Dental Hygienist Job Description (Duties and Responsibilities)
What is the dental hygienist job description? Dental hygienists are important team members in a dental clinic. Read about their education at Sydney Dental Group clinic website.
Both dental hygienist and dentist practise in resolving and preventing mouth issues. However, the dental hygienist job description is much more undemanding compared to the dentist. A dental hygienist job also requires a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene and may also become a licensed dentist after finishing a four years doctoral course. Dental hygienists are important team members in a dental clinic. Read about their education at Sydney Dental Group clinic website.
Dental Hygienist Vs. Dentist
Many of us are unaware of the difference between these two professions. Let’s take the time to discuss their job descriptions one by one and see how they complement each other.
Dental Hygienist Job Description
- They prevent the occurrence of diseases due to mouth problems, provide oral cancer screening, and studying patients’ status with the radiographic procedure.
- Conduct patient screening, teeth cleaning, plaque removal, and gives advice to patients on keeping their mouth clean and healthy.
- Follow dental procedures and protocols while performing dental treatment to a patient.
- Provide knowledge to the patient and dental assistant by answering their inquiries.
- Keeps all dental instruments cleaned, sterilized, and sharpened.
- Performs dental prophylaxis by the means of cleaning the teeth and gums to remove stains.
- Detect the possible development of diseases through oral cancer screening, they opt to find occurring periodontal diseases in the patient before it even shows possible signs and symptoms.
- Prevents tooth decay and cavities by applying fluorides.
- Maintaining the patients’ appearance is one of their main roles, they can clean and polish removable dental accessories installed by the dentist.
- Assists the dentist on various occasions such as performing CPR on emergencies, preparing emergency drugs and oxygen supplies as well as keeping the emergency numbers directory updated.
- Gives oral hygiene and cavity control directives along with instructions and reminders for the next dental appointment of the patient.
- Acts as a dental assistant as they keep the dental documents, records, history, and charts of the patient.
- Keep their patients’ information and personal data confidential.
- Adheres to protocols to keep other employees and patients safe from infection and bacterias.
- Guarantees the safety of the dental equipment to be used by doing maintenance procedures, fixing malfunctions, contacting the manufacturer for the repair together with the examination of the newly purchased dental instruments. They’re also sometimes responsible in sterilizing dental instruments.
- Keeps records and inventory of all the dental equipment of the clinic to anticipate the forthcoming need to buy new stocks.
Dentist Job Description
- Discusses the dental problems, concerns, and best treatments with the patient accordingly. They set schedules for the patient to follow which includes their regular dental cleaning, preventive dental procedures, and plan out strategies to improve the dental hygiene of the patient.
- Correcting teeth issues like overcrowding and bite problems.
- Applying sealants and whiteners to the teeth.
- Dentists can prescribe medications to patients like pain relievers and antibiotics, something that is prohibited to dental hygienists.
- Providing anesthesia and sedatives to patients before executing a dental surgery.
- Only dentists can perform oral surgeries and operations like root canals, tooth extraction, application of dental veneers, and braces, cavity fillings, along with many more dental surgeries.
- Orders diagnostic tests such as x-rays, dental pulp testing, cavity tests, and the likes.
- Examines and treats the teeth by using dental instruments like probes, brushes, and drills.
- Communicates with a dental assistant to provide exceptional care and services to the patient.
A dental hygienist job description may look too basic and easy for others, but they play a vital role in the dental industry as they perform preventive measures to avoid dental surgeries and operations. These two professions correlate with each other in a way that they both keep the health and cleanliness of the mouth in shape. A dentist will often ask for the help of a dental hygienist when it comes to minor dental issues.
Dentist And Dental Hygienist Qualifications
In order to provide a satisfactory and successful treatment, both dental jobs are required to have attributes that would showcase their professionalism and skills. Below are some of the qualifications that clinics look for in a dentist and dental hygienist.
- Knowledge in the use of dental technology
- Prioritizes a safe and effective environment
- Can administer infection control protocols
- Values health promotion and maintenance
- Comprehensive knowledge of all dental instruments
- Active listener and conversationalist
- Knows how to promote dental health maintenance
- Team player
- Properly administering medication according to the needs of the patient
- Excellent management skills
To summarize, a dental hygienist can provide basic dental care while a dentist is certified to perform extensive and vast dental practices.
- Published On : 4 years ago on October 28, 2020
- Author By : och2202
- Last Updated : August 8, 2021 @ 8:51 pm
- In The Categories Of : Healthcare Professional
- Tagged With : dental hygienist, dental professionals, dentist
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