, the more money you will probably earn. You need an associates degree or a certificate though.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos097.htm#training
Ok so is it weird that I would want to do this, but I’m a male…
@ThEgHoSt03130! no its not weird that you want to become a hygienist! I worked with a few male hygienists, when I was an assistant. you can totally do it!
Timely information. Thanks.
Accurate information, thanks for sharing.
Worth looking into methinks
Dental hygiene is a two year program, and for most places, you need to take one year of general science pre-requisites before you can apply. The program is pretty intense, while most university students take 4-5 courses per semester we were taking 10-12. But because there is a large market for dental hygienists, there is no competition in your classes so everybody works together to get through. Everybody helps each other and if you're struggling then you have classmates who will help you through. Where I studied, between the classmates and the professors, you wouldn't fail out, you'd just keep practicing until you get it right.
The pre-requisite year of sciences needed (where I went) were a full year of a writing course, sociology, psychology, biology and half a year of chemistry and statistics. You need grade 12 chemistry, english and biology. During the program, we took human anatomy, physiology, embryology, pathology, nutrition, radiology, histology. We took a fundamentals course which teaches you the basics of dental hygiene and you have clinic time to practice and learn the skills. You had more broad courses like anatomy, and then a more specific course like oral anatomy and head and neck anatomy. Biomaterials science teaches about the materials that dental professionals use. You also do counselling techniques and communication skills, as well as an ethics course.
Those are some first year courses, in second year you have more clinic time and focus on clinical abilities.This year involves more application to dental hygiene and first year is more learning the basics. At the end of the program you must write a National Board Exam in order to work. Overall it was a great program and although it's intense, you just have to work hard : ) I just noticed how long this is, but if you have any other questions feel free to email me!
This reminds me. need to make a dentist appointment lol
I’ve heard being dental assistant is a good job. Good pay, and you get to help people.
Usually, the program is a 2 year associate's degree. But you would need to complete some pre-requisite courses before entering/applying for the program. Things like anatomy, microbiology, algebra, etc. Once you're in the program your classes will be all dental.
More info on DH: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos097.htm
Good luck
Good work if you’re a people person.
I should tell my daughter about this program. She’s looking into careers right now. Thanks!
Here is some basic info-
http://www.adha.org/careerinfo/dhfacts.htm
More info regarding schooling-
Earning a Dental Hygiene Education
A dental hygienist is a licensed preventive oral health professional who provides educational, clinical, and therapeutic services to the public. In order to become prepared to perform these services, the dental hygienist requires an thorough educational background.
Admission requirements and prerequisites vary from institution to institution, but generally include many of the following:
high school diploma or GED
18 year age minimum
high school courses in mathematics, chemistry, biology, English
minimum “C” average in high school
college entrance test scores
depending on the institution, prerequisite courses in chemistry, English, speech, psychology and sociology
depending on the institution, a personal interview, dexterity test, and/or essay
Dental hygiene education is a minimum of 2 years, but can be as long as 4 years.
2 year programs offer a diploma, certificate, or associate degree
4 year programs offer a baccalaureate degree
Master’s level programs are offered for those interested in education, research, or administration
An accredited dental hygiene program requires an average of 1,948 clock hours of curriculum. This includes 585 clock hours of supervised clinical dental hygiene instruction.
general education courses including English, speech, psychology and sociology
basic science courses including general chemistry, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, nutrition, and pharmacology
dental science courses including dental anatomy, head and neck anatomy, oral embryology and histology, oral pathology, radiography, periodontology, pain control and dental materials
dental hygiene science courses including oral health education and preventive counseling, patient management, clinical dental hygiene, community dental health, medical and dental emergencies including basic life support, and legal and ethical aspects of dental hygiene practice
supervised instruction in pre-clinical and clinical practice
Here are you local programs-
Nevada
Community College of Southern Nevada Date Submitted: 10/16/2006
Division of Health Sciences
Dental Hygiene Program – W1A
6375 W. Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89146-0000
Doreen Craig, RDH, MA — Department Chair
Phone: (702) 651-5593 Ext.: Fax: (702) 651-7401
Email Address: doreen_craig@ccsn.edu
Web Site: http://www.ccsn.edu
Degrees Awarded
Certificate: N/A
Associate: AAS/AS
Baccalaureate: N/A
Truckee Meadows Community College Date Submitted: 9/26/2006
Dental Hygiene
Health Science
7000 Dandini Blvd., RMDT 417-H
Reno, NV 89512-3999
Vickie Kimbrough, RDH, MBA — Director of Dental Hygiene
Phone: (775) 674-7554 Ext.: Fax: (775) 673-8242
Email Address: N/A
Web Site: http://www.tmcc.edu/
Degrees Awarded
Certificate: N/A
Associate: AS
Baccalaureate: N/A
You might want to contact the programs or look up their requirements online. Some programs will take years to get in to (wait list) and others make you reapply once a year.
Hope that helps!
JAMRDH -a dental hygienist
You need to have excellent grades! Dental hygiene schools are very competitive, some only take twelve students every fall out of hundreds of applicants. Most colleges, even if they do not have a dental hygiene program, have a pre-dental hygiene program. It's not so much a "program" as much as a list of classes you will need to take to satisfy MOST dental hygiene program prerequisites. You should be thinking now about what school you want to attend.
What I did, was I took my prerequisite classes at a university, because the technical school where the program I wanted was offered was overcrowded and classes were difficult to get into. I needed two years of prerequisites, and I knew what classes to take both by my universities pre-dental hygiene program AND by looking at the technical school's requirements for dental hygiene, as they were almost identical.
The classes I needed included:
Anatomy and Physiology I (most colleges require you to take a Biology class before A&P)
Anatomy and Physiology II
General Chemistry (my university equivalent was Preparatory Chemistry)
Introductory Microbiology
Essentials of Nutrition
All of these, PLUS general education, which was a writing class, a communications class, a psychology, and a sociology class.
PLUS my school require Health Ethics, which is just an ethics class.
Luckily, I did PSEO (college as a senior in high school) and attended my university full time. I finished ALL of my generals (writing, communications, sociology, psychology, and ethics) for free! If PSEO is an option for you, do it!
There is no easy way, but there is a smart way! Know your schools requirements and work with an adviser to find out the fastest way to complete all the classes you need. Study hard and try to get the best grades you can! Good luck!
Average per hour pay is $30-$35. Depending on how many hours you work per week, this usually calculates to about $55,000-$60,000 per year.
I don't know about pay in those specific states, but you can pretty much say that overall in major metropolitan areas pay will be closer to $35/hr, while in smaller cities it will be closer to $30/hr.
Varies between $5K to $60K…depending on the location of practice and seniority…
You can go to a community college and get an associates degree in 2 years. You can go to a college that offers a 4 year bachelors degree in dental hygiene. The starting salary of graduates from both programs are the same. If you have a bachelors degree you would be able to teach if that might be something you would want to do. Good luck