Concerns about my career choice (dental hygienist)..?

[AimeeLee]

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I'm currently in my senior year of HS and I'm planning to become a dental hygienist. My goal is to first pursue a degree in either Biology or Dental Hygiene/finish pre-requisites at Santiago Canyon College (really close to my home) and then transfer to an accredited DH program (considering between Cypress, University of Pacific, or USC). Do you know of any other good DH programs? I plan to enter a 2 year associate degrees program, but I'm thinking of aiming for a 4 year bachelor's degree, because I would like to have teaching opportunities in the future.
I've been hearing a lot of negative feedback from dental hygienists on the job opportunities in certain states, mainly Florida and here in California. I know that I should not let anyone deter me from my chosen career choice, but I want to be practical as well. If the job outlook for dental hygienists is really as bleak as people say it is, I do not want to waste time studying for a career that might ultimately not be worth it.
Anyways, I'm looking for any kind of helpful advice/opinions/personal experiences on the dental hygiene profession.
(On a side note, does anyone happen to know what is the highest level of math needed to become a dental hygienist? I've just finished pre-calculus.)

 

[zwitterion34]

I'm currently in my senior year of HS and I'm planning to become a dental hygienist. My goal is to first pursue a degree in either Biology or Dental Hygiene/finish pre-requisites at Santiago Canyon College (really close to my home) and then transfer to an accredited DH program (considering between Cypress, University of Pacific, or USC). Do you know of any other good DH programs? I plan to enter a 2 year associate degrees program, but I'm thinking of aiming for a 4 year bachelor's degree, because I would like to have teaching opportunities in the future.
I've been hearing a lot of negative feedback from dental hygienists on the job opportunities in certain states, mainly Florida and here in California. I know that I should not let anyone deter me from my chosen career choice, but I want to be practical as well. If the job outlook for dental hygienists is really as bleak as people say it is, I do not want to waste time studying for a career that might ultimately not be worth it.
Anyways, I'm looking for any kind of helpful advice/opinions/personal experiences on the dental hygiene profession.
(On a side note, does anyone happen to know what is the highest level of math needed to become a dental hygienist? I've just finished pre-calculus.)

http://becomingdentalhygienist.com/

Try looking through the website. It might be able to address some of your concerns.

 

[zwitterion34]

I'm currently in my senior year of HS and I'm planning to become a dental hygienist. My goal is to first pursue a degree in either Biology or Dental Hygiene/finish pre-requisites at Santiago Canyon College (really close to my home) and then transfer to an accredited DH program (considering between Cypress, University of Pacific, or USC). Do you know of any other good DH programs? I plan to enter a 2 year associate degrees program, but I'm thinking of aiming for a 4 year bachelor's degree, because I would like to have teaching opportunities in the future.
I've been hearing a lot of negative feedback from dental hygienists on the job opportunities in certain states, mainly Florida and here in California. I know that I should not let anyone deter me from my chosen career choice, but I want to be practical as well. If the job outlook for dental hygienists is really as bleak as people say it is, I do not want to waste time studying for a career that might ultimately not be worth it.
Anyways, I'm looking for any kind of helpful advice/opinions/personal experiences on the dental hygiene profession.
(On a side note, does anyone happen to know what is the highest level of math needed to become a dental hygienist? I've just finished pre-calculus.)

Shadowing a dental hygienist and asking questions will help also. 🙂 Good luck!

 

[JESSFALLING]

(On a side note, does anyone happen to know what is the highest level of math needed to become a dental hygienist? I've just finished pre-calculus.)

That should do it for your math requirements! (Though, a statistics class is really helpful too if you want to understand research better. I highly recommend it for you if you want to eventually go into teaching.)

Regarding the DH career: dirty teeth, and the need to clean them, aren't going away. Yes, certain regions of the country may have too many hygienists, and thus, it may take more work to develop your practice in those areas; but many other areas (esp. rural ones) will always have a shortage of qualified help and you can move to them if you want to. Also, most hygienists work for themselves as contract employees. This means that you can work for multiple dental offices. If you work for two offices M-TH, you can add another office on Friday if you want to! This flexibility will allow you the ability to expand your practice until you have the amount of work that you desire 🙂.

Lastly, on the topic of careers....you should not forget that dental hygienists make much more money than most other careers that only require an associates degree! Also, what other career offers this amazing amount of scheduling flexibility? These two reasons alone make the choice a compelling one. Finally, if your goal is to also teach, then you should realize that DH schools are not going to disappear any time soon....It's a silly thought to worry so much about this. There will always be people that have trouble finding or maintaining employment...and they tend to talk a lot of trash about their ill-chosen careers...but often, their troubles are because they just don't have very good people skills!

(On a side note: You might also one day realize that you would like to go all the way and become a dentist. If this ever happens, you will realize that the schools require the more rigorous Chemistry series....which most DH schools don't require. So, if you think that you may ever want to become a dentist, take the full year of Gen Chem and the full year of Organic Chem!...This may also be a better science background for DH teaching!)

Source: Wife is a DH

 

[Kahr]

From all the dentists/specialists I've shadowed, their DH/RDHs have all been very positive about their careers and seemed pretty happy in general.

It seems to be the field is only growing, with BA/BS level programs, autonomy in some places, salaries going up, etc. Dentistry in general seems to be one of the safer healthcare fields.

My only specific thoughts for you: strongly consider going through a 4 year school for your DH degree, if possible go to one that also has a dental school, I've been told by several DHs that it's given them more perspective and helped foster relationships/connections professionally, this working vice-versa for the dental students.

I also agree with the other poster, if possible, take the general chem/bio courses in place of what the DH program requires initially (when I went through respiratory therapy school we were not told this was an option, but when inquired about in the department, it was in fact an option and a good one) if it isn't already those, it will cover your bases for the future in case you decide to go back to professional school.

Edit: If you want some extra feedback/opinions, I highly recommend sending SeattleRDH a private message, good person to talk to.