What a Dental Hygienist Can Tell About You (Just By Your Smile) – Smart and Skilled If you’ve ever experienced the pre-dentist-visit sweats, you’re not alone. For many of us, that yearly check-up used to be something we delayed (until absolutely necessary). However, these days soothing music, tinted glasses, strawberry-flavoured fluoride and take home gift packs all add to the positivity of our experience. Not to mention the calming influence of a sympathetic, well-skilled hygienist. It’s certainly a rewarding profession, so if you’ve ever considered a career in the sector, it’s worth familiarising yourself with some of the skills dental hygienists learn in training. What’s involved? Dental hygienists are registered, primary healthcare professionals who work in collaboration with dentists to determine diagnostic and preventive treatment plans that support a patient’s oral health. Subjects and prerequisites can vary between institutions and some offer a choice of study streams including specialising in the areas of oral health, radiography or practice administration. Individual states also regulate the procedures that dental hygienists can perform (some under supervision), however, most of them will offer a variety of the following. …show more content…
Many dental hygienists will also learn an array of admin tasks including keeping accurate patient records, scheduling appointments, organising reminders and managing billing and payments.