Dental Hygienist

Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Dental Hygienist; Hygienist; Licensed Dental Hygienist; Pediatric Dental Hygienist; Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH)

Tasks

• Record and review patient medical histories.
• Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
• Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
• Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
• Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
• Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
• Expose and develop x-ray film.
• Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.
• Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.
• Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.
• Maintain patient recall system.
• Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.
• Administer local anesthetic agents.
• Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.

Knowledge

• Medicine and Dentistry
• Customer and Personal Service

Skills

• Active Listening
• Speaking
• Critical Thinking
• Writing
• Monitoring
• Reading Comprehension
• Active Learning

Abilities

• Problem Sensitivity
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
• Finger Dexterity
• Near Vision
• Oral Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Manual Dexterity
• Speech Recognition
• Speech Clarity
• Written Comprehension
• Inductive Reasoning
• Written Expression
• Deductive Reasoning
• Information Ordering
• Category Flexibility
• Flexibility of Closure
• Perceptual Speed
• Selective Attention
• Time Sharing
• Control Precision
• Visual Color Discrimination