Dentist hygienist: description and responsibilities

The dentist is one of the most popular, highly paid and high profile professions in the medical community. At the same time, dentists can work either as generalists or have a narrow specialization. For example, today dentists-hygienists are in great demand among the population. We will talk in more detail about what a specialist in this profession does in our further material.

The dental hygienist is a relatively "young" profession that appeared in our country only about 20 years ago. However, in other countries of the world, it has long been widespread. Such a dentist acts primarily not in order to cure already existing diseases, but in order to prevent the appearance of various ailments in advance. The hygienist takes care of the cleanliness of the teeth and also protects patients from the risk of caries.

If we rely on the experience of Western countries, where dental hygienists have been doing research in this direction for a long time, we can conclude that contacting a hygienist is more profitable from an economic point of view, since preventive measures are much cheaper for patients than direct treatment.

A dental hygienist is a doctor who can work both in regular clinics and hospitals and in private institutions. In addition, such doctors often practice medicine on their own and open their own offices (for example, they work as individual entrepreneurs).And also in many dentistry, the doctor who takes care of the oral hygiene of the patients works together with orthodontists and surgeons. Thus, in one medical institution, you can receive the maximum comprehensive care.

It should be noted that such a specialist must be well educated and have a large amount of knowledge. In addition to dentistry, he must understand in detail human anatomy and physiology., as well as have other special medical knowledge (for example, know the mechanism of action of certain drugs).

In the course of his professional activity, a dental hygienist performs a large number of medical procedures. Thus, the duties of a dental hygienist include:

• carrying out various kinds of preventive measures;
• instructing patients about hygiene procedures;
• providing first aid if necessary;
• implementation of medical and diagnostic work;
• the ability to work with medical equipment;
• have pharmacological knowledge;
• draw up individual hygienic care programs for each patient;
• talk about different methods of brushing your teeth;
• make the fillings in a decent condition (for example, grind them);
• to strengthen the enamel of the teeth (calcium, fluoride and other chemicals are often used for these purposes);
• treat periodontal disease;
• remove tartar;
• partial nutritional adjustment.

To start working as a dental hygienist, you must graduate from a relevant educational institution. It can be either a university or a medical college. When looking for a specific educational institution, you should pay attention to such areas of training as "Dentistry" and "Preventive dentistry". The provision of medical services without a special education diploma is prohibited. Such specialists are responsible for their activities, as they have a direct impact on human health.

But before that, you need to complete 11 grades of high school, as well as pass the specialized examinations of the Unified State Exam, namely, Russian, mathematics, biology and chemistry.

It should be borne in mind that getting a higher education in a medical specialty is a rather lengthy processwith. You will have to undergo training for several years (from 5), and then spend another 2 years on residency. Consider also the fact that training for a dentist can be carried out only in full-time form.

In the process of choosing an educational institution and admission, preference should be given to the capital's large and prestigious universities. If, for some reason, you cannot study in such institutions, then any other medical universities in medium and small cities will do.

A dental hygienist career can develop in many different ways. As mentioned above, some specialists choose to work in government agencies, while others go to private clinics or open their own offices. Wherein it should be borne in mind that specialists in private practice earn many times more than those who work in public institutions... This fact must be taken into account when planning your financial situation. In general, the salary of such a medical specialist can vary from 15 to 100 thousand rubles or more per month.

However, traditionally, the career path of any young specialist begins with a placement in a state clinic. The thing is that this is the only way to gain experience and build a client base. If you have worked in a public clinic in your specialty for several years and have mastered the profession, you can start doing private practice.

As you can see, the dental hygienist is an important and necessary profession for society. This specialist provides not only medical care, but also performs the most important preventive functions.