Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 206,100 people employed as dental hygienists in the United States. The median annual salary is $77,100. Entry level employees earn approximately $54,200 per year and senior employees earn approximately $104,420 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Place and remove rubber dams, matrices, and temporary restorations.
• Make impressions for study casts.
• Remove sutures and dressings.
• 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.
• Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.

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