Dental Hygienists perform oral health assessments, provide nutritional counseling, and promote self-care programs to prevent oral disease. In addition, they provide treatment to the patient to include cleaning the teeth and placing dental sealants. 

A person in this career:

• Instructs patients on preventive homecare
• Processes X-rays and prepare diagnostic aids
• Removes deposits from teeth and applies sealants and fluoride to prevent decay
• Performs oral cancer and blood pressure screenings
• Places and removes temporary fillings, removes periodontal dressings, and removes sutures
• Administers medication prescribed by dentist
• Records oral conditions
• May administer CPR 

Working Conditions and Physical Demands:

• Physical abilities sufficient to move around rooms in the dental environment
• Maneuver in small places
• Work in enclosed spaces
• Sit and work chair side for long periods, reaching for equipment
• Interact with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds
• Use sharp hand instruments requiring repetitive, coordinated hand movements
• Utilize hands, wrists, neck, shoulders and back for at least eight hours per day 

Working in this career involves:

• Communicating clearly enough to be able to be understood by others and understand them
• Seeing clearly enough to see fine details
• Hearing a variety of sounds at various pitches, with background noise present 

Work Hours and Travel

Regular working hours and limited travel