Nursing Or Dental Hygienst.

ilstu99 · Aug 2, 2008

Should I become a nurse or a dentl hygienist?
I want nurses opinions because so many nurses have complained that they wish they had another job...
I'm interested in both.

They're two completely different jobs, and that's really only a question you can answer. Spend some time exploring each field and decide what feels right.

I love my job, and I'd never consider dental hygiene. I don't even like going to the dentist once ever 6 months, let alone every day.

People in every career field complain about not liking their job. The onus is on the individual to change their life. Nursing certainly offers enough variety to suit most individuals. Some people will never be happy with what they choose....as the problem isn't the job.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2008

dental hygienists make about the same salary as rns. i've asked some of the dental hygienists that i've gone to about their profession. i've wondered why there seems to be a turnover of them if the pay is so good. and, one of my classmates in nursing school was a dental hygienist. i've heard this answer more than once: dental hygiene get boring and there is a very high rate of burnout that is much higher than in nursing. the ones who work for pediatric dentists seem to survive longer. there is a big teaching element to the profession and older patients don't follow the teaching.

nurses can move to other areas of specialty unlike in dental hygiene.

Jules A, MSN · Aug 2, 2008

definitely a dental hygienist. have you googled for their message board?

rph3664 · Aug 2, 2008

There is a DH who posts here and her username is "Dental Hygienist."

She said that the pay is very good BUT the chances are, you will be responsible for your own health insurance since most dentists are self-employed. That might not be the case if you worked for a county health department.

India, aren't you the young lady whose Bob Dylan-wannabe boyfriend said that anyone could be a nurse?

RDH1, ADN, BSN, RN · Aug 3, 2008

I am a dental hygienist, and I urge you NOT to go into the field. The field is so saturated, by the time you go through school and graduate, you will probably not find a job. I am starting nursing school in a few weeks, and one of the main reasons I am getting out of hygiene is because the job outlook is so poor. Plus, after being a hygienist for only a few years, I KNOW that there is no way I can do this until retirement. (I should mention that I am lucky enough to have a dental hygiene job right now, but it took me a year out of school to find it, and I had to move out of state for the first year out of school to a less saturated area to even practice).

It is really hard to find full time (and full time in the dental field is usually 32 hours or so a week, give or take). Even if you are lucky enough to find full time, your benefits will suck. I pay for my own health insurance, disability insurance, Liability Insurance, etc. I do not have a 401K plan at my work. I do not get any paid vacation, sick days, or paid time off. This is standard in my field. This is not because the dentist is self-employed, as another poster suggested. It is mainly because mosts dental offices have so few employees, that they normally don't have to follow the business laws that large offices/corporations have to. This means that they are not required to offer benefits to their employees, even the full time ones. I think this is why our hourly wage is higher- we pay our own benefits. Also, the dental office being exempt from many employment laws means that there are always issues with maternity leave and the family medical leave act. (The dentist is not required to hold your job for you). A hygienist friend of mine actually lost her job when she told the boss about her pregnancy. Another friend of mine lost her job because she refused to administer nitrous oxide to patients when she was pregnant. There was a known leak in the system and the dentist was not planning on doing anything about it). You could avoid all of this if you worked for the government or state, but these jobs are hard to find also.

Also, let me mention that your employment and your hours rests solely on the whim of the dentist that you are employed by. That means that when he decides to take a long weekend for vacation and closes the office, that you get your hours cut and don't get paid. Or, there are dentists that take many vacations out of the whole year, and a hygienist might find herself out of work for weeks or months, unpaid, while the dentist is out of town. (happened to me- the amount of vacation time my boss took added up to be 2.5 months out of the whole year- not in a row though).

My hygiene pay is not dependable at all. When I have a patient cancel or no-show, I am required to clock out. That's right folks- when a patient cancels due to no fault of my own, I, in a way, get punished. Even though I have plenty of things that can be done in my downtime, such as instrument maintenence, I still have to clock out. I have heard this happens a lot in my field. When the weather gets nice, etc, I have had whole days fall apart where I have only received pay for one hour. The economy is not helping things at all. People can't help getting sick or hurt, so there will always be a need for nurses. But for some people, getting their teeth cleaned is a luxury. And with layoffs and job cuts, people's insurance is getting cut also. This means less trips to the hygienist and less work for me. At this point, patients will only come to the dentist when they are in pain, and then the dentist will see them. None of this benefits the hygienist. Also, the RDH role could be threatened in the near future as there are bills being introduced that would allow dental assistants to scale and do other hygiene duties, with less than half the schooling that the hygienist has to have.

A lot of dentists (not all) are money hungry, cheap, jerks to work for. I stress that not all are, but it seems like the majority. Many are unethical too. You might have problems like not having enough time per patient b/c your boss wants to make as much money off you as he can, since you are costing him so much to employ. (They like to make a big deal about how much they have to pay their RDH). Or, you will be pressured to sell things to patients that they really don't need.

Another poster mentioned the monotany of dental hygiene. That is true. I do the same thing over and over and over and over every day I work. Sometimes I feel like my patients are on an assembly line, lol.

I have my Bachelor's degree in dental hygiene. I have heard of a few Masters programs sprinkled throughout the US, but generally an Associates degree is entry level. Hygiene is a very limiting career. At least in nursing, you can change specialties if you get bored/burnt out/etc. Once you're a hygienist, you're a hygienist. Yes, you could leave the clinical field and teach, but those jobs are far and few between, and they pay less than practicing clinically. Many require a masters.

To Daytonite- not many hygienists work for pediatric dentists. In some states assistants can polish coronally, and many pedodontists will try to save money and hire them instead of an RDH. (The assistant is not supposed to scale the teeth of children but I've heard about it happening illegally). I worked briefly for a pedodontist- I was scheduled 4 kids in one hour. Standard time for a child cleaning is 30 minutes. I would think there would be MORE burnout for an RDH in a pediatric office.

What I love about dental hygiene: my patients and patient contact in general, the hours (no weekends), teaching my patients about oral health and the connection between oral and systemic health, and generally the pleasant working environment. (Not counting the drama of coworkers, but ya have that with any job). There is stress in this line of work, but I'm sure it's no where near the stress that nurses experience!!!

I never plan to let my hygiene license expire once I become a nurse, as I worked too damn hard for it. I still plan to practice occasionally to keep my skills up.

I don't mean to sound negative about my current profession, but I'm just giving it to you straight. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

luv2runRNnow · Aug 3, 2008

I've been a dental hygienist for 19 years and have decided to become a nurse (graduate May 09 with BSN). Probably the biggest factor that motivated me to switch careers was the lack of movement within the field of dental hygiene. For the most part, as a hygienist you will work in a private office doing chairside dental hygiene. There are a few public health opportunities as a hygienist but at this point, not a lot at least where I live now. I have been fortunate as a hygienist in that I have never had a problem getting a job - I've worked in VT, MA, CA, and NM but that may be changing - don't know what the current outlook is for hygienists. Sometimes hygiene felt like a numbers game with production being beaten over your head - unlike the previous poster though, I NEVER have had to clock out if a patient was a no show - honestly, I've never heard of that but I believe some dental offices are capable of some pretty lowsy things. I am sure some hospitals are too but that 's probably another story! Both career fields require critical thinking, excellent interpersonal skills, and an ability to make decisions and work independently within the environment. As a hygieniest, you usually have a predictable schedule that does not include nights, weekends, or holidays. Typically you will work in a much smaller office setting which can be great or miserable depending on the dynamics of the group of people you're with. I think the biggest mistake I made as a hygienist was not getting involved in my Dental Hygiene Association and not doing more CEUs. I let myself get stagnant which then made me feel burned out. My bad but a good lesson and one that I will not let happen to me in nursing. I think the education for either profession is equally challenging - I did not find my dental hygiene education to be any easier than my nursing education has been. Need to be on the ball either way. Maybe you could spend a day shadowing a hygienist so you get a feel for what the typical day to day routine might be. I don't think that would work so well with shadowing a nurse because there are so many different jobs that nurses do and they can be VERY different. An ICU nurses day probably looks way different than a school nurse or a public health nurse. I agree with the other poster that I also will not let my dental hygiene license lapse - it is a nice little insurance policy should I need it to fall back on. I think both professions have their pros and cons and figuring out which one lines up better with what is important to you might help you to decide. Good luck in your decision and remember that no decision is permanent and no education is a waste!

HealthNut12 · Apr 1, 2009

It is so interesting to me how many Dental Hygienists are becoming Nurses-- I am also wanting to make the transition as soon as I can apply and (Knock on Wood) get accepted into a BSN program. I was told by a friend's mom (Who was a nurse) "Don't be a nurse- anyone can be a nurse." I wish I would have NEVER heard that!! I didn't give nursing much thought, and started Hygiene school thinking I would really enjoy it....I love the patients, but I don't like sitting all day, and holding one ended conversations. I shadowed recently at the hospital and loved it! I'm ready for total patient care- I appreciate all of you RDH's who are on here and telling it like it is!:)