The dental hygiene program at Shasta College begins one new class every Fall semester. The program begins with a total of 15 students. An enrollment packet must be filed at the Admissions Office. For the Fall 2017 dental hygiene program, application packets will be available beginning on December 8th 2016. Application packets must be received by the Shasta College Admissions Office between Monday February 6th to Friday February 17th 2017. All students applying to the Shasta College dental hygiene program must have graduated high school, received a GED, or the equivalent. All prerequisites, both science and non-science, must be completed with a “C” minimum. An overall GPA of at least 2.5 is required in order to apply. Classes that are “in progress” won’t be accepted. A total of 41 units of the following prerequisite courses are needed in order to apply to the dental hygiene program at Shasta College:
Total Units: 41
The dental hygiene program at Shasta College is highly competitive. There are only 15 students admitted every year. The selection process awards points for multiple categories, including GPA, work experience, licensed in dental assisting(RDA), previous degree (Doctorate, Masters, Bachelors, or Associates degree), and residency in an area County. If there are any tied scores, ranking will be based on the date the dental hygiene application was received. Out of 100 points available, as many as 30 points can be earned for a high cumulative GPA (3.86-4.0).
As many as 30 points can also be earned for a high GPA in prerequisite science classes. A total of 10 points can be earned for being a Registered Dental Assistant, or 5 points for an unlicensed dental assistant with at least 500 hours of experience. 5 points can be earned for being Bilingual, and another 5 points for an additional science course that isn’t a prerequisite. Last, but DEFINITELY not least, is 10 points for documented residency in one of the following California Counties: Trinity, Tehama, Siskiyou, Shasta, Plumas, Modoc, Mendocino, Lassen, Humboldt, Glenn, Del Norte, or Butte. So, documented residency gives anyone applying a HUGE advantage!
Tied scores will be determined by random ranking based on the date the application was submitted.
The cost of attending the dental hygiene program has been approximated at $12,000. According to the College, $7,200 will be required immediately at the beginning of the first semester. Included in this approximation are the costs of approximately $1,000 for sitting for the national and California State Board exams. Both of these exams must be passed successfully in order to be licensed as a Registered Dental Hygienist. They must also be successfully completed before you can actually WORK as a dental hygienist.
The “Instrument Kits”, which need to be purchased through the program’s vendor, have been designed specifically for use by students, and are approved by the dental hygiene program at Shasta College. The school does its best to keep these costs as low as possible, and when I did a comparison of the kits purchased through the school, that seems to be the case. Purchased through outside vendors, it looks like it would cost nearly a grand more than purchasing directly through the school. So the program faculty is doing its best to keep things as affordable as possible. This “approximate costs” number the school cites, however, doesn’t cover the 41 unit tuition fee, parking, or Student Health fee. This is approximately $2,000, bring the total cost to around $14,000 for the entire program. So far, it looks like this is one of the most affordable dental hygiene schools in California.
Shasta College Dental Hygiene 530-242-7500 11555 Old Oregon Trail Redding, CA 96003
In this section we look at dental hygienist salary in a little more detail. Here we also look at two things additionally:
Factors affecting dental hygienist salary
Regional variations in dental hygienist wages
Who would not like to have that perfect set of teeth? This will be possible only by maintaining good dental hygiene and getting the teeth checked regularly. Poor oral hygiene will, in addition to causing irreparable damage to the teeth, also negatively affect the general health of a person. A dental hygienist is the right person to guide one about the right way to practice oral hygiene.
As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), dental hygienists are one of the fastest growing occupations in the country. Dental hygienists earn decent salaries. They also enjoy comfortable working conditions.
A dental hygienist is trained to impart the clinical procedures of maintaining oral health and providing preventive dental care advice to patients. They work alongside dentists and offer them assistance when required. Many dentists work part-time and have flexible work schedules.
The dental hygienist salary depends on qualification, experience, clinical skills, geographic area, work location, etc. Dental hygienists with higher educational qualifications like a four year bachelor degree is likely to earn more than someone with a two year associate degree.
Dental hygienists are paid salaries, commissions and bonuses. As per BLS data, the annual average salary of a dental hygienist is $68,250. However, dental hygienists who are just starting their careers will have to excel through hard work and dedication to earn higher salaries. A good starting salary for a dental hygienist after acquiring a degree and a license is around $55,000 a year.
Dental hygienists work mostly in dentists’ and physicians’ offices. Employment services, outpatient care centers and hospitals are the other places that employ dental hygienists. Out of these, the dentists’ offices are the ones which pay the highest annual mean salary of $68,980 for dental hygienists. The outpatient care centers come second with annual mean salary of $68,390.
The maximum number of dental hygienists work in the state of California (18,050), followed by Texas (10,860), New York (9,710), Florida (9,320) and Michigan (8,570).
The following table lists the best paying states in the U.S for dental hygienists as per BLS data:
According to a survey conducted by the American Dental Hygienist Association, about half of all dental hygienists reported receiving benefit packages from their employers which included sick leave, paid vacation, insurance coverage, retirement plans, etc. Some employers also offer free or discounted dental care for employees and family. Some employers also provide tuition assistance for higher education and training.
Dental care is an important factor for oral health. Awareness of dental care and hygiene is growing and due to this, the demand for dental hygienists will be on the rise, along with their salaries. Keeping up with the latest procedures and innovations in the industry will set one up for better earning opportunities.