pag.).
In addition to the preceding elements, a person pursuing a dental hygiene degree must at least have two favorable letters of recommendation. Shane Hendricks, RDH, admits that his best recommendations came from a dentist he worked for, and one of his college professors. It is advisable to submit more than two letters of recommendation, but not required.
Another prerequisite is to have a minimum of six months experience in the dental field. Prospect students gain this experience by volunteering their spare time, or getting hired as a regular dental assistant. Typically a dental assistant helps the dentist apply medicaments to the mouth. They assist in complex operative procedures, clean up after patient treatment, and set up for dental treatment and in most case expose and develop X-rays. Most of this experience can be gained by on-the-job training.
The field of dental hygiene is filled with many benefits. One of them is the work schedule. Shane likes his work schedule. On the average he puts in about thirty-five hours per week. He rotates from one dental office to another, as he is not a full time employee with any of the offices he works for. He says that the break in the schedule keeps his job from getting monotonous. He gets to see different cases on a daily basis. He is usually off-duty on Fridays and weekends with the option to work them.
Another benefit of the hygienist is the opportunity to work for a production-based corporation. Thirty percent of all insurance claims collected can be negotiated into contract as potential earnings. Furthermore, dental hygienists that work in a dental office may be paid on an hourly, daily, or salary basis. The hourly earnings for U.S. dental hygienist were $22.06 in 1998 (The Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2002-2003 Edition online n. pag.). .
Unless the number of dental hygiene program graduates grows much faster, and they produce a larger pool of qualified applicants, job prospects are expected to remain good.
