These positions can range from becoming business owners, consultants, product manufacturers, developers and designers. Some have ventured into education as adjunct professors, examiners for clinical dental hygiene board exams, continuing education speakers, and curriculum consultants. When willing to improve their knowledge, diagnostic and communication skills to help patients achieve ideal dental health, dental hygienists become true partners in dental care and remain a vital and necessary component of a successful dental office. Looking at both lists together, you can see that most of the best cities for dentists are in the Northeast, while most of the best cities for dental hygienists are located on the West Coast.
Christine continues: “Equipment expenses are typically the majority of the overall expenses of a dental office. The factors that most commonly affect dental hygienists' salaries are the office environment, experience, and geographical location. Therefore, in general, occupations in the field of dental health can be lucrative and safe, but they also depend on where in the United States you live. And if we, as dental students, as potential office owners, aren't taught much about how to calculate those numbers, most likely, neither will hygienists.
This philosophy of care primarily benefits the patient, but it can also benefit the office in the long term, creating the opportunity for a large number of dental treatments. Dental hygienists with a degree in the field don't necessarily earn more than those with an associate degree, particularly in a clinical setting. For example, patients who are considered healthy may have clinical evidence of additional dental disease. It's been a long time, too long to mention, but I don't remember having a class in dental school where we, the future young dentists, with bright eyes and a bushy tail, would discover what it really takes to practice dentistry, from a logistical point of view.
Dental hygienist jobs are expected to increase by 15.3% over the next decade, much faster than the average growth rate of other occupations. She began her dental career 35 years ago providing comprehensive dental care in a variety of roles, such as clinical dental hygienist, surgical assistant, office administrator and office director. When a hygienist has advanced training, he becomes a co-diagnoser of all comprehensive dental care. With a degree in dental hygiene, a dental hygienist may end up managing the medical services of a dental office.