Dental Hygienist Research Paper

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Pages: 6

A dental hygienist’s job is to improve the oral health of a patient. There are many tasks that a dental hygienist can do while working. A day in the life of a dental hygienist can typically be repetitive, as the tasks they do will be done every day. A dental hygienist will conduct a medical history of the patient, meaning that they will ask the patient if they started any new medication, if they had any dental work done, and if they have any allergies, etc. Another thing that dental hygienists do is screen the patients, which means looking from head to mouth to identify any problems a patient may have before the problem starts to intensify. Dental hygienists often must take X-rays of patients, X-rays give the dentist/hygienist a better look …show more content…
Kent & Rethman, n.d. CEUs are required for dental hygienists; as a dental hygienist, you must complete 24 hours every 2 years. There are a few different ways you can achieve these hours while working as a dental hygienist. Just for completing dental hygiene exercises, you can get 6 hours of CE. Not just that, but if you do pro bono services as a dental hygienist in Florida you can also receive another 6 hours. Florida Board of Dentistry, n.d. Dental hygiene now seems much clearer, I have seen the roles a dental hygienist plays on the daily and how long it may take to be a licensed dental hygienist. I can see myself fitting in well as a hygienist; I had always pictured myself working in healthcare. Never a nurse as I could not deal with the long hours and being on-call. There is a lot of responsibility when you are a nurse, and that is something I do not want. Although there is a lot of responsibility for a dental hygienist, working in a dental clinic, the environment is much calmer. I plan to enter this career by continuing my education here at Miami Dade College, and I am hoping to work in a dental clinic as a receptionist during medical