They strongly recommend disposable or clean, reusable gowns, lab coats, or uniforms during treatment of all dental patients. Surgical masks, gloves, and protective eyewear are also recommended.

The monotony can take a toll and is one of the top disadvantages of being a dental hygienist. It can lead to burnout as hygienists find that the repetitive work becomes dull, unchallenging and uninteresting. The job also lacks variety. Hygienists perform the same tasks at every clinic.

33 percent
The industry standard is that the hygienist should make in wages about 33 percent or one third of her production, and also should produce about one third of the total production.

Dental hygiene is physically hard Because of this many hygienists must seek chiropractic, massage therapy, and sometimes physical therapy on a regular basis to function. Carpal tunnel and ruptured discs in the spine, among other injuries, take many dental hygienists’ clinical careers away from them.

I think wearing a professional white lab coat is one key thing most offices/hygienists overlook that contributes to their image as professionals. I have worn a white coat for many years now, but hardly anyone else does these days. But the doctor I work with has, even before I started in the practice 13-plus years ago.

OSHA requires that long sleeves be worn. Scrub pants or other type pants are to be provided by the staff member.

Dental hygienist. When you’re an over-40 worker looking for a career with flexibility for balancing work and family, health care is usually a good field to consider, according to Seattle Pi. One particularly solid choice: dental hygienist, where you clean teeth and educate patients about oral hygiene.

More than half of dental hygienists feel stressed by their jobs on a daily or weekly basis, and 67% believe a supervisor or workload is the cause of the stress, according to a survey conducted by RDH eVillage in January 2015. A silver lining is that the stress does not spill over into dental hygienists’ personal lives.

The industry standard is that a hygienist should produce around three times his or her wages; in other words, the ratio should be about 33%. One caveat: This benchmark can be skewed if hygiene fees are artificially lower than normal.

In a typical practice, a full-time hygienist sees between 8-10 patients per day. In a practice with accelerated or assisted hygiene that number may be around 16.

Tattoo restrictions in a dental practice might include: No tattoos on the hands, face, or neck. No offensive tattoos.