>>Registered Nurse or Dental Hygienist?<<

Nurses Career Support

Published

HI! I will be graduating soon and am curious about what career YOU think might be better for someone like me.

Dental Hygienist:

Pros:

flexible scheduling

less stress

good-excellent pay

overall nice atmosphere

relatively clean

not having to worry about killing someone (no offense meant)

less female-like politics (I'm female BTW)

less "upper politics"

I'll be somewhat respected

Many areas I could work

not having to worry too much about being sued over something dumb

Cons:

repetitive motions causing debilitating permanent problems

mostly no benefits compared to Nursing which has lots of benefits

limited with the field

Important Differences:

not nearly as many advancement oppurtunites compared to Nursing

not as easy to find a job compared to Nursing

nowhere near as 'limitless' compared to Nursing

I don't know if I could spiritually 'touch' that many people compared to Nursing (this is important to me)

I know it looks like I already have my mind made up but I don't. Please give me your insight. Perhaps some of you even know a dental hygienist? I don't know which career would be better in the long run.

:beer:Free virtual beer and balloons to all people who reply! :balloons: :p

PS. Any other BSN health careers that you suggest?

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

And some people will shower everyday, yet brush their teeth occaisionally, which is the reason i skipped in the idea of dental hygience school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
My stepsister and a couple of other people I know have pursued dental hygiene, basically for the reasons you listed: good money, no nights/holidays/weekends, etc.

I thought about it because the advantages are pretty good, but it just boiled down to the fact that it wasn't what I wanted to do each day. I'm kinda funny about teeth - even though I do gross stuff in nursing, cleaning teeth just sounds nasty to me. LOL

Do they/you think being a dental hygienist is a great career overall?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Dental hygenist can be a good career but it is a dead end career. What do you do if you "burn out". You are also working at the whim of an office dentist. There will be few protections and no union to turn to. Office benefits rarely equal those of a hospital. If there are no cleanings to be done you may stay at home with no pay.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Dental hygenist can be a good career but it is a dead end career. What do you do if you "burn out". You are also working at the whim of an office dentist. There will be few protections and no union to turn to. Office benefits rarely equal those of a hospital. If there are no cleanings to be done you may stay at home with no pay.

THANKS A BUNDLE you guys!! You guys really do a great service when you answer people's questions about career choices and give insight.:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

At first, I too was on the fence on whether I wanted to be a RN or a RDH. I choose nursing even though I love dentistry because I realized that I would be pretty limited as a dental hygienist. Then as someone else mentioned, what will you do when you burn out? How about becoming a nurse and then working in a oral surgery office?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I tell people I'm a nurse I always get a get a response of Oh! But the job has more stress than I could have ever imagined. I think we are considered a little "smarter" than dental hygenist, but if I was to do it over and knew what I know now, I'd pick another career.:o

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Dear Badabing, perhaps it is time to change specialties. Nursing has a LOT to offer. Great jobs are out there but you have to look for them. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

Something you may not have considered is the wait list for dental hygienist. The cc I'm attending offers a degree as a dental hygienist. While the waiting list for R.N. is typically a year, I've heard that for dental hygiene it can be up to three years.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
My stepsister and a couple of other people I know have pursued dental hygiene, basically for the reasons you listed: good money, no nights/holidays/weekends, etc.

I thought about it because the advantages are pretty good, but it just boiled down to the fact that it wasn't what I wanted to do each day. I'm kinda funny about teeth - even though I do gross stuff in nursing, cleaning teeth just sounds nasty to me. LOL

i hate feet and mouths. No podiatry or dental for me. Poop or pee just doesn't get my stomach going as much as a nasty mouth/teeth... Bless all those R.D.H. folks because i couldn't do it.:balloons:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

also take into consideration that you have posted this question on a nursing board and not a DH board

like the previous posts, i see more flexibility with nursing

if you get bored in one area, you can always do something else

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am a dental hygienist making the transition into nursing. There are many great things about hygiene. I plan on keeping my RDH license active and will probably always work at least a few shifts per year just to keep my skills up. But overall, the career is just not very satisfying to me. Some days are better than others, but for the most part I feel that my strengths and talents are being wasted. I know I can achieve more.

Some of the nice things are the regular hours, generally no nights and weekends or holidays. Great pay, flexibility to work as few or as many hours as you want, decent working environment and relatively low stress (there is probably more stress than most people realize, but a lot less than nursing I'm sure).

It's by no means an EASY job, although it isn't very intellectually challenging and somewhat boring it is VERY hard on your body, I mean VERY hard. Most hygienists simply cannot work more than 4 days a week due to musculo-skeletal complications as well as repetative motion injuries. I go home most nights with pain, most of my colleagues do as well. Also, hygiensits can and do get sued and most carry their own . Although, admittedly the "weight" on our shoulders isn't as heavy as a nurse because it's pretty hard to kill someone; although we can with nitrous, local anesthesia or a fatal med. interaction...but yeah, it's pretty "safe" in that respect.

Some cons though: it's a very misunderstood and underrespected profession; most people (including your own friends and family sometimes) think that it is an easy, mindless career where you are trained on the job and get paid like $15 an hour or something to just "clean teeth" MOST people confuse us with dental assistants (who aren't even required to have ANY certifications by the way).

There is no such thing as a dental hygiene union any where in this country. You would be working for small businesses typically with fewer than 10 employees so most of the federal worker's protection laws don't apply to you, the dentist is usually also the business owner, and so often times clinical decisions are compromised for financial reasons. You'll likely be sent home without pay when patients cancel. You'll receive few benefits and be expected to "sell" dentistry in the meantime...yuk:down: But, the pay is REALLY good; so it's a trade off.

For me though, honestly I just need more and I can give more. I fully realize I'll be taking a pay cut to enter nursing (and take out a heck of a lot in student loans in order to gladly receive a pay cut!) And, I'll probably have more stress in 1 nursing shift than in a whole month of dental hygiene, but for me it's something I need to do. I think it largely depends on your personality type, which would be better for you. I wish I could be happy as a hygienist because the money is so good and I've already got my license, but alas, I can't do it full-time for another 39 years; I'd die of boredom!;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment