Occupation Details
Dental Hygienists
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.
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Interests
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Social
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Values
Relationships
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Independence
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$66,340.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$81,230.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$95,120.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
11,500
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
13,630
+213 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
979
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.2%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
College Helps - Some college classes or training
Experience Requirements
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Requirements
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
School Programs
The following lists school programs which are applicable to this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
New York State requires workers in this occupation to hold a license or certification.
Dental Hygienist
Learn MoreSkills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
Medicine and Dentistry
Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Computers and Electronics
Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Adaptability/Flexibility
Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Independence
Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Self-Control
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Social Orientation
Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Air abrasion equipment
- Air/water syringes
- Amalgam carriers
- Angle formers
- Aspirating syringes
- Autoclaves
- Autoscalars
- Bite wings
- Calculus explorers
- Caries detection aids
- Caries explorers
- Cavitron equipment
- Computer scanners
- Cotton pliers
- Dental chairs
- Dental curettes
- Dental lasers
- Dental needles
- Dental polishers
- Dental x ray development equipment
- Dental x ray machines
- Digital cameras
- Digital dental x ray units
- Electronic blood pressure units
- Electronic calculus detectors
- Film badges
- Hollow handle scalars
- Impression trays
- Instrument sharpening devices
- Intraoral dental cameras
Technology
- Dental billing software
- Dental office management software
- Email software
- Henry Schein Dentrix
- Inventory management software
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Word
- Patterson Dental Supply Patterson EagleSoft
- Scheduling software
- Voice-activated perio charting software
- Web browser software
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- operate dental equipment
- analyze dental data
- analyze medical data
- communicate technical information
- make presentations on health or medical issues
- observe patient condition
- identify body response variations
- understand technical operating, service or repair manuals
- collect clinical data
- collect dental laboratory diagnostic data
- set up dental equipment
- use dental treatment procedures
- use emergency medical procedures
- use hazardous materials information
- follow infectious materials procedures
- use interpersonal communication techniques
- follow dental or medical office procedures
- follow dental or medical x-ray procedures
- follow patient observation procedures
- use quality assurance techniques
- use sanitation practices in health care settings
- use knowledge of medical terminology
- follow clinical radiation safety procedures
- use clinical sterilizing technique
- use darkroom procedures in radiology or medical or dental lab setting
- use knowledge of dental terminology
- record medical history or data
- inventory medical supplies or instruments
- maintain dental or medical records
- administer anesthetics
- administer injections
- administer medications or treatments
- perform dental hygiene procedures
- prepare patient for dental work
- work with persons with mental disabilities or illnesses
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Record and review patient medical histories.
- Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
- Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
- Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
- Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
- Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
- Expose and develop x-ray film.
- Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.
- Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.
- Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.
- Maintain patient recall system.
- Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.
- Administer local anesthetic agents.
- Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.
- Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.
- Place and remove rubber dams, matrices, and temporary restorations.
- Make impressions for study casts.
- Remove sutures and dressings.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Dental hygienists
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
Learn MoreLifeWorks: Career Exploration in Health and Medical Science
LifeWorks Web site is a tool for students to help raise their awareness about the broad range of health and medical science career pathways that are available to them and to help them make career decisions.
Learn More