Top Dental Hygiene Schools: Requirements to join

The dental field develops day by day and dental hygiene schools are becoming more and competitive. This field also gained fast popularity among students, providing graduates with multiple possibilities and options. Since toothpaste was made famous, every person on this planet cares about their own oral hygiene. Now, despite the miraculous ingredients that promise either tooth than ever, people still need to go to the dentist once in a while.

In California, per example, there are 27 accredited dental hygiene schools that offer each and every student the possibility to become a licensed dental hygienist.

You can choose to go to a community college that has an associated program or you can opt for the university program. Community college courses last around 2 years, while university studies can go up to 4 years. Both of these help you prepare for the California state exam, which is your final step towards becoming a dental hygienist. You will learn how to perform different dental estimations, clean teeth and perform an x-ray. Besides learning these theoretical skills, you will also get the chance to practice them at a local facility when your studies require you to do so. In order to be able to apply for an associated degree program or for a 2-year certificate program, you must finish high school first.

These studies usually take 2 years, but some of them extend to 3 years. As previously stated, many of these studies have a part of the theory and a part of practice, where students get to apply what they have learned from their curriculum. At the end of their studies, students will have knowledge about dental techniques and dental sciences. These certificate programs contain courses such as:

• Local anesthesia
• Oral and general pathology
• Dental pharmacology
• Dental hygiene theory and practice
• Periodontology

When it comes to dental hygiene schools that offer an associate program, their courses tackle subjects as:

• Nutrition in dentistry
• Dental materials
• Oral biology
• Legal responsibility in dentistry
• Community dental health

After graduation, some students pursue advanced studies, mainly dedicated to research and academic careers. At the master’s level, the studies are now focused on education, management and research areas.

Dental hygiene schools in California

The dental hygiene schools in California, such as Southwestern College and Pasadena City College, have associate programs that last 2 years. For the first college, you will have to pay $1,000 per year, tuition and additional fees. To apply here, you will have to own some math and reading skills and be willing to do some health screenings.

If you are more interested in a bachelor’s degree programs regarding dental hygiene, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Loma Linda University have what you want. The studies also take 2 years to complete, but the tuition is considerably bigger. In order to complete your studies at one of those two, you will have to pay $58,614 for the first year, $39,076 for the second year, without the additional charges, or $29,100 per junior year, $38,800 per senior year, depending on which one you choose.

The University of Southern California is a dental hygiene school that teaches you how to interpret a patient’s medical record, how to provide proper dental care and how to inform patients about prevention and maintaining their general oral health. Loma Linda University demands more prerequisite courses, especially in the humanities area. The courses at this university will prepare you for working in a lab or other professional clinic work. At the same time, after graduation, you can pursue any other career related to dental health or public health for that matter.

As a dental hygienist, you will have to take x-rays of your patients, assist the dentist while he perform different actions on the patients, clean your patients teeth, examine the patients for any oral diseases such as gingivitis and teach the patient about preventing measurements and maintaining their overall oral health. You will also work with equipment to remove any plague, tartar and stains, protect the teeth by applying sealants and fluorides. Most dental hygiene schools teach their students these things. At the same time, these dental hygiene schools make students practice what they have learnt in order to provide better services for their patients and assure them they are in safe hands.

Would you buy a used car from that dentist?

When I was single, I was a musician. There was nothing that stopped me from playing saxophone. When I was single I tried again and again to meet, greet and find women. I didn't stop after a rejection. I tried again and again to hone down my skills so I would be expert at alto sax, and also sex. Every experience was a learning experience. There were no failures, only results. When I lost the gig and was thrown out of the band I learned exactly how to be obnoxious enough to do this consistently. I also had learned the proper way to be rejected by women. Eventually I was able to find a way, my way, of presenting myself so I always got the job. Others might have been better musicians, but none were better at getting the job. On the "women" side, I got married to someone who I love on an ongoing basis.

As dentists, we are continually selling ourselves on an ongoing basis whether we believe it or not. You cannot not sell yourself. The truth is we are always selling a product, service, concept, treatment alternative, idea, and of course ourselves. Most people have not a clue how to sell anything. Go to a used car lot to learn all the things you should never do. Make that a learning experience. The beauty behind selling dentistry is that there is no magic statement or method that will make a patient want treatment. Each patient will need to be treated differently, just like their teeth!

As a dental student you started by learning concepts which became skills needed to treat patients. The process for some was fast, for others it was slow. The students with the best hands were not necessarily the students who were the best at science. Some loved periodontics while others hated it. Eventually we all learned what we felt we needed to know. We learned to represent a stump of a tooth as a crown prep. We learned to represent cutting off the gums and drilling on our jaws as osseous surgery. We now see things differently from non-dentists.

Sales is very much like learning dentistry. Some will be very good at it, and some will need to learn basis skills to allow success to occur. Everyone is different. Everybody's practice is different. When I am hungry, sometimes I will put on a suit and go to a fancy French restaurant. When I am hungry, sometimes I will get in my car and head for a drive through window to get Burger King. The Burger King is located next to the French restaurant. The owners of the French restaurant don't care that Burger King is down the block. Although I believe the food is of a higher quality at the French restaurant, I also have no doubt that the Burger King makes more money. I have also seen many seemingly good restaurants fail. Just like these restaurants, our practices are also different. There is no right type of dental practice, there are just those that succeed or learn the lesson of failure. Together we will develop a way to succeed.

What do successful practices have in common when they sell (present) treatment? The salesperson is very organized, dedicated to certain treatment beliefs, incredibly honest and very persistent. Selling is listening, not talking. Selling is asking, not telling. Selling is a negotiation in which all parties see the benefit of the sale. Selling is understanding what the patient's needs are and the ability of the dentist to provide for those needs. It is also the understanding of what must be clinically done and the finances that the patient will need to complete this agreed upon negotiation.

When I went to buy my first computer I was asked a barrage of questions. I didn't know a floppy drive from a meg of ram. I felt like an idiot and I was very confused. I walked out of the store because people who are confused do not buy anything. If you confuse patients, they will not buy anything. If they feel that they don't understand you, they will not buy anything. When you sell dentistry you must ask sequential questions of patients so they understand what it is you are asking them to buy. I understand that we must inform patients of all possible treatment alternatives, but we usually can steer a patient to a modality of treatment we believe is best. Additionally, we can not have financial arrangements for treatment unless we know exactly what treatment option we are trying to achieve. Too many choices create the death of a sale, which is not beneficial to the patient or the doctor.

When I bought my first computer, the salesman asked me what I wanted to do with the machine. He then showed me a few computers he felt would suit my needs. When I told him I primarily was interested in organizing my finances, HE ASKED ME if he could recommend a good software package. I told him yes. Next HE ASKED ME if I wanted to save a copy of my computer entries in case of a power problem. I told him my financial records were very important and I would always want a copy of them in case the computer lost data. HE ASKED ME MY OPINION. He said I could backup all the data on 10 of these disks, or I could put all the info on one tape and he wanted to know my opinion. I told him I felt I didn't need the tape backup. He said fine and I bought the computer. Three months later I went back to the store and had the same person install a tape drive. It struck me that this salesman was really a nice guy. We buy things from people. We don't buy things from dentists, computer experts, or salesmen. People buy things from other people.

In the next installment of Dentalogics, we will continue learning how to question, and answer effectively, to increase our bottom line while providing the quality of care we want. By utilizing specific methods, we will teach you how to sell and enjoy selling. We will teach you the HOW. I will give you specifics that work for me, but they may not work for you. These specifics are the WHAT. They are interesting but not as important as the HOW. Remember the adage, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for his life."

Tooth Extraction - Technique - Precautions - Recovery

Tooth extraction means removal of the teeth due to some reasons. These reasons may involve the tooth disease like trauma or crowding. When you have a problem regarding the teeth then you visit the dentist. He examines the condition of the teeth. 

Firstly, he fills and washes your teeth but after one week if the condition of your teeth is worse than he made the extraction of your teeth. 

The extraction from the gum can cause bleeding to occur but for some time. And after some time, a clot appears in the place of the teeth which control the bleeding. 

After the extraction treatment, the dentist forbids from few things and allows some things to use for one or two weeks. 

Read about  Emergency Tooth Extraction.

Extraction Technique 

The extraction process involves the pulling of the teeth from the gums. The dentist froze the area from which the teeth are to be extracted to lessen the pain and the discomfort of the treatment. 

For the lesson, the discomfort many dentists use the organic compound to freeze that area or use the laughing gas for the children to avoid the anxiety of the shot. 

Children actually know that they are hurt but can’t cry or create drama due to this laughing gas. The bleeding from the gums occurs for some time and after few times it stops and a clot appears on that part. 

The extraction of the teeth gives the fruitful results and relief us from the pain of long lasting. 

Sometimes, the extraction of the wisdom teeth becomes necessary in order to provide the space to the teeth to grow better in a regular sequence. The extraction technique allows the people to give healthy smiles. 

Precautions 

After the extraction of the teeth, you must have to take the precautions. These are the precautions which help you out in the quick healing of the wound.

• Use liquid instead of the solid thing
• Use liquid without using the straw.
• Use the food that a dentist suggests you in the treatment.
• Avoid smoking.
• Avoid the drinking of the Alcohol.
• Avoid the thing which causes the bleeding in the gums.
• Avoid chew gums.
• Brush your teeth slowly.
• Use cold things or ice in the case of the swelling.
•  If you find pain and swelling in the gums then don’t brush your teeth.

 Extraction recovery  

Due to harsh brushing to the teeth may disturb the wound and cause the bleeding. It sometimes causes the swelling in the gums and causes the pain. For the sake of the relief, use ice or cold things or call the dentist for further medication to remove the swelling. The dentist will see the severeness of the swelling if it is the normal case then he allows you to brush the teeth and if the case is severe then he applies some medical extraction recovery method to lessen the swelling. 

The extraction of the teeth gives the fruitful results and relief us from the pain of long lasting. Full detail is mentioned on Dentgap.com website.