A dental hygienist is a dental professional that specializes in the polishing and scaling of teeth, as well as advice on oral hygiene. They are valuable members of a dental team that serve to treat and advise the patients they serve.
To begin a degree in dental hygiene, you will have to enroll in one of the dental hygienist programs accredited by Commission on Dental Accreditation. Some States have a high number of accredited dental hygiene programs. A couple of examples: there are currently 28 accredited dental hygiene schools in California, 6 programs in Oregon, and 8 dental hygiene programs in Washington State. Texas has 22 accredited programs. On the low end, Delaware has only 1 accredited dental hygiene program, and Alaska has only 2 programs!
Usually, it takes two years to complete a dental hygiene program. On the other hand, when enrolled as a full-time student, the degree courses take three years to complete, when prerequisites are taken into account. Some programs, such as Concorde Career College Dental Hygiene in Garden Grove, can be completed in as little as 17 months. Other programs, like the Cerritos College dental hygiene program, may take 4 years, when accounting for necessary prerequisite courses.
In 2017, dental hygienists earned the top spot on the Forbes's annual list (Best Jobs in Healthcare in 2017) with their median salary averaging about $79,000 annually. The projected growth rate in this field of expertise is at 38% over the current decade.
Back in 2012, Forbes ranked the dental hygienists 1st in its annual list (The Best Jobs that Don't Require a Four-Year Degree). Forbes reported an average starting salary of $72,000 for the dental hygienists as well as a potential income growth of over 109%. As the general population continues to age, the need for qualified dental hygienists will continue to increase. Another factor in the steady need for Registered Dental Hygienists is more awareness among dental patients of the importance of proper oral care and routine dental visits. As 2018 approaches, annual pay for an RDH is getting close to the 6 figure mark in some states.
A state-licensed dental hygienist enjoys a competitive salary, as well as some benefits, due to the diverse scope of their duties and responsibilities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), under the US Department of Labor, a dental hygienist clocked an average annual salary of $71,530 (as of May 2015).
On the other hand, BLS reported an average annual salary of $35,640 for a dental assistant at about the same time. Given that the educational strive to become a dental hygienist takes a year longer as compared to that of a dental assistant, more and more people are crowding the oral healthcare fields.
The salary of a dental hygienist, just as those of other healthcare professionals, may vary slightly depending on a couple of factors:
As of May 2013, the main employers of dental hygienists were the dental offices; totaling 183,380 dental hygienists working in the general practice dentistry. The Physician offices came in 2nd having employed just 2,260 dental hygienists.
According to the US Department of Labor, the top-paying industry for the dental hygienists was the ambulatory healthcare service providers. A dental hygienist earned an average annual salary of $83,360. Coming in 2nd was the business, professional, labor, governmental/research and similar organizations. The industry paid a dental hygienist an average annual salary of $72,600. The dental offices came in 3rd with the average annual salary paid to a dental hygienist amounting to $71, 860.
In the United States, the salary of the dental hygienists may also slightly vary depending on the geographical location of the area of expertise. The District of Columbia's dental hygienists clocked the highest annual average salary of $93,940, closely followed by the dental hygienists located in the State of California ($93,920), and the dental hygienists in the Washington State ranked 3rd with an average annual salary of $92,610.
According to a survey conducted by the California Occupational Employment Statistics, back in 2014, the median dental hygienist salary stood at $100,312, with the top 25% of the earners making more than $112,827 annually. Also, California topped other states for its employment of dental hygienists (21,930), followed by the state of Texas (12,590), and Florida coming in 3rd (10,000).
Though Texas and Florida ranked at the top of the list for their employment of the dental hygienists, the salaries in these states were low on average. It is no surprise that the top-paying metropolitan areas for the dental hygienists were from California:
A dental hygienist earnings may be salary-based, paid by the hour, or even vary depending on the level of production of the dental hygienist.
This option guarantees dental hygienists a minimum salary and also avails an incentive for efficient production.
Dental hygienists under this structure pay option may be at a financial risk especially those that work in new practices, or those that work in practices that are not busy. However, dental hygienists under the straight commission scenario are in a position to earn about 33% of the total hygiene production. As a result, this paves the way for them to earn higher salaries as compared to those under the Base Hourly plus Commission option.
Bonuses for dental hygienists are fairly common. Most of the dentists use bonuses as incentives for efficient production. Often, bonuses equate to about 10-20% of the total services performed, or of those billed.
Texas has the the second highest number of dental hygienists in the country. There are dozens of accredited hygiene programs in the state. The majority of these programs are 2 years in length. The most common program is the associate degree. These programs are highly regarded, leading to a high beginning pay for new grads. We'll first take a look at the lowest and highest paid parts of the state.
Many locations in South Texas reported dental hygienists salaries that ranked below both the state and national average in 2012. For instance, dental hygienists in San Antonio received an annual salary of $64,650. Those working in Corpus Christi averaged $56.790 annually as of 2015, while their counterparts in McAllen and Brownsville averaged $57,000 and $53,250 respectively. Victoria metropolitan region, where dental hygienists earned on average of $47,660 annually, is reportably the lowest paying area in all of Texas.
There were only a few areas in Texas that reported dental hygienists salaries that ranked above the state and national average in 2015. One of these locations was the non-metropolitan areas of Texas Gulf Coast where the highest earning dental hygienists pocketed an average of $34.24 per hour. That works out to close to $71,230 per year after tax deductions. Laredo metropolitan area is the highest paying location for dental hygienist in Texas. The average pay here was $44.18 per hour. That equates to $91,880 annually, a figure which is considered to be the highest salary for dental hygienists professionals in the state of Texas.
Before getting all worked up about salary expectations in Texas, students must first obtain professional licensing. The licensing can attained after completion of a post-secondary dental hygiene training program. This program is typically an associate degree. That should then be followed by completion of the Assessment for Initial Licensure program that is conducted by the Texas’ State Board for Dental Examiners. Upon receiving licensing, dental hygienists need to have a minimum of 12 credits of continuing education on a yearly basis so that they can maintain licensure.
Salary expectations for dental hygienists depends on the level of dental clinics in their practicing locations. Huge metropolitan areas such as Houston and Dallas are well-paying because these areas are frequented by many people coming from all over the United States. That is in contrast to southern regions where there is a lower density of dental clinics compared to regions of the north Texas.