101. Is Dental Hygiene Worth It? Here’s the GOOD Side No One Talks About

Hey Bristles !

In this episode, I’m sharing the real-life pros of being a dental hygienist, the things that make this career so rewarding, flexible, and full of opportunity. Whether you're a student thinking about hygiene school, a new grad finding your footing, or just curious about the profession, this episode highlights the reasons so many of us truly love what we do.

We’re talking about:
 ✨ Flexible schedules and work-life balance
 ✨ Strong pay with a relatively short time in school
 ✨ The ability to help people improve their health through prevention
 ✨ Career options beyond the operatory
 ✨ Job security and high demand
 ✨ Building meaningful relationships with patients
 ✨ Opportunities to grow, specialize, and evolve your career

And because real talk matters, this episode pairs perfectly with my Cons of Being a Dental Hygienist episode #69, where I share the honest challenges that come with the profession.

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Keep shining, keep growing, and keep making prevention make sense✨🦷🧚🏻🪥🩷

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Hey bristles, welcome back to the Brush with Brit Podcast where we make prevention actually makes sense. Hey guys, we're back with the Brush with Brit Podcast. It has been a hot minute since I have sat down and recorded, but we are back in the full swing of things, and I am so excited to be starting season six of the Brush with Brit Podcast. I can't even believe we're on season six, but here we are. And in today's episode, we're doing a little solo episode. I just wanted to talk about the pros of being a dental hygienist. I realized I made a cons episode a long time ago, and I just felt like how sad of me to not do an episode talking about all the good things that being a dental hygienist has to offer. I get this question literally all the time. And I feel like there are so many things that I could write out. And before we even get into this episode, I want you to know that yes, there are cons to being a dental hygienist, just like there are any other job. But this episode specifically is to focus on the good things that this career can bring you and what it has brought me. So we are just going to go down the list of things that came to mind when I thought of all the benefits of being a dental hygienist and starting with having a flexible work schedule. Of course, this varies depending on which office you're at, but you can work five days, you can work four days, you can work three days, you could work one day, you can even be a temp hygienist and you can work a couple days a week and then no days a week the next week. There is flexibility in the days that you can work. And I just think that that is awesome. Oftentimes you don't have to work weekends. There are some offices that are open on weekends, and also we're usually off on holidays, and some offices are even closed on Fridays. So just depending on which office you choose, your schedule can be really, really flexible. And there's even opportunity to have shortened days. So if I wanted to pick up a little half shift here and there and work a little cute little seven to 12 or whatever, usually you can find that somewhere if that's what you are looking for. And I think that is such an awesome thing about being a dental hygienist. There is ability to work part-time and work full-time. Of course, there are struggles with working full-time. It is hard on your body, but it's an option. Like if you needed to find a full-time position, you could probably find it out there. Some hygienists will work two days at one office, three days at another office, or five days at one office. It just really varies, but there is, especially right now, there is so much opportunity out there, which I just think is incredible. Right now, there is very strong job security, and we are in such high demand. There are jobs everywhere, it feels like. And there are definitely temp jobs everywhere as well. So that is something that is so great about where we are at right now in dentistry. And the pay is very strong for a relatively short schooling. Depending on the route that you decide to take, there are accelerated programs that are like two years, and you can graduate and start making decent money right away. Like I think that our profession is very fortunate in that sense. There's a lot of different professions that they go through all this schooling, and they don't even make as much as we make as hygienists. And so that is something that I am very grateful for. And it is always nice to know that if I needed to, I could fall back on working five days a week as a clinical dental hygienist if I needed to. I could probably find it out there. There is opportunity to work in different types of settings. You can work in private practice, you can work in corporate. There are some places where you can work in hospitals, in schools. There's hygienists that I've heard of working in oncology facilities, you can work in public health, you can work in education, you can get into speaking, which is something that I do every now and then. And I just think it's it's great to have all these different options. And that is something that I love so much about being a hygienist. When I first became a hygienist, I always pictured it as only being clinical, only working in the operatory. And that's really the only way that I pictured being a hygienist, which there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But now what I love so much about it is being able to do all of the different things. I love the variation. I love being a clinical hygienist and I love speaking and writing every now and then. Writing is not my strong suit, but every now and then, you know, I might want to write an article or two. And getting into social media and podcasting, like it is just so much fun to do all of those different things. It's taken me a while to get comfortable with that idea because I, like I said, I always pictured it being this one thing. But now doing all of these different things, like I'm just obsessed. Like I want to get into all of it. I want to get into research and teaching and public health and all of the amazing things that being a dental hygienist has to offer. Another thing that I have truly come to love about being a dental hygienist is building relationships with patients. And as a new grad, this wasn't something that I could really focus on. You know, I was so stressed about time management and learning all of the new things. And now, five years in, I've gotten to a place where I have the time within the appointment, sometimes, not all the time, but I have the time to build relationships with my patients. I'm seeing them again for their recare visits. And I have just really come to enjoy learning more about my patients and learning from them, their life experiences. Some of you may know I see the majority of geriatric patients, and I just feel like there is so much wisdom to pass along. And I love going through all the different like phases in life and just talking to them about, you know, what is currently going on with them. And that includes like highs and the lows. Like I've I've been there with patients with, you know, tears in my eyes with things that they are going through, but I've also been there with like tears of joy and excitement for the things that they are going through in life. And I have just really come to value that part of being a dental hygienist. I also love that I have the power to improve patients' lives through prevention. And that is just so unique in what we do as hygienists. Like, not a lot of other roles in healthcare can say that they strictly focus on prevention. It is such a niche and it is so needed in not only dentistry, but just in medical in general and in healthcare. I feel like when you lean into being a true prevention specialist and you are taking the things that we do seriously, you are taking the time to do a thorough medical review and talk to your patients about the side effect of their medications and talk to them about, you know, hypertension and diabetes. And once you lean into that, you'll find that it is so fulfilling to be able to teach a patient something that they might not have known if you hadn't told them. Hypertension is always the one that I first focus on because it really is the foundation of where our prevention truly starts, is by doing a hypertension screening. And it really opens up the door for us to speak to our patients about the oral systemic link. And, you know, with things like diabetes and gum disease, when we get to educate our patients on those things, I feel like that part to me is truly the life-changing part about being a dental hygienist. Or unfortunately, like you are going to find lesions on your patients and you are going to help them get diagnosed with high blood pressure, but they might, you know, be able to be treated for those things. And that's the the amazing things. I've I've had some patients where I've actually found skin cancer on them and they actually went and got it removed and they were so thankful for that. Or I've helped patients get diagnosed with sleep disordered breathing and hypertension. And that to me is one of the most fulfilling parts about being a dental hygienist. And in addition to that, just speaking about gum disease while we're on that topic, I think just like cleaning teeth in general is very satisfying, which is such an odd thing to say. Like some people compare it to like Dr. Pimple Popper or whatever it is. I don't personally get the comparison, but for me, like cleaning teeth is very satisfying and like removing calculus in itself is really fun. I know that sounds so weird, but it's true. And although you do have to be licensed in each individual state, which hopefully in the future that will change, we do still have the ability to work in different locations. You would have to go through different, you know, testing and things like that. But we do still have that opportunity there. And I think that that is a pro to being a dental hygienist. Another amazing thing, which is the future of where hygiene is going, is independence and being autonomous. So being an independent practicing dental hygienist, meaning you don't have to have a dentist in the building with you watching over all of the things that you are doing. You actually work in collaboration with them and other medical providers. So you are still referring out restorative work and things like that. But that truly is such an incredible opportunity for us as hygienists to be able to open up our own brick and mortar practices and to be in these alternative settings like hospital schools and things like that. And we also have the ability to expand our skills. So getting into things like myofunctional therapy, or maybe it's guided biofilm therapy, or the perio-endoscope, being able to take a little camera and actually go believe beneath the gum line and see these pieces of calculus. You know, we can do things like saliva testing, and there's even some states that are allowing dental hygienists to administer neuromodulators, which is incredible. Being able to screen for things like diabetes is it's just the options are there and we are constantly advancing and we are getting to a place where we are going to be expanding our scope and be able to do more, especially in the future. So right now is just like a really awesome time to be a hygienist because there is change and advancement happening. Another thing I would say is work-life balance, like there is such potential to have good, like good work-life balance. I feel like if I was strictly working, like right now, I work three days clinical hygiene. If that were the only thing I was doing and I wasn't doing all my other, you know, brush with Brit stuff, I just feel like if you have the option to work like three or four days clinical hygiene, it is such a sweet spot. And I mean, having three or four days off in the week is such a nice thing. And two of those days being like Saturday and Sunday, like I don't know, to me, it's a it's a very nice work life balance. And even though I am still doing all of my things outside of clinical practice, I do truly feel that my work life balance is really good. And I am able to do all of these things like clinical practice and then all of these other things outside of clinical practice, and it's still such a great balance. I also really love being able to see the results from the work that you do. So, like when you are speaking to a patient and you're giving them oral hygiene instructions and you find a way to get through to them and they come back for that three, four, six-month recare, and their oral health has improved, it is such a good feeling. Like, I can't even hardly describe like the fulfillment that I get out of improving a pocket depth or getting a patient to use an electric toothbrush. It is such an incredible feeling. And that is something that I just absolutely love about being a dental hygienist. It's trust me, the moment you get a patient to use an electric toothbrush and you see their like before and after photos, you're gonna be like, oh, this is what Brit was talking about. You also have the potential to continue your education, you know, getting a bachelor's degree in public health and education, whatever it is. But in addition to continuing at your education, your communication skills will develop quickly as a hygienist. You are talking to at least probably eight different patients a day. You're also having to communicate with the dentist, with the front office, with a dental assistant. So you just learn over time that communication skills truly is something that you have to build upon as a dental hygienist in order to just overall improve your case acceptance, improve patient experience, and also just like improve the quality of your job as well. Because when you are able to communicate better with patients and get them to understand something and see those results that you've been trying to get them to show you, that right there is like the key to really being a good hygienist, a well-rounded hygienist that is able to truly make a difference in patients' lives through good communication skills. And right now, especially, there is opportunity to increase your income over time because I mean, the job market has really changed a lot over the past five years since COVID. And so there's been a really big increase in our hourly rates across the states. And that's a pro, you know, that's something that's awesome about being a dental hygienist right now. There's also opportunity for volunteer trips around the world. I've I've seen so many. Unfortunately, I haven't gone on a volunteer trip outside of the US yet, but that is on my list of things that I want to do. But there are volunteer opportunities within the states as well. So going to different clinics and donating your time and your services to patients in need is so fulfilling. And I always highly recommend doing it because I feel like it's a very grounding experience. And sometimes we get in the four walls of our operatory. We work in one office, we work with one demographic, and we kind of forget about the reality of what else is out there. So I think volunteering is such an awesome way to really open your eyes to what is out there in the world. If you are somebody that really likes consistency and you don't like something hectic, like for me, I like to compare it to Mr. Brush with Britt. He's a firefighter. So every single shift is different. Every single call is different. And like you don't know what you're going into. And when I was a brand new dental hygienist, like that is not something I was interested in. I wanted everything to be very consistent. I wanted the same schedule. Like I'm a person of, I like, you know, I like a routine, I love a good routine. I'm very type A. So if you are somebody that likes things to be, what do I want to say? Like, like for there not to be a ton of surprises throughout your day, I feel like being a dental hygienist is one of those. Of course, we all have our days. Don't get me wrong, there are crazy things or there are things that can happen in dentistry to really throw your schedule off. However, like once you get to the point where I'm at, like five years in, things tend to flow really well. And like I don't get anxiety going into work. I have an idea of what my schedule's gonna be. It's not like this big surprise, and you know, I'm not walking into a schedule that I know nothing about or patients I know nothing about. So I just feel like if you like that kind of like type A organization schedule type of thing, then being a dental hygienist is definitely like on that path of being a very type A type of job, I would think. I think that this is very underrated. And I don't think that I've ever really heard anybody talk about it. But as a dental hygienist, I have become very health aware of things. Like, yes, you learn the things in school, but now being able to implement prevention into my own life, I have really completely changed the way that I show up in the world because of being a prevention specialist and the way that I view health now. And I think it's a little bit underrated as a hygienist. Not a lot of people mention that. And, you know, for me, um, drinking alcohol was one of those things. You know, that was something that I did pretty regularly before I became a hygienist. And now I'm two years sober, and that's something that I'm very proud of. And one of the reasons why I did it was just because of finding out the effects of alcohol. You know, now currently I'm working on my cholesterol. I really am. I have not been able to get my LDL cholesterol down. So that is my main focus for this year because I understand, you know, the the things that happen when you have high cholesterol. So I gotta work on that. But, anyways, that's definitely a pro to being a hygienist, is you learn about all things health and all things prevention, and you really start to implement them into your own life, or at least you can start to implement them into your own life. You know, I'm trying to always practice what I preach, right? But yeah, just to wrap things up, I think, you know, there are so many good things to being a dental hygienist. The schedule, if that's what you're looking for, the pay is decent for the amount of school that you go through. There is room for growth. Patient relationships are amazing. Being able to see your cases improve is also really incredible. Just cleaning teeth is very satisfying. Um there is such a variation between the different kinds of jobs that you can have and where you can work. The field is growing. Our careers and our profession is advancing. And I just think overall, being a dental hygienist truly changed my life for the better. There are so many things that I learned. And just getting through dental hygiene school in general, it re-altered my brain chemistry. No joke. I mean, all jokes aside, they always like we always talk about like the trauma of dental hygiene school. But truly, when I got through dental hygiene school, I learned how tough I am mentally. And that if I set my mind on something, if I want something bad enough, I will be able to make it happen. And that's something that getting through dental hygiene school and becoming licensed really instilled in me. I think that dental hygiene school, it not only grows you as a dental professional, but I think it truly starts to shape you as a human being. This profession is very unique. It's something that I am very proud to be a part of. And I hope if you are thinking about becoming a dental hygienist, this helps you to understand some of the pros that come along with it. And if you are curious about the cons of being a dental hygienist, I'll link that episode in the description box. I think it's important to take all things into consideration depending on what you want for your life and your future. And so knowing all of the pros and knowing all of the cons will just kind of help you make that decision. With that, this is the first episode of season six of the Brush with Brit Podcast. I love you guys so much. Thank you for being here. And until the next one, I'll see you soon.