Getting a job anywhere in today's economy is not easy.  Having a college or university education no longer guarantees a job and people can be forced to get a job in a completely different profession to pay the bills.

With this economy and over saturation of dental hygienists out there, it IS hard to get a job but we have a few secrets on how to step above the rest.  At Dentalelle, our hygienists currently work in dental offices and we sit in on interviews all the time.  We can tell you who stands out, and who our boss says "no way" to right away...

Are you a new grad and working in a dental practice or just finished dental hygiene/assisting school? Dentalelle is offering an online FULL power point jam packed with interview tips, what to wear, commonly asked questions and what to do and NOT to do. You can go to www.dentalelleonline.com to view more information.  Registration with our job database will give you this FREE copy.

The key is to stand out in today's world - the newest trend is to have a one page web site highlight all qualifications present on your resume.  Having a simple web site can give employers an easy click to view more information about you and obviously shows your enthusiastic and motivation in finding work :).  This can be as low as $50 and a wonderful investment!  

Some key things regarding your resume are:

• Revise your resume. Before you start job hunting, make sure that your resume is as complete and up-to-date as possible. Here are a few tips to consider:

Be honest. Never lie in your resume; it will come back to haunt you later.
Use active verbs. When describing what you did at your last job, make the sentence as tight and active as possible. For instance, instead of saying "Served as patient contact for getting bills and contacting insurance," say "Liaised with patients and insurance companies, and managed financial transactions."

Proofread. Review your resume several times for grammatical or spelling errors. Even something as simple as a typo could negatively impact your ability to land an interview, so pay close attention to what you've left on the page. Have one or two other people look at it as well.

Keep the formatting clean. How your resume looks is almost as important as how it reads. Use a simple, classic font (such as Times New Roman, Arial or Bevan), black ink on white paper, and sufficiently wide margins (about 1" on each side). Use bold or italic lettering sparingly if at all, and ensure your name and contact information are prominently displayed.

The dental hygiene board exam (NDHCB) is fast approaching!  Some of you will be writing it this coming Monday and others on Tuesday.  I cannot stress enough a few important points you need to remember before your exam.  Obviously STUDY and study some more but a few others things to consider:

• Download and review the candidate guide here this includes a lot of information about the exam: format, security measures, scoring, etc. 
  
• To learn about how the exam is developed and processed you can review this here.
• The exam is based on a blueprint, and you can view this here
• To access sample questions with rationales, you can go here
• Preparation mock exams - we have our newest edition you can purchase (2014) or our 2013 edition here.  All mock exams include diagrams, radiographs, and rationales.
• The FDI tooth numbering system is used for the exam (not the universal system).

Some useful tips include:

• Read each question carefully and separately prior to answering, and take your time
• Limit your time for each question so you are able to finish the exam
• If you do not know something, skip it for now and bookmark it to review later
• Avoid reading TOO MUCH into the question
• Every question can have four possible answers, choose the most correct
• Some questions may refer to a radiograph or photo
• You will NOT lose marks for an incorrect answer, so make sure to answer each question

You can view more tips at the main NDHCB web site here

Nervous?  Yes, that is normal!  Keep studying but remember to take breaks.  Your brain can only retain so much information at a time.  Study for 3 hours at the most at a time, take a break and then continue on.  Any questions, concerns or last minute stresses you can share with us by sending an email to andrea@dentalelle.com :).  We are here to help!  

We all know the career of being a Dental Hygienist is changing rapidly.  First and foremost we do NOT get paid as much.  10 years ago, at least in Ontario, the starting hourly wage would have been $32.  Now?  You will be lucky to get $25 an hour and this is a direct fact.  The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association is always gathering information from hygienists on how much they make, their hours and what they dislike/like about their job.  They still insist we need to stick together and ask for the money we deserve.  We all deserve at least $32 an hour in my opinion but we need to be realistic.  If we ask for this, a dentist will likely not hire us and get someone else.  Having this said - I recommend asking for $30 because the more we all stick together and ask for the proper wage we will get it.

I talked about money first because this is always on everyone's mind.  Yes, we do make less but dental hygiene is such a rewarding career!  We get to see people everyday and help them! Patients (most anyway :) love us and feel great after we clean their teeth.  We may not get the pay we want or the hours we want, but we will love our job at the end of the day and feel good.

If dental hygiene is what you want to do, then DO IT!  Don't give up on your dream career because we are making less.  Someday we will be making more again and remember you can always do other things with a dental hygiene diploma.  Think about opening your own practice, mobile practice to visit nursing homes and the disabled, working in the community, teaching...the possibilities are endless in this healthcare profession :).  Dentalelle has been working very closely with business professionals, marketers, dentists, and independent dental hygienists to develop our new business course.  We teach dental hygienists how to open their own business - right from thinking about it, formulating steps and business plans, to the opening day.  See our business course here - we start September 28th.  Includes at least 25 hours of CE credit for RDH's and you can use this towards your professional portfolio.

The Board Exam is fast approaching for both dental hygiene and dental assisting students!  This is a true test of all your studying and hard work when that day finally arrives.  I can promise you one thing though - and that's after the exam you will feel SO MUCH BETTER.  A huge weight will be lifted off your shoulders. I know I know, you won't know yet if you passed or failed but for the first time in a long time you can go home and NOT STUDY :).

People often asked me how I studied for the boards.  I was a dental assistant before I became a dental hygienist and I remember the day like it was yesterday (about 10 or so years ago) and I literally read every page of my main dental assisting text.  It took me about three months, because I would read my corresponding notes from school if the text was too confusing.  Some chapters were so dry, I would literally fall asleep 15 minutes after reading the textbook haha so I decided to read my notes for that chapter instead.

AND for the dental hygiene exam, I remember studying three months in advance as well but from my school notes.  I would literally study about 6 hours a day, two hours then break, two hours then another break, and then two hours before I went to bed.  Closer to the exam I found I was only studying 4 hours a day because I felt I was retaining the material so much faster.

I know this is a stressful time for students and believe me I wish I could take the board exam for each and every one of you!  Stress doesn't help anyone and can often make your 'brain freeze' and you draw a blank during the exam.  The best way to avoid this and be prepared is to study and feel confident!  Get a great sleep the night before and that will work wonders too.

At Dentalelle we want to help and are offering our 'Board Exam Boot Camp' for dental hygiene and dental assisting students.  Join us for the 'Board Exam Boot Camp' and know where you stand!  A full two hour session online live and interactive with us and other students!  Join in on the discussion as we go through 100 commonly asked questions on the board exam and rationales how to choose the 'BEST' answer.  After this mock exam, add up your score and the one area you scored the least in you will receive a package on that material to study for the exam. We email every student a package of their choosing to study for the exam.  Boost your confidence!  The following dates for our Board Exam Boot Camp are:

September 7th at 10am
September 14th at 10am 
September 18th at 9am


Register today!  Let us know what date you are interested in.  Limited seats are available to allow everyone to participate and ask questions.


*Dental Hygiene students and Dental Assisting students will each be in their own interactive chat session so that the board exam questions/rationales applies to them.


Keep studying!