Dental story online

The Dental Assistant training can be completed in a year or two. It is the type of training that will give you the skills needed to work in a dentist's office. In fact, it is the stepping stone of most dental hygienist or dentist these days.

If you are thinking to become one, you can test the waters by training to become a dental assistant. Being a dentist or a dental hygienist would take four yours or so. But if you choose to become a dental assistant first, you will have the chance to practice the profession while studying to improve your skills.

As a dental assistant, your job is to help in most of the procedures performed in a dental office. Part of your daily task is to sterilize the tools needed and prepare all the items to be used by the hygienist or dentists. You will also be tasked to assist the practitioner as he or she performs the dental procedures. You will also be trained to handle certain dental equipments and tools. In certain states, dental assistants are also taught how to give local anesthesia to patients.

Needless to say, you will have first-hand experience when it comes to the task dentists have to do for their patients. While you don't perform the procedure yourself, you're actually around to see how it works. If you decide to continue with the course, being a dentist or hygienist would become very easy for you. You will be able to observe all the dental works done, which is very essential to your faster learning and comprehension of the dental degree. Careful observation of techniques will be a great learning experience for you. Even if you don't have the license to perform the procedure, you do have the knowledge needed to do the task, which is what's really important.

And if a dental assistant opts to proceed with the formal education required to become a hygienist or dentist, everything they saw at the dental facility they worked for would be indispensable. It would help a lot and they would be able to ace the exams, practical tests, and all other requirements of the course.

What's more, dental assistants are qualified to undergo the continued educational program for aspiring dentists, which would definitely speed up the entire classroom learning process required.

A lot of dentists would rather keep qualified dental assistants who are wishing to be dentists themselves rather than hire another set of newbies for the job. As such, you can almost be sure that the dentists would allow you to work around your class schedule. Some may even offer to shoulder a portion of your school fees in exchange of working for them after completing the course.

So if you really want to be a dentist, consider the Dental Assistant route. Not only you'll get better hands-on experience, you'll also have an edge against all other applicants. You'll have better experience than the rest of them because you have previously worked prior to being a dentist. Surely, a good job offer would come your way easily.

As with most types of jobs, dental hygienist pay rates vary based on a lot of different factors. These include location, the setting of employment, and also how much experience the dental hygienist has.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the dental hygienist salary ranges from the lowest 10% being paid less than $20.42 an hour to the highest 10% being paid more than $43.07 an hour. The median salary for a dental hygienist is $31.21 per hour, or about $64,910 per year for a full time hygienist.

One thing that can affect salaries is the location of the job. The states with the highest mean dental hygienist salary are Alaska ($91,960 per year), Washington ($86,920 per year), California ($81,730 per year), Nevada ($76,240), and Oregon ($74,470). However, make sure you also consider the cost of living when you make salary comparisons, you want to base your decision on how far your salary will go, not just how high it is. California has a higher cost of living than many other states, so it makes sense that the dental hygienist salary there would be on the higher side.

California has four out of five of the metropolitan areas with the highest dental hygienist pay. These are the Santa Rosa-Petaluma metropolitan area, Salinas, Napa, and the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward metropolitan area. The fourth highest paying metropolitan area is Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA.

Besides location, another important factor in the determination of dental hygienist income is years of experience. According to Payscale, the median salary for a dental hygienist with less than one year of experience is $45,379, while that of a dental hygienist with 20 or more years of experience is $50,483, which shows that experience does make a difference.

The level of training that a dental hygienist has had will also affect his or her salary. Someone who has graduated from a training program offering a certificate only will most likely earn less than someone who has earned an Associate's, Bachelor's or Master's degree who is working in the same location.

Due to the nature of the employment, dental hygienist pay might be in the form of an hourly rate, a yearly salary, or even on a commission basis. Depending on the employment setting, benefits such as health insurance may or may not be available. Many times a dental hygienist needs to work full time in order to be eligible for benefits. Louis Zhang, Certdentalhygienist dot com