 Hello everybody, Andrea Maeski here with Dental L. So let's now talk about what if you are not a dental hygienist yet? You're thinking about becoming a dental hygienist or even a dental professional, either a dental hygienist, a dental assistant, a dental receptionist, but people are talking you out of it. I disagree with them. It's an amazing profession, but it really depends on what kind of route you wanna go. If you wanna be a dental assistant, so the dental assistant is the one who helps the dentist with everything. A dental assistant sets up trays for every procedure. So you have to know a little bit about every procedure. You have to know about tooth extractions, crowns, bridges, composite fillings, amalgam fillings, emergency exams, taking x-rays, all of that fun stuff. Or if you're thinking you want to be a dental hygienist where that is the person that cleans the teeth. So they don't necessarily work alongside the dentist. They see their own patients, they have their own column and they're the ones who clean the teeth, who polish the teeth, they take x-rays too. They apply fluoride, they can do sealants. So they're their own provider. The dental receptionist is the one who handles the front desk duties. So they sign the patients in, sign them out, send insurance claims, they book appointments, they reschedule appointments. So everybody plays a very important role. When I first started in the dental profession about 16 years ago now, I was first a dental assistant and a dental receptionist. So I kind of did both. And then I became a dental hygienist after that. I did go on to specialize. So here in Ontario, not everywhere can you do this, but I became a restorative dental hygienist. So that allows me to work with crowns, bridges. I can place a composite filling, I can place an amalgam filling, I can adjust nightguards, I can apply braces, but I do have to work with a dentist in order to do many of those things because the dentist has to prep the tooth. I cannot prep the teeth as a restorative hygienist. I cannot take out the teeth. Here in Ontario, I cannot give local anesthetics. So for a crown, a bridge, a filling, for many of those things, you do need the tooth prepped and you need anesthetics. So as a restorative hygienist, you do need to work with a dentist, but that can be something if you can do that in your area, you do in the near future. Or you can plan to do that at some point. The amount of time it takes is different depending on where you live. Dental assisting is about a year in college, sometimes closer to a year and a half. Dental hygiene is usually 18 months in college, sometimes two years, sometimes up to four years. It really kind of depends on which way you want to go. So it really depends, but it does depend on kind of what you wanna do. Do you want to assist the dentist? Do you wanna clean the teeth? Now, I also have my own mobile dental hygiene business. So thankfully, here in Ontario, you can have your own business, which is the best thing in the entire world. So I have my own mobile dental hygiene business plus patients come into my home too. I do have a spare room in my home just for patients. So I love that I'm my own business. I do offer teeth whitening as well and I have my own business as a mobile teeth whitening technician. So if you're really inspired, you wanna have your own business one day depending on where you live and you can have your own business, then dental hygiene might be the route you wanna go. Dental assistance can't typically have your own business unless you're doing teeth whitening only, but the rules and the regulations are different depending on where you live. So that depends. I do have a teeth whitening technician course, a full online course, if you're interested in that as a side income or a full-time income for either dental professionals or non-dental professionals, I can leave the link for you guys down below. But there you have it, different ways that you can work in a dental office doing different things. If somebody tells you don't do it, it's a horrible job, no, it's an amazing job, I love it. Have I worked for offices that I would never work for again? Of course, as with any occupation, you might find places that just don't suit you, look somewhere else, find another job in another dental office, you need to find what works for you. Personally, I can't imagine working for anybody else other than myself. I'm my own boss, I have my own business, working under a dentist, working for somebody else just never suited me, I meant to have my own business, but don't let anybody tell you you shouldn't do something just because they hate their job, doesn't mean you will. I had dental hygienists telling me for years, like, oh, Andrea, why do you like this job so much? Oh, it's just because you've only been doing it a couple of years, just you wait. Well, 16 years later, I love it and those hygienists are miserable, okay, seriously. So if anybody tells you not to do it, do it, okay? And if you need help, comment below, I hope I can inspire you, please take the time to like the video, I would really appreciate it, that does help me and my channel and make sure to hit the subscribe button, that helps me as well, that would be fantastic. Thank you guys and let me know if you have any questions, comment below and I'll see you guys in the next video.