Is Dental Hygiene a good career to get into?

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.