So you have a year of experience under your belt in you are wondering what you can still do to get better at being a dental hygienist. 

 

Although the list can be long, we have the top four tips that you can implement starting today!

 

No matter how confident you feel coming out of your program, there is always room to learn more and grow professionally.

 

We always suggest reaching out for assistance or tips from other long-term team members. Think about it as a way to avoid completely avoidable mistakes.

 

Some of these tips may be things that are small optimizations throughout your day. Such as the best times to take a five-minute break and regain yourself. Other things can be a little bit bigger such as ways that are more effective to conduct your cleanings.

 

 

This is especially important when dealing with specific patients. Odds are when you are first coming into a dental office there will be regulars as far as patients. These will also be patients that have been seeing a completely different dental hygienist up to this point. You’re going to have to work towards building that relationship back up with them and establishing a form of comfortability. 

 

It is a good idea to go over your patient list that day with some other long-term team members and ask them if there is anything you should know when dealing with some patients. There will be many times in which you won’t be able to gather that specific of information from another hygienist, but it is always important to ask to ensure you are not missing anything.

 

Everybody likes a team player. There is a reason why companies will typically ask about your ability to provide high-quality teamwork throughout an interview process.

 

If you finish cleaning early then you can try to help with patient file organization, or assist in some sterilization so the rest of your team can continue to be on time as well.

 

No matter what it is it never hurts to ask a team member if they need further assistance. Even if team members will consistently say that they do not need assistance it still sets a positive tone throughout the office that you are asking.

 

This is extremely important for a dental hygienist that still feels a little green to the field even after a year.

 

Many times dental hygienists will not be sure whether or not they should bring something to the attention of the dentist. This may be due to feeling unsure or insecure about their diagnosis, or not feeling that comfortable at the dental office yet.

 

 

If you are incorrect about this diagnosis when you bring it to the attention of the dentist then they will advise you accordingly. Some may also teach you what to look for to differentiate the diagnosis from the correct diagnosis.

 

 

This is one of the most important things to consider. Overall as a dental hygienist, you will maintain a similar set of responsibilities no matter what office you work with. So, this makes the company culture of a dental office even more important.

 

It is up to you to decide what kind of dental office you would like to work with. Some of these are going to depend on your training, knowledge, certifications, and interests. 

 

However, we have heard very largely that it depends on the people at the dental practice. You are going to be working with the same team members and the same dentist day in and day out. 

 

If the company culture and team atmosphere is not something that you feel blends well with your work style, or it is something that doesn’t make you feel accepted and comfortable then you may want to look at other dental offices.

 

It is no different than choosing a dental staffing company to decide to partner with.

 

That’s why Princess Dental Staffing tries to make the temping process as easy as possible for you. We believe in this process being streamlined to match you with only high-quality employers.

 

We keep our platform completely free for candidates such as dental hygienists. 

 

All we ask is that you have one year of experience, along with your licenses and certifications being up-to-date.

 

We want our candidates to find amazing positions and that is why we provide both permanent job postings as well as temp requests that you will get in a text message notification to make things as easy as possible for you.