The Buddhist poet and monk Thich Nhat Hahn once wrote, “Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.” Healthy mouths make for beautiful smiles; it’s hard to feel confident enough to smile often and freely when your teeth have seen better days. Dental hygienists do their part to keep life beautiful by helping us keep our teeth and gums clean. If you want to help keep smiles on people’s faces, enrolling in Rio Salado College’s Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Dental Hygiene degree program may put a smile on yours.
What You’ll Learn
Rio Salado’s dental hygiene program will introduce you to the many legal, ethical, and professional facets of providing oral health care to the general public. You’ll learn how to effectively communicate with patients and their families while also gaining an understanding on how to collaborate as part of a healthcare team. The program will cultivate your critical thinking skills and teach you how to apply them to direct patient care. You'll learn how to perform patient assessments and record and interpret findings. As a student in the program, you’ll learn how to implement dental hygiene services, gaining practical experience and real-world knowledge to prepare you for a future in the field.
What Can I Do With a Dental Hygiene Degree?
The expertise you develop during your time at Rio will prepare you to take on roles that include:
- Clinical dental hygienist
- Health educator
- Public health hygienist
- Dental treatment coordinator
- Clinical instructor
- Dental sales representative
Please note that some of these roles may require additional certifications or training.
What Does a Future in Dental Hygiene Look Like?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, dental hygiene is a career field that’s projected to grow 7% from now until 2034. What that 7% represents is 15,300+ job openings projected each year, a much faster rate than average compared to other occupations. With high median salaries, dental hygienists are well-compensated and in-demand for their services. A career in dental hygiene requires in-person interactions, hand-eye coordination, and strong fine motor skills making it a career choice protected from being automated by the growing adoption of AI across most industries.
Save Time and Money
Interested in continuing your education? Rio Salado’s course credits are transferable, which means that the progress you made at Rio can transfer over to most universities and colleges across the country. Not all colleges take transfer credits, however, so be sure to check in with the institution you’re planning to transfer to in order to make sure your Rio credits will be accepted. Our tuition rate is much lower than that of a four-year university, so you can fulfill your general education requirements for your bachelor’s degree at Rio while saving a significant amount of money.
Learn More
If you are interested in learning more about our Dental Hygiene degree program, check out our program page and complete the request for information at the bottom of the page.
Article by Austin Brietta