Students & New Grads

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...

If I were to ask you to think back to dental hygiene school, some would remember the feelings of being overwhelmed, being stressed to the max, and the tears that were shed. Others might remember the friends they made and the happiness they felt when hard work turned into successfully earning that dental hygiene degree. When I think back,...

Diving into my first job as a newly registered dental hygienist, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The dentist suggested it would be best for me to learn some dental assisting before jumping into treating hygiene patients on my own. I didn’t have any problem with starting my new job this way, and I thought it would be neat...

New graduate? Looking to change your office? Whatever situation you’re in, it doesn’t matter, it all starts with a job interview. Eww, the dreaded interview! Before I talk about key points in interviews, we have to start with how to get an interview.  Nowadays there are many ways to find a job: networking, asking people you know, job search...

Dental hygiene school. Three little words that bring with them so many emotions. For many, the days of dental hygiene school are but a distant memory which has long since passed. For me, dental hygiene school is very much present. I eat, sleep, and breathe dental hygiene. After waiting two years to finally receive that little white acceptance letter,...

Sweaty palms, right armpit smelling as per its now-normal state thanks to menopause, light-headedness from lack of sleep thanks to anxiety over the exam, and again, hormonal insomnia. Nausea so bad I thought I might vomit right on my partner… who lay there trusting me with her life. She gagged so hard, sitting up, coughing from all the extra anesthetic...

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...

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...

It is the exam you’ve studied your entire dental hygiene education for. The upperclassmen have groaned to your class about it, your faculty has alluded to it, and you’ve already asked for board review books for Christmas. You’ve walked through the steps of grief, beginning with denial, “Maybe if I do well in school, they will let me skip my...

Upon graduation, I moved to a new area and had only been in the area for a short time, so I felt the best way to get to know the area and the offices available was to temp as a hygienist. In the year and a half that I worked as a temporary hygienist, I was able to see...