This is such a fantastic question because a lot of people want to consider a career in dental hygiene these days because it offers competitive salaries and job stability in a growing professional market. And yet, many, if not most people just do not know what actually goes into becoming a dental hygienist.
Yes, it is
The short and simple answer to this question is that yes, it is hard. Dental hygiene school is essentially comparable to any other associate’s degree program except for that the coursework is more challenging, much more like that which you’d expect to find in a four-year college. You must take all of the core basic courses for any secondary degree program such as English composition and humanities electives, in addition to your dental hygiene and science courses. Remember too, it is a medical profession, and you will need to take those notoriously tough classes like chemistry, anatomy, in addition to doing clinical work with actual patients. There is a lot of time and effort and studying that will go into a successful dental hygienist’s education.
Competition
The programs can be very competitive to get into, and since many people go to dental hygiene schools or programs directly from high school, it is important to be pretty focused at a young age. While most programs state a minimum course average of “C” or better for admissions, a “C” average is not going to get you into a good program if at all these days. Many program advisors will suggest that you need at least a “B” average to be competitive for program admissions.
There are far fewer candidate spaces in a dental hygiene programs than there are students who want to be those candidates. Typically there are hundreds of potential candidates for only about 20 or 30 program spaces, depending on the size of the school and program.
There are also entrance exams, letters of recommendation, in addition to transcripts that need to be in top shape to set you apart from the rest of the group. And of course, there is also the interview. Some schools will not even grant an interview if you have not scored in a certain percentile on an entrance exam.
Staying in it
Furthermore, once you are in a program, you can not just sit back and relax for the next two or three years. The academic expectations are high and the work can be challenging. There are the usually papers and exams but there is also clinical practice where you will work with actual patients. You are also working towards getting letters of reference from your professors so you need to maintain a positive and professional demeanor at all times.
Is it worth it?
With all of that said, dental hygiene is an enormously rewarding and potentially very financially stable career choice. It really is only hard if you are not willing to do the work that it takes. If you have a strong work ethic, good study skills, strong communication, and a commitment and motivation to become a dental hygienist, then you will easily be successful. If all of the above sounds way to hard and overwhelming to you, it might not be the best career choice. However, it is absolutely worth it if dental hygiene is your passion!
