Students & New Grads

You can see it. You can almost feel it. Your dream job in your dream location just posted online, just waiting for you to grab it. Unfortunately, landing your ideal hygiene position can be a competitive endeavor. If a job is worthy of your daydreams, chances are other talented hygienists think it is worthy of theirs too. As with just...

Editor’s Note: Information about COVID-19 is changing on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. We have made every attempt to ensure this article is up to date at the time of publication, but with the rapid changes occurring, some information may have changed since publication. Please visit https://www.coronavirus.gov/ for the latest news and information on COVID-19. There is a light at the end of...

When you're fresh out of hygiene school, it's easy to ride out the high of passing all the dental boards and rigorous classes. You feel like you're on top of the world, and nothing can bring you down. Unfortunately, some parts of the real dental world can come at you fast. While confidence is the key to being successful...

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...

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...

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...

I have been working in a dental office now for less than a year and have landed my first real job as a licensed dental hygienist. I am learning new things each day and am beginning to feel more comfortable using my instruments and taking radiographs. However, being new comes with its own set of challenges; especially patients joking...

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...

A feeling of dread settles within you, and tears are falling. The summer break is over, and it’s time to think about dental hygiene classes again. The upcoming return to the campus always comes too quickly. There’s never enough time for the pool, reading for leisure, or afternoon naps. Unfortunately, there are goals to be met, material to cram...

As I approach the first anniversary after completion of my dental hygiene degree, I find myself knowing quite a bit more compared to this time last year. While by no means do I consider myself to be an expert, there are numerous things that I wish I had known when I had first graduated and was looking for my...