What is the hardest part of being a dental hygienist?

The goal of many dentists and office staff is to include as many patients as possible in the daily schedule for treatment by the hygienist. Treating one patient after another without help must be recognized as an extremely difficult task. As health professionals, dental hygienists are often not appreciated by the public despite the essential role they play in caring for patients. Although the profession has existed since 1923, when the American Association of Dental Hygienists (ADHA) was founded, it is still one of the least appreciated careers in the health industry.

We serve more than 4,000 cities in the U.S. Department of State with more than 138,000 offices in our network. Many dental hygienists experience physical pain, which can be chronic or acute and occurs all over the body, from the neck to the feet. Patients who use DenTel to find their dental office may be able to ask how to better care for their oral health.

If you work in a small office with just one dentist, you now enjoy your job because you help the dentist provide general medical care to patients, perform dental surgery, provide oral health education to patients and staff, screen for oral cancer, and help patients manage their oral health needs. Traditional chairs for dental operators are wider and deeper; as a result, the operator sits on the edge of the chair, causing pain and discomfort in the lower back. Its role is monotonous because it is limited to a few tasks, perhaps just educating patients about dental hygiene and repeating the same concepts throughout the day. This problem is very common among people who work in the dental industry, especially among dental hygienists, due to repetitive work and poor posture for a long time when treating a patient.

During a consultation with the dentist, you must perform numerous tasks quickly and efficiently to maintain patients' oral health within a limited period of time. Many of the daily responsibilities of a dental hygienist, combined with the passion that people feel for being dental hygienists, make every day exciting. Professional variety isn't something that many people associate with being a dental hygienist, and that's because there isn't much professional variety. Despite your competence in many aspects of dentistry and your excellent grades in school, the dental office that hired you doesn't need you to clean your teeth, mouth, and gums, or any of the other things you expected to do.

Physical exertion may not be something you initially think about when thinking about the profession of dental hygienist.

Dental hygiene

work requires physical demands that will cause musculoskeletal problems, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome. Maybe you helped them overcome their fears of dental treatment, you gave them hope that they would overcome the infection and pain, you helped them with dental surgery, or you encouraged someone to follow their treatment plan. A study conducted by Guignon (201) reported that 70% of dental hygienists reported neck and shoulder pain, 30% complained of pain in the lower back and in the dominant hands, and “27% had problems in the middle and upper back and 20% had problems with the non-dominant hand or thumb” (para.