To obtain your license you must be a graduate of an accredited U.S. dental hygiene program, take the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination and pass a state or regional clinical licensure exam. While the amount of people majoring in courses preparing people for a job as a dental hygienist isn’t necessarily dropping, fewer and fewer people are applying to become dental hygienists in the first place and the workforce itself is looking grim. Bottom line: if you've been at it for that long and you still haven't gotten yourself situated with a position you're happy with, you're screwed. As the time to graduate drew nearer, my classmates and I keyed in on the type of work we wanted to do. Finding an office to call your forever dental home can be a challenge in itself. However, there is a big difference in the amount of schooling required for these roles. From the nerve-wracking working interviews to become accustomed to a new office, and everything in between. • Hygienists scraping, scraping, scraping with hand instruments.. If a dental school interviews and accepts you then it means they would not care. Licensure is a means of protecting the public from unqualified individuals and unsafe practice. I got my dream dental hygiene job straight out of dental hygiene school. Hygienist to Dentist: Making the Transition By Anna Keefe on June 5, 2018 in Clinic and Provider Tips You’ve been taking care of your patient’s pearly whites, but you’re ready for the next step in your career—becoming a dentist. Whether students seeking to advance their careers have come from somewhere outside of the United States or have spent years working in another profession, dental hygiene is attractive field for non-traditional students to enter thanks to high starting salaries. The decisions you make when you begin your dental hygiene career can affect you for years to come. I doubt that a dental school would think that much about it. The tips and techniques are efficient and well-tolerated by … references. 727 Views. The purpose. Dentists and dental hygienists are both licensed professionals. You'll note that many of the negative comments posted here are from people who graduated 10, 20 years ago or more. I found my why and curated my dream career! Dental hygiene is an all-encompassing profession practiced across the globe. ... but the program can help speed along the process of transitioning from dental hygienists to dentist, since a bachelor's and doctorate can be completed in six years rather than eight. By knowing what you want and finding a mentor to guide you, you'll be better prepared for the transition from dental hygiene school to your new workplace. It’s tough to be a dental hygienist nowadays, and more and more of them are losing confidence in their own profession.. Many hygienists find new career directions built on the foundation of their solid health-care education and experience in the field. Dental hygiene career paths can lead to employment in a number of diverse settings, such as government education, research, sales and marketing, or public health. Dental hygiene is a young person's game. The transition from hygiene school to practicing hygienist can be tough too. The paradigm changed in the early 1990s to support the ultrasonic as the instrument of choice for ALL dental hygiene procedures - recall and perio - for children and adults. ... and worked as a dental hygienist for several years before transitioning into education and research. You can absolutely drop out of hygiene school if you were accepted into a dental program. 15.