Dental Health : How to Become a Dental Hygienist

Become a licensed dental hygienist by gathering information from local colleges or institutes, attending dental hygiene school and taking the state dental certification course. Take x-rays and perform important dental procedures with help from a licensed dental assistant in this free video series on the dental profession.

Expert: Michelle McPhail
Bio: Michelle McPhail has been a licensed dental assistant for seven years.
Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

[dentalcutie]

You do not need to get a Bachelors degree before you get accepted into hygiene school. You just need to finish the required prerequisites which normally would take you about a year to complete. Then you apply for hygiene school. Most dental hygiene programs are two years long and you will attain an Associate degree in Applied Science in Dental Hygiene. There are also 4 year programs in which you get a Bachelors Degree in Dental Hygiene. I know because I am a dental hygienist and did it!

[jennanorman]

It would be great if she knew what she was talking about.  DH Programs are typically a two year, associates level degree-program.

[saf_camp]

6 years 😂 wait I might as well become a dentist lol

[Someonesaidthis]

Majority of Dental Hygienist only need an associates of science degree. You do not need a bachelors. Most community colleges offer the majors and programs. However, every state is different.

[briannaxolee]

this is so wrong its not even funny...

[jbdude]

would dental hygiene be a good program to consider if you want to transition to dental school at some point?

[Sakura]

Huh 4 years? From my experience all the dental hygiene programs I've found are AAs and 2 years only.

[Fonzi]

Isn't the requirement a minimum of a 2 yr? And when you become a dental hygienist you have to take continued classes?

[Jenniferlp]

She is NOT an idiot! Im impressed that a Dental Assistant is telling you how to get your RDH license, among other impressive dental feats. The field of dentisty is a cruel and evil mistress! Any joe-shmoes out there think you got what it takes..think again! Thanks for the vid! Keep em coming, we could use your expertise! (and never mind the haters, they can't spell anyway!)
Sincerely,
A Former RDA, now turned RDH, in NM

[girlnature]

Its true you need prerequisites for one year then you get into the program.

[bobkop]

There are two year courses available for dental hygienists in CT (following prerequisites) and after that starting salary of over 70K

[Issadorra]

I don't know how it is for you guys in the states, but here in Ontario you can become a Dental Hygienest in 2 years. you just take the course at a private college, which includes practicum pass it and your done after that.

[TuaKahlua]

Okay, so two years for pre-reqs... How long is the actual program?

[seashells]

So Recently I just decided to become a Dental Hygienist instead of a General Dentist. I was planning on at 1st to major in Studio Art and take the required courses to get into Dental School. Does this still work out if I now want to be a Dental Hygienist?

[celesteleeann]

Once you are in the program, do you attend clinicals 4 days a week?

[crp]

@ginazone
Hey, I was looking into geting into the program. Could you tell me what ti's been like for you? and after prerequisits, how many yearS?

[joelawsomepants]

DH takes 2 years. 1 1/2 if you take express class

[i.m]

guys guys, at first i was like WTF! but then i realized that is a 2008 video LOL

[sandrasandoval]

This is information is wrong (well maybe where she lives is like that) but for Arizona it's about two years of prerequisites and two years on the program it self.

[sdlock]

I was gonna say... I could've swore the minimum qualification for becoming a dental hygienist (the folks who do the manual labor of routine prophylaxes) requires only 2 weeks worth of education. If it requires 4 years, I'm pretty sure the dental field would suffer from the same soaring cost issue as in the medical field, with a standard prophy session would be around $300 instead of the typical sub-$100 price point (without insurance).