The duty of a dental hygienist is to help the dentist during dental surgery and other oral treatments. He is the in charge of advising and helping the patient in learning appropriate way of dental hygiene and cleaning the teeth before any kind of surgery or examination. He also cleans and polishes the teeth of the patients. Some office maintenance work is also done by a dental hygienist like updating patient database and allotting the medicine to the patients. The main duties of a dental hygienist have been enlisted below:

• Help the dentist during operations and other dental procedures.
• Help the patients in taking preparation before surgery and examinations.
• Scaling and polishing the teeth of the patient.
• Use inventory system to manage patient’s history.
• Take X-ray of the patient’s teeth.
• Wash mouth of the patient while filling.
• Make filling material.
• Prepare prosthetics for braces and dentures.
• Function as the in charge of the office and lab.
• Fine-tune the completed filling.
• Teach patient about oral healthcare.

A dental health care team is incomplete without a hygienist. They assist dentists in their routine checkup and other dental services offered to the patients. In order to work as a dental hygienist you need to attend a course in any recognized school which lasts for 2 years. For private practice you should have an associate degree. You need to have at least 2 years of clinical training. However, if you wish to be a researcher or teacher in the field of dental hygienist, you need to undergo further education. You should have both the Bachelor and Master degree to get these positions. You need to work harder to get these degrees, for example, it takes at least six years to complete a Bachelor degree and in some cases you will need to take certification examination to get qualified.

The career as a dental hygienist is both exciting and challenging. You should be focused and patient to have result. With proper practice and experience you can be an icon in this field. Now-a-days people are being more careful about the dental health. They now understand that dental health and physical health are inter-related. As a result the demand of the dentists is increasing rapidly and simultaneously the job opportunities of the dental hygienists are also increasing to help the dentists in their daily tasks. If you have a certificate as a dental hygienist, finding a job won’t be a problem for you. Even you will have multiple job offers to choose from. Whatsoever the job is, try to work hard and be honest in your occupation. If you serve your patients well, your goodwill will increase and more and more patients will come to you to take treatment.