is dental hygeiene program also hard to get in?

Denturist... from technical college. My friend is a denturist in Washington state. There are a lot of Korean denturists in Seattle as far as I know.
Good luck!

 

Anyone can be a dental assistant. Many of them are just walk-ons. A friend-of-a-friend type thing. They get trained on the job and go from their. Assistants do have a course they go through to become RDA's(Regestered Dental assistants). They usually get higher pay and so forth.

DH's on the other hand have to go through a course of some kind, consisting of biological science courses and lab training followed by practicing on real people. It's like a mini-dental school. They get licensed and everything. The DH school near me is in a community college and I hear is supposed to be pretty good and "hard" to get in. I quoted "hard" because they have more apps than seats and decide by lottery instead of revieweing individuals.

Hope that answers your Q


Dizz

 

The way I see DH programs is like they are equivalent to nurses. They have their own schooling and education and are absolutely necessary. However just like nurses I imagine its easy to just say "ok enough for now I will go to dental school later" and then never get that urge to go back. I think DA is the way to go as its shorter and has helped many get into dental school.

 

/agree

More DA's => DDS's than DH's => DDS's

 

True to some extent.

As for DH schools being hard to get into. It is just as competetive as DS is. Most everyone who applies are 3.9-4.0 applicants. Jus liek DS though you have to have someting that sets you apart, makes you stand out if you will.

There are two and four year DH programs and they are pretty much the same when you boil down the nitty gritty of it all. The classes are intense and you are hitting the ground running the day you start.

I like being a DH but yearn for more autonomy and a larger scope of practice.

PM me if you have specifics. HOpe this helps.

 

3.9-4.0 applying to DH? Why not just go for DS?

 

Saying dental hygiene school is "intense" has to be a joke. Dental hygienists relate to dentists just as mechanics relate to automotive engineers.

 

ohhhhhhhhhh Snap

 

if your a male, its really easy to get into the program since like 95% of the class will be females....

 

For the most part, yes!

-Adam Spriggs, RDH

 

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7436315#post7436315

 

Most everyone who applies to DS doesn't even have a 3.9-4.0 average, I think you're stretching it bit.

 

Not really. The reason that the GPA's are so high is because there is no equivalent to the DAT to place everyone on a level playing field. Most schools go by GPA and bonus points based on the grades you receiv in your classes or even you dental experience.

This is why it is not uncommon to see DH applicants with 3.9-4.0.
When I applied I had a 3.98.

 

Maybe. But you have old female DH that are on you admissions board that (at least some of them) see male applicants as infiltraters to their world since it has been dominated by woman for so many years.

 

Not so. And since you have never been through DH school then you would have no idea. Speak to any DH and they will more than likely tell you that DH school is intense.

 

Just because you had a 3.98 doesn't mean most do. There are DS students who apply with a 4.0, but it doesn't mean most have that GPA.

Doing a quick search on google, I found the average GPA of a DH student is in the low 3.0 range.

I'm not knocking DH school, but I don't think you should make statements such as, "most everyone" applies with a GPA of 3.9-4.0. It's inaccurate.

 

So let's do one even better and say that most everyone that applied to the AAS DH program that I went to had 3.9-4.0. Better?

And FYI. It does vary by school so even google can be wrong. Just look what they did to PDizzle and PreDents.com

 

Your DH program had an average 3.9 GPA for accepted students? Impressive. Nonetheless, I was talking in terms of the average GPA for most DH programs, not yours specifically =P

The last sentence made me chuckle. I agree; the nerve of them!

 

I graduated from the DH program at UNC a couple of years ago and I will say that it was very competitive as far as being accepted.

UNC has a four year program and you must be pursuing a BS degree or have completed your BS in order to apply. Also, the pre-reqs are basically the same as they are for a DDS degree, but also includes Microbiology and Public Speaking.

The program was very intense and you do start out running. And to one up that the grading scale is not your typical 10-point scale, we were on a 6-7 point scale, so your 92 was a B not an A. We were taking 18 credit hours per semester which came out to about 6-7 classes because many of the course were only 2 credit points. We even took a few courses with the first year dental students.

I don't know what the average GPA for the students in my class was coming in, but I do know that we had some pretty intelligent students who had degrees in every field that you can think of. There were only 9 of us out of the 35 that were getting our first BS degree.

I am so GLAD that I decided to get a degree in DH because it really has prepared me for dental school and I'm sure that all the dental knowledge that I have obtained will carry me well through dental school when I start in Fall 2009, especially in the 3rd and 4th years when I begin clinical work.

If you are thinking about pursuing a degree in dental hygiene, I say go for it. You definitely won't regret it and if you decide to work for a few years, you're looking at a $60,000+/year salary after only 2 years of school and only working M-TH... you can't beat that!

 

You have to be a joke. You have no idea. Your statement is almost as obnoxious as when kids applying to medical school talk about how much of a joke podiatry or optometry school is.
In actuality, many dental hygiene schools require their students to take classes alongside dental students (like perio, tooth morph, etc) and are graded on the exact same scale. Also, Hygienists work from an entirely different perspective as dentists do.

 

Umm sure...but I majored in chemistry and I would be willing to bet everything I own that that major is far more difficult. To graduate I had to take biochem, adv. biochem, cal-based physics I & II, adv. organic, physical chem I & II, cal. I & II, etc. I also have worked as a DA for the past year and the hygienists at work, while awesome people, aren't exactly rocket scientists. One hygienist was telling me at work how "competitive" it was to get in to a DH program. She said "Yeah congratulations on being accepted into dental school. I know how you feel. When I applied to DH school they had over 120 applications for 18 spots. It's REALLY competitive." I was thinking the whole time "OK. Try over 1300 applications for less than 100 spots."

 

no offense to the RDHs out there but I agree with this post...

 

No ****. The corporate illegitamacy that reigns supreme at Google is mind boggling. How can they even make the accusations taht athey are without hard evidence? I ahve certainly been one to click on an ad to think that there will be "X" information supplied only to find out that it is not what I am looking for. BS I say BS.

 

I accept that and respect your educational prowess. However, as stated in a previous post. The classes that are required to enter into a DH program are some of the same classes that are required for DS. When I finished my BS and then completed my pre-reqs for DS I wound up taking some of teh same classes the you have.

As for the applications and 1300 to 100. In my DH program is was more like 500 for 30 so statiscally it is equivalent.

Anyone that can tolerate as many science (higher level) classes I give mad props to. So congratulations.

As for the DH that you work with. I will admit that some of the ones I have met I have questioned their intelligence also. Seems like at times I wonder how they do not drown when washing their hair.

However, there are those that are categorized as above the norm (higher intelligence if you will) and I seem to belong to that group. Not bragging just stating.

 

To add to this, I have also met some hygienist that I wonder about. But you have to understand that there are hygiene programs that are only 2 years and at community colleges where the pre-reqs are sometimes more clinically based than they are academically. I know for my program since it was a BS program and not an associate, they encouraged us to be more academic in our training because they wanted us to go on and get our masters in dental hygiene in hopes that we would go into dental hygiene education. I think the level of intelligence or even dental knowledge that a particular hygienist possesses can really be based on the program in which he/she graduated.

And P.S. there are some dentists out there who don't have a clue as well. Common sense is not that "common" and can not be taught.

 

Whole heartedly agree. I went to a 2 year program initially but my program pre-reqs were all for "science majors" and not "allied health" which I feel makes a significant difference. I then finished my BS a year or two later along while finishing pre-reqs for DS.

As for your PS statement. I agree and to some extent you wonder how "those" dentists even graduated. You can have book smarts but have the personality of a snail.

 

Dental Hygiene

It is for those who can’t go for dentistry for family and personal reasons.

Dental hygiene is another very good field to opt for.

I am doing DH in Toronto and 5 more months that’s it. I am in the final semester. I am also a foreign trained dentist. I have chosen to go for it about a year ago as I was really fascinated by this job and flexibility to work and moreover, I realized that it was a great challenge to enter in dentistry.
I know one of my friends, who was also a foreign trained dentist, is working as a Dental hygienist and happy with her job.
Potential for dental hygiene is varies from 60 K to 90 K per year. There are about 5 colleges in Toronto, which offer this course and foreign trained dentists easily get accepted.

 

This made me laugh

 

compare your experience in DH school to your experience in dental school (after you start) and let us know what you think

 

Comparing hygiene school to any undergrad degree is like comparing apples and oranges. Hygiene school is intense for entirely different reasons than a basic science degree. Hygiene students spend as much time on campus as you would if you were taking 23 credits of undergrad, and a DH students passing is not solely dependent on their ability to learn skills or information, like your degree is. It is mostly dependent on their ability to motivate strangers to come spend hours getting their teeth cleaned, because if you have no one to practice on there is no way to learn, and you fail. I can see you're intelligent, and obviously self disciplined, but if you haven't been through a dental hygiene program you don't know what your talking about. IMNHO the difficulty and expectations of dental hygiene students are incomprehensible. Before I went through a dental hygiene program I was told what to expect and I dismissed it as the opinion of whiners. I was wrong. I had classmates put on BP meds and depression meds. I saw grown women reduced to tears, but I know it's hard to believe because it's just an associates or bachelors degree.Two of my dental faculty were hygienists first, and they told us that if we ever thought we might want to be dentist, to go for it, because, "if you make it through hygiene school, you'll have no problem making it through dental school." "We run a tougher program," they said. I had dentists tell me that when they were dental students, how glad they were not to be hygiene students because of how tough the hygiene program was. Being a hygienist it makes sense. The profession makes you a picky, picky perfectionist, which is a great quality in your dental hygienist, but really hard to deal with in one professor, let alone all of them.
The problem I have with your views is that you're going to employ a dental hygienist, and to have a good working relationship some respect for the other persons educational qualifications is necessary, and comparing an automotive engineer to a dentist? As far as I understand, dentists did not design the body from the neck up, they merely repair. Your statement is demeaning, and your lack of knowledge of what goes on in a dental hygiene school is obvious. I understand that as a dental assistant you see the dentist doing many different technically difficult procedures, and all you see is the hygienist 'cleaning,' and it's easy to dismiss them intellectually, but in your future you do so at the expense of your practice.

I guess my point is that everyone deserves your respect, not to be snottily judged as 'no rocket scientists' and of course, congratulations on your acceptance to dental school. To get in when 13 people apply for every 1 spot is nothing short of awesome, you should be so proud of yourself!

 

Well said! At my dental school interview my professor said that :" hygienist can make or break the practice". I have been practicing hygiene for almost 5 years now and totaly agree with this statement. Respect toward dental stuff members goes a long way!!

 

A good hygienist just has to be pretty and personable. A rocket scientist is not required.

 

A rocket scientist is not required for any job , except for the rocket scientist job.

 

Geeze man, you were accepted to dental school and congratulated by your co-worker and all you were thinking in the back of your mind was that you were better than her and she had no clue how you felt?

Based on some of your posts above, you have a superiority complex dude. I hope you aren't a short little dude with small man's complex. You are going to have a hard time building a cohesive team in your practice in the future if you keep looking down on all those who haven't gone to dental school like you.

And just to let you know, it is actually harder to get into hygiene based on unique applicants per seat. How many of those "1300 applications for less than 100 spots" Do you think only applied to that school? Take me for example, and many other's on predents. I've applied to 22 schools. Doesn't make it 22 unique applications. I can only go to one location.

However, many hygiene schools are lesser known or even community colleges. Only students usually in that vicinity or in that state apply there. Think about it. You are preparing for hygiene school living in Southern California. You don't apply to Maine Community College Hygiene Program, you apply to the ones near you.

Stop looking down on hygienists. They go through the same pre-reqs as us, have a difficult time getting in, and do have an intense schooling ahead of them. I agree, not all of them are as smart as the average dentist, that is why they aren't dentists. But it doesn't make them stupid. You wouldn't be paying them $50 bucks an hour in the future if they were.

 

I too hope you are not a small nerdy man that can only share this complex on SDN.

Good luck in life buddy!

 

Who the hell do some of you think you are to talk s*** to random people? I stated my opinion and you people seem to think you have a right to tell me how much of a P.O.S. I am.
LMAO get a f****** life and grow up. I was just telling a story.

 

Well now I can see some serious issues here, I'm afraid it is not just superiority complex.... I'm glad you will not be in my class next fall!

 

PLEASE CLOSE THIS THREAD. It's really the most pointless damn thing on here. It's just a joke of an excuse to insult people.

This is Student DOCTOR Network Forums. If you wanted to debate this issue you should have joined Student ASSOCIATES DEGREE FROM A COMMUNITY COLLEGE Forums.

 

First off I am not going to belittle anyone on this thread, but I do disagree with some opinions on here. To get to the point if DH school is hard or not. I will graduate with my BS in DH in May. I also have a BS degree with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. I have taken all the upper level chem and bio classes. My first year I thought Cs were just as good as As, I had no idea how hard it was to get into dental school, that is a different story. I can easily say that the DH program I am in is very hard to get into. I think something like 225 applied for 24 seats, but like previously mentioned everyone that got in and or applied were usually just 2 hours away. A DH program applicant pool is not nationwide like dental school. I had applied to dental school 3 years ago and did not get in, so I decided to try the DH program to stay in the dental field with the goal of continuing to apply to dental school. It was the best decision of my life. During my interviews for dental school, never once did they ask about my manual dexterity, chair side manner, or professionalism. They would read my application and go "Oh you are in a DH program, and you are doing very well". The interviews turned into BS sessions for 30 minutes because the ADCOM never doubted those 3 big areas. Now that I finally got into Dental School, anyone who is considering the dental field, I would strongly suggest a DH program because even if Dental school never works out, you at least are in a field that you like and the pay is really good.

Also Dental hygiene school is way more than "cleaning teeth". They are a critical part of the dental office. Even though they can not diagnose they still have to know all the pathology of the mouth. A dentist relies on the dental hygienist almost 100%, be honest how thorough is a dentist going to look in the mouth if the dental hygienist did not see anything to begin with. I know several Dentists who went through DH first and said that many aspects are the same for both, if not harder in DH school.

 

I'll try and post something constructive here which is unique to Alabama. It was designed to make up for the lack of DHs in underserved areas in Alabama and, in summary, it essentially allows the dentist to train his/her own DH.

http://www.dentalboard.org/pdf/270-X-3.04.pdf