Prior to enrolling in a career in the dental field, it is crucial to understand the dissimilarities in the various specialization available in your area of interest. The most popular careers are dental hygienist and dentist. The main dissimilarities between the two careers are the amount of education required and office duties.
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Education
A major difference between a dentist and a dental hygienist involves the education requirements. Most pupil perusing a career in dental hygiene will complete their program in less than two years. That they will complete classes in oral health, human anatomy, and physiology. Most dental hygiene programs can be completed in 24 months but some programs may last four years. The best way to get ready for a career in dental hygiene is to take classes in mathematics and science.
A dentist needs almost 3 times as much education as a hygienist. A student specializing in dentistry will first complete a four-year level at an accredited medical (dental) school. Once the bachelor’s degree is completed, the student will be honored with a degree in dentistry. Before actually becoming a qualified dentist, the student will need to complete another 1-year program where they will get hands-on training. They will perform procedures and treatments on patients under supervision. Once the training is complete, the pupil can test for their license and start treating patients.
Office work
The dentist is involved with the treatment of the patient as opposed to the customer service type duties. They never do office work and definitely will pawn that work off to the hygienist or assistant. Dentist treats implications that cause cavities and will remove bad teeth. The customer service duties are arranged for the dental hygienist.
The dental hygienist is mainly responsible for making the patients feel safe and will provide them with advice about treatments they are about to undertake. The hygienist will do a few office responsibilities such as updating medical records and processing x-rays. The dental assistant does will most of the office work in a dental office. The hygienist performs simple procedures such as teeth cleaning and scaling. Dental hygienists have got an important role assisting the doctor during procedures and prepping the gear before procedures.
