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.
This is a specialization of
Other Clinical PractitionersCareer Overview Video
AI Impact Assessment
AI Resilience Score
Score 6/6: low AI task exposure, growing job demand, strong human advantage provides strong protection from AI displacement
How we calculated this:
19% of tasks can be accelerated by AI
+7% projected (2024-2034)
EPOCH score: 22/25
Key Responsibilities
- Record and review patient medical histories.
- Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
- Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
- Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
- 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.
Education & Training
Typical Entry Education
Associate's degree
Time to Job Ready
1-3 years
Based on Job Zone 3. For formal education duration only, see education_duration.
Technology Skills
Key Abilities
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Find jobs and training programs for dental hygienists- Median salary: $88K/year
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Compensation Details
Based on 211,630 employed workers
Also Known As
Data from O*NET 30.1 and BLS Occupational Employment Statistics
O*NET Code: 29-1292.00