How the Deaf Can Pursue A Dental Hygiene Career
According to Beltone, one in six people in this country has some form of hearing loss.9 Much research is available about how to treat or accommodate deaf or hard-of-hearing patients. However, there is a lack of resources pertaining to how the deaf or hard of hearing can enter the dental profession.
Prior to writing this article, I was hoping to...
Confessions of a Newly-Licensed RDH
As hygienists, we’ve all been there; newly graduated and new to the “real world.” While the hygiene program prepares us to be excellent clinicians, it cannot completely prepare us for everything we will face in the working world. Only experience can do that. Here are quotes from newly-licensed dental hygienists who are making it through the learning curve of...
Growing into Your Own as a Dental Hygienist
Bright eyed and bushy tailed, I walked into my first day at my brand-new hygiene job. I had all the knowledge from completing hygiene school floating around in my head. I was confident in my ability to connect with patients, educate on oral health, and eradicate disease. Full of good intention, I was ready to tackle my career. Little...
5 Things You Did Not Learn in Hygiene School
Congratulations! You have finally graduated from hygiene school (that you thought would never end), you have passed all of your boards, and have landed your first job in private practice. Before you begin to feel too overwhelmed, here are some things I wish I knew after hygiene school.
Not All Patients Will Be Nice
In hygiene school, patients knew that...
Riding it Out: The Struggle One Hygienist Went Through to Find Career Happiness
I can still recall how I felt when I first graduated from hygiene school. I was pumped up and proud of myself for the new life I was creating. I wasn’t new to the dental field; I had been an assistant for four years, but my new role as a hygienist is what intrigued me. I interviewed in my hometown about 15...
New to the Office: A Guide to Asking the Right Questions
Hygiene school felt like it would never end. Two years of learning skill after skill, preparing for an insane number of exams, learning more facts than seemed possible to fit into a single human brain, and having to apply it all to pass board exams have all culminated in one thing: a new wave of graduated dental hygienists.
So, what...
Failed the Clinical Board? Rally Back from this Stunning Setback
It was May 2019. I had passed the NBDHE, both anesthesia exams, and had graduated from an accredited dental hygiene program. The only thing standing between me and my professional license was the WREB Clinical Exam.
I walked into the school clinic just before 8:00 a.m. the morning of the exam with monster nervousness threatening to tear their way up...
From Patient to Passion: More than Just Cleaning Teeth
Your calling can come at any point in your life. Whether you are 13 or 30 years old, there is no wrong time to do what you love. I am convinced that being a Registered Dental Hygienist is more than a career; it is a passion. Let’s be honest, who wakes up one morning and thinks, “I want my...
A Look at Working Interviews (And Why You Should ALWAYS Be Paid!)
Working interviews: Are they good? Or bad? Not all types of career options have the opportunity to have a working interview. In the dental world, this type of interviewing does exist, and looking at working interviews from all sides is important to get the most out of them.
A working interview is an opportunity for an applicant to prove their...
Things I Wish I Could Tell Myself When I Started Hygiene
The ever-popular catchphrase that hindsight is 20/20 has been validated throughout my dental hygiene career. If the 15-year veteran in me could go back to talk to the dental hygiene student in me, she would have a plethora of advice and suggestions to offer. However, all I can do now is pass along what I have learned to those...
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