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A Dental Hygienist Salary Can Be As High As $80,000 Per Year With Benefits.
The dental specialties are no different than other facets of the medical industry in that the high costs associated with procedures and insurance often go towards the considerable salary of dentists and their assistants. An orthodontic surgeon tops the charts of a dental profession’s salary range at as much as half of a million dollars per year; while a standard practice may only make about a quarter of that figure, the pay rate is still well above that of a median American. The dental hygienist salary depends largely upon location, seniority, and training, but often falls between the range of fifty and eighty thousand dollars per year.
These hygienists are not an accredited dentist and cannot prescribe medicine or administer the most complex treatments alone, but nonetheless enjoy a large amount of autonomy during everyday routine. A two year associate’s degree may be the only requirement
in some procedural clinics, a four year training program may be mandatory
along with a year or two of experience prior to becoming licensed (a requirement for any area of the dental industry) and be open to full time hiring.
Typically, a clinic’s hygienists clean and inspect teeth prior to their attending dentist’s inspection of the patient. This can be as simple as scraping off excess plaque and rinsing out a patient’s mouth, or can involve precise removal of calcium buildups or inspecting the jawline for swollen lymph nodes (the preliminary indications of cancer developments). The clinic’s dentist or dentists are the only supervisors for a hygienist, so that they enjoys a bit of freedom in their work and can be creative about their approach to handling patients and treatments.
The benefits that come along with a dental hygienist salary are considerable themselves. Though the average bonus is only around thirty dollars, most hygienists have a 401(k) plan, disability, premium health insurance, time off, and a pension plan. All told, the profession is one of the most rewarding available on the job market to graduates with a two year degree.