What Is A Dental Hygienist?

Several people have asked me what the difference is between a dental assistant and a dental hygienist.

There is actually quite a difference and the both have very important jobs on the dental team. This blog might also help young adults to figure whether or not they would like to train to be a dental asst or a dental hygienist.

A dental assistant (DA)works directly with the dentist. They help me when I am doing procedures on patients and are invaluable in delivering needed instruments when I need them. They handle the suction to keep the patients from drowning and keep the working area clean and dry so I can see what I am doing. The assistant also is responsible for making temporary crowns when a crown prep is done and taking xrays as requested by the dentist.

They also can do cleanings on children where no "scraping " on the tooth is needed. Putting in molar sealants on children and keeping the office sterilization program running and up to date also are part of their responsibilities. Many times I will delegate several jobs to the assistant that will free up my time as their role can be very widespread. The normal dental assistant school program runs around 13 months, but on the job training is extremely important . The assistant must have very good people skills and be efficient, kind and understanding to keep the patients comfortable.

A dental hygienist (DH)goes to school for at least 2 years after a prerequisite program usually at a community college. They can give anesthetic to the patient as needed to numb areas to be worked on. Many times they will also numb the patients for the dentist to save him time.

Their main role is professionally cleaning teeth of adults. They can do simple cleanings on people who have great homecare and also do very deep difficult cleanings over several hours for patients who have inadequate homecare. They are trained to place fillings after the dentist preps the tooth for the filling. They can take patient histories and work on their own very well. They are trained to take xrays as are the assistants. They are in great demand and usually work by themselves.

Both the DA and the DH are very important to the dental team and our office relies on both of their expertise to fulfill their jobs and keep our office running smoothly and for extensive patient comfort. We are a great team here and I am thankful for the talent we have that treats our wonderful patients like family.