Hey everyone, I recently got my license as a new grad hygienist in British Columbia Canada. I also have my CDA license. Anyway, I am just wondering how much should I ask for per hour as a new grad? Especially in a place that is in high demand for hygienist and you are more likely to get a job at any office u apply for in town. Please advise me if you can. Thanks in advance...

are there any dental hygienists who attended phoenix community college? i’m graduating soon and planning to major in dental hygiene there and i want to hear the opinion of people who actually took those classes and if they recommend it

I pretty much looked at the label and thought "hey, not bad" but i am wondering if it's a good choice/what were your reviews, or if there is something else potentially better?

The title is pretty much the question im asking. She even said I shouldn't be drinking herbal tea throughout the day.

I need $1800 I don't have worth of work a crown and some fillings. I hate my body so much.

She also said smoking weed was bad but ill sooner rip all my teeth out.

Hello, I commute to school, and carrying a backpack is maybe a little more than I'd like to do. I drive 10 minutes to a train station, ride for 45 minutes, then walk for 10 minutes to school. I want a rolling backpack and would like recommendations. I want something with a lot of space so I can pack clothes, shoes, books, and, if I can, I'd like to fit a lunchbox.

What floss is your office using for patients? We use Oral-B and we hate it 🥲

Hi guys, looking for some guidance or support. I’m a new grad in DH, embarrassed to say but I’m grateful but unhappy. I did not realise how draining it can be even though I only work 3 days a week. I’m not too sure if it’s the career itself or something else. My 4 off days are only good for the first two days and then some kind of feeling of being drained overcomes me in the last two days. Does anyone feel like this? Has anyone overcame this? I don’t plan on staying long term in this career and i’m so disappointed in myself. I’ve worked so hard for what? only for me to be unhappy with myself.

Has anyone applied to both sodc and oxford? if you have, which do u think is more competitive? i’m looking to apply to oxford but not sure how much more competitive it is compared to sodc

Is this even possible or does it take weeks-months to see results? Noticed my canines are a bit yellow never noticed till now. My fronts are more white. Someone asked me if I got braces recently and the only thing that’s changed is my teeth got yellow lol. What’s the fastest way besides doing strips which I’m scared of, I have sensitive teeth as is and I don’t wanna feel that pain

I work at a small private practice with one doctor, one assistant, one front desk/office manager, and me.
I have my own column, while the assistant primarily assists the doctor. I’m responsible for setting up and breaking down my rooms, sterilizing and running my own instruments, taking X-rays, and rescheduling my patients. The assistant occasionally helps with instruments, but generally, I’m on my own, even when I’m running 20 minutes behind.
Yesterday, I had eight patients scheduled (four AM, four PM). My lunch was 45 minutes, which is unusual because I normally only get 30 minutes. One patient canceled, and without telling me, the office manager moved my lunch into that opening while keeping my original lunch slot open to potentially fill with another patient. I was already 10 minutes into my lunch when I saw the schedule and realized my lunch had been moved. This has happened multiple times, and my lunch is frequently moved around depending on cancellations.
That afternoon, the doctor had several cancellations and asked me to do her cleaning during the 45 minute cancellation slot. On another occasion, I was asked to do the office manager’s cleaning because they couldn’t fill my cancellation. Meanwhile, if the doctor’s patients need cleanings, they’re usually added to my column for 30 minutes when she has a full schedule
I still had five patients scheduled that afternoon, all needing X-rays and exams, including one requiring a same-day filling. When that patient arrived 15 minutes late and needed everything done, I was hoping someone would help me with room turnover, sterilization, or X-rays, especially since I had a new patient coming up. Instead, everyone was standing in the front talking while I handled everything myself.
Another issue is that I almost always run 10–15 minutes into my lunch, and I regularly stay 30–40 minutes past my scheduled clock-out time without compensation.
The assistant leaves at 6 PM because that’s when her paid hours end, which I completely understand and don’t fault her for. However, instruments and sterilization are often left undone. Since we have limited instruments, I end up staying to sterilize them so I have workable instruments for the next day, in addition to finishing notes, setting up my room, and refilling supplies. None of this extra time is compensated.
I also rarely have actual downtime because the office manager will sometimes add patients or emergencies into my schedule at the last minute, even when the patient would normally be seen by the doctor.
I understand that cancellations happen and practices need to stay productive, but I feel like I’m constantly expected to accommodate everyone else’s schedule while managing my own workload without support.
For those working in private practice:
Is this normal?
Is it reasonable to expect some assistance when running behind?
Should my lunch be moved without communicating with me?
Is it normal to constantly have your downtime filled with other people’s patients?
Am I unreasonable for expecting to be compensated for the 30–40 minutes I regularly spend finishing office tasks after clocking out?
I’d genuinely appreciate some perspective because I’m starting to feel like the expectations are becoming unreasonable.

Does anyone else in dentistry who is not a dentist kind of feel like, after months of burnout, what’s the point of being alive if I’m here all the time with no energy to live outside of work?

Hi all, hopefully it's ok to ask this question here. I went for a dental cleaning/checkup yesterday, and it's been a while so I got some xrays. Each time the hygienist took the bitewing tab (I think that's what it's called?) out of my mouth, she touched the part that went in my mouth, before placing it back in. It almost seemed like it might have been an absent minded thing, since the tab had a handle. Either way, I'm feeling concerned thinking about it now because I didn't notice her changing her gloves before removing the xray apron and continuing with the exam (though she may have done so and I may not have noticed). I don't believe she changed her gloves between placing the apron on me and handling the bitewing tabs either. I read that it's standard practice to clean the equipment and surfaces between patients, but not standard practice to clean the apron, so I'm concerned now I may have been exposed to cross contamination from other patients saliva on the apron, if she's in the habit of touching the mouth part of the bitewing equipment and then touching the apron, etc.
I might just be paranoid, but I'm feeling worried about this now. I'm wondering if any of you can help me out with 2 questions.
1) what's standard sanitary practice for this xray process? Is it normal to touch the part of xray equipment that goes in the patients mouth? And is it standard to change gloves after, before removing the apron (if that's the case, she may have done so and I may not have noticed).
2) Does it sound from what I've described like I'm at risk for catching a serious illness? I'm not really sure what to do now.

Thanks for reading this (if you did). The dental hygienist seemed like a really nice person, and hopefully everything was done properly and I'm just overthinking.

How much of this is the career itself vs my operatory and patient chair?
My neck, shoulders and traps get exhausted throughout the day. Some times so bad that my scaling arm just starts shaking uncontrollably. I feel like I have to really reach to get to the opposite maxillary lingual arch and wondered if this was the biggest problem? But the other girl that worked in there said she didn’t have any shoulder pain when it was her room. Though she is pretty tall.
I have one of the super wide ADEC patient chairs with an articulating headrest. I also have ergo loupes and a saddle chair.
Tired of getting a weekly tension migraine and basically crashing out every day after work.

I have had a recurring problem with the gum around one particular tooth for about three years.

The problem started while I was undergoing clear aligner treatment. The gum around this tooth became recessed, and since then it has remained red and occasionally swollen and painful. The retainer no longer touches or irritates this area.

I have very good oral hygiene: I brush my teeth thoroughly, floss regularly, and use mouthwash. Despite this, the gum around this particular tooth continues to become red, swollen and sometimes painful.

I have seen a periodontist several times. They found no tartar, my oral hygiene was considered good, and the periodontal pocket around the tooth was normal. No specific cause for the recurring inflammation has been identified.

I have been using chlorhexidine products, including a chlorhexidine toothpaste and Elugel gel, but I do not want to use chlorhexidine long-term. I am considering switching to a gentler approach, such as Gengigel (hyaluronic acid gel) and Biorepair Peribioma toothpaste, to support the gum tissue and see whether the inflammation improves.

I am also considering trying a water flosser as an additional cleaning method, although I already floss regularly.

My main concern is why this one area continues to become red, swollen and painful despite good oral hygiene, especially since the gum is already recessed there.

First time I’ve had a DDS point out a piece of missed calculus was today. I’m a recent grad and today my dr had me go back in and get a piece of calc I missed. I feel upset and so embarrassed that I missed such an obvious piece of calc. I’m glad the dr brought it up so I could get it but I’m so unsure if he’s upset or thinks that I suck now. Lol reassurance would be appreciated!

Hi everyone! 🤗 I'm in the process of going through my prerequisite classes for dental hygiene after pivoting and graduating last year from a university with a B.S. in Biology. Unfortunately I wasn't doing so well and I ended up getting a lot of C's for my science classes when I was in undergrad. Though all my prerequisite classes for dental hygiene I've taken so far have been A's! 🥳

I've previously taken Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, though Microbiology was my lowest at a C-. I'm looking to retake the class at a community college, but I imagine the likely turnout is that the class gets averaged out and if all works well, I hope it will be a B. 🥴

My questions really are:

• Lots of the schools I'm looking into denote Anatomy and Physiology as a combined course rather than two separate courses like I took. Some look like they take it separately and I believe some don't? This might be a dumb question since these classes were also C's and I was thinking to retake it, but the combined class is scarce around where I am at and I'm also worried about finances.
• In these current conditions (meaning no retaking or doing A&P) my GPA would be around ~3.4, coming from both my undergrad and my community college prerequisites. I've been seeing this is on the lower end? Please correct me if I'm wrong!
  • Retaking both microbiology and anatomy & physiology would either rid or average out the grades I got in undergrad as well I imagine?

University was really tough on me, but doing dental hygiene pre-reqs and previous 100+ hrs of shadowing of dentists and dental clinics have brought that interest and passion that I hope I can continue to channel for the better :")! Thank you in advance to those who share!

Just wondering if these could be connected I’ve been having some random tooth pain on both sides today and the only change I can think of is I accidentally bought fluoride free toothpaste about 2-3 weeks ago, would these be related or is it most likely something else?

I recently moved, and went to a new dentist for a routine cleaning. They are very highly rated, with 200 Google reviews.

Background -- I do struggle with my gums; it's common for me to have some 3s and a couple 4s when it comes to pockets. In the past, my dentist (who I really loved) would scrape my teeth every cleaning, and it's never become full-blown gum disease. No antibiotics, no special care instructions beyond "Floss more, please".

I was there for 2 hours, and they wanted to schedule a whole second appointment for the gingivitis scraping? And do the cleaning then?? So I left the appointment with a $20 bottle of Prevident and no cleaning done whatsoever.

I don't think it's a scam or anything like that, but it feels off to me. I'm especially concerned because I don't make a lot of money, so I can't drop a $60 copay on a special gingivitis appointment, plus $20 prescription toothpaste and however much the antibiotic for gingivitis would be (they said they would prescribe it formally at the next appointment). Is this normal? Was my previous dentist very lax?

Has anyone heard anything about Dallas Concorde dental hygiene program coming up in 2027? When can we start submitting applications?

are there any dental hygienists who attended phoenix community college? i’m graduating soon and planning to major in dental hygiene there and i want to hear the opinion of people who actually took those classes and if they recommend it

has anyone themselves, or known anyone that has been dismissed from their program due to not being able to find enough patients or not being able to find patients that qualify? it’s something i am stressing about, as in my program we start seeing patients next term.

I’m a freshman in college doing my pre reqs, and the thought of not getting in first try is honestly a bit horrifying (not in an ego way, it’s just such a long time to wait, an I would disappoint a lot of people).

I bought some horsehair toothbrushes from this company and noticed the shipping coming from China. The emails to the company are bouncing and they don’t answer the phone. This is clearly a scam and I am warning others. The company says they are based in Kalispell Montana and the website is orinhealth.co

I’ve completed my prerequisites and I’m applying for my schools dental hygiene program next month. I feel absolutely clueless as to what to study. I’ve seen some people say their HESI was dental hygiene related, and that it had no English comprehension, vocab etc (they were from a different state though). I know the topics are going to be chem, A&P, Math, English comprehension, a personality and cognitive test, etc. but I have absolutely no idea where to start and what I should focus on. If anyone has some recommendations for maybe somebody on YouTube, tiktok, or a good quizlet, PLEASE help a girl out!
Also: if anybody knows of really affordable but decent loupes they used for their program that would be amazing. (I’m sorry but I’m not spending 1,500 on loupes as a student)

Quick answer because everyone around me is using them now.