 Hello everybody Andrea Trosky here with dental tutoring. So let's talk about why you might not want to be a dental hygienist So if you're a student, you're not really sure what you want to do You've heard that the dental hygiene profession is a good one to get into but you don't know if it is for you So let's talk about it So if you don't like doing the same thing every day then dental hygiene is not for you If you want to do something different every day then consider dental assisting because you are always doing different Procedures and learning something new whereas dental hygiene you are always cleaning teeth, you know pretty much It's not easy. You have to think about oral hygiene You have to think about and talk about many many different things. You have to know a little bit a little bit about oral pathology Pharmacology all kinds of things so it's not easy But all in all you are doing the same thing every day and it's funny because that's what I I actually love about being a dental Hygienist is that I know what I'm doing every single day So I do love that but for those hygienists that I know that don't love what they do That's something that they do always say is I wish I had more of a variety and that I was doing a little bit of both Now I do know also Um I do know hygienists who are dental assistants first and they actually like doing assisting and hygiene So that's an option too, but keep in mind as an assistant You get paid a certain amount and as a hygienist you get paid another amount. So do not expect to be paid Um the hygiene wage if you're doing assisting. So just something to keep in mind Um another thing that you might not like if you're a hygienist And it might not be for you is being a hygienist takes a lot on your back your shoulders Hips so if you're already Suffering per se from neck problems back problems hip problems Then dental hygiene is not for you because I don't know any hygienist That does not have some form of a back hip neck or shoulder problem because we are constantly hunched over Yes, you do have to sit properly But we all you know Don't always think about that if we're running half an hour behind If we're you know in a rush if we have a difficult patient where we either have to stand up or sit down a certain way Or whatever. So you can Have problems with your neck usually back shoulder hips that area now I used to work full time and I work about part time now. So I work about twice a week. So my neck Has actually thanked me. I am not sore anymore My hips tend to get sore a little bit if I do extra long days Like if I have those 12 hour shifts I am sore at the at the end of the day, but that only makes sense right because that's a 12 hour shift So if you can help it try not to work too many long shifts But that's just not always possible. So something to think about Um, another thing is as a dental hygienist, you will be asked to work evenings and or weekends Um, if that's not something you like then this isn't the the position or the profession for you Same with dental assisting. Actually, you will likely be asked to work At least one one evening and one weekend. So like a saturday if they're open on sundays It could be a sunday. So if that's not something for you, then this isn't something that you might like But having that said I became a temp hygienist about six months a year ago now, maybe Um, and I just choose not to work evenings or weekends. So as a temp hygienist, I can pick and choose My own hour. So that's kind of an option for you as well Um, another thing about being a hygienist is that so as I said before you are doing the same thing every day But you are are also on your own. So you have to deal with everything on your own You will not have somebody to turn to to ask questions necessarily You will not have some way to help you if you're falling behind So if you're 30 minutes behind there might not be an assistant or somebody else available to help you Because as a hygienist you work on your own. So if that's not something you like Then this isn't the job for you and assisting might be another option because at least if you're behind It's not your fault. It's likely the dentist's fault. Well, um, why you are behind But as a hygienist, it's your fault because you're the one who sees the patient You're the one who sees the patient. You're the one who sees the patient as they leave You have to write notes in the chart. You have to usually clean up everything set up everything all of that. So If that concerns you then hygiene may not be for you But that's about it you guys. I can't really think of too much Why you wouldn't want to be a hygienist because the main thing is is that you work on your own And you're doing the same thing every day. So if that's not for you, then you may not like it um Coming from other hygienists that don't like their job per se. Those are just simply the main things that they say um also that they they um When they work full-time they tend to get quite sore and they find they can't work as long as they want to because they do become quite sore So I'll say it again. If you have have any chronic back issues or neck problems Being a hygienist won't make it better. It will make it worse. So just something to think about and where you live um You might not get paid as much as you want to you might not get paid as much as somebody else because I For hygiene they're not paying us more They're just staying the same and even trying to pay us less So if you're new they will try to pay you a lot less than somebody who has 20 years experience And they might hire somebody who's new over somebody who has 20 years experience because they make less money So that's just kind of the thing right now. Um at least in my um area Where we're not being paid what we're used to so if you are looking for another position In another office that might be harder for you because the office doesn't know you Even if you have experience they might try to hire somebody fresh out of school So that they can pay them less. So just a couple things But all in all hygiene is amazing. Assisting is amazing, but not for everybody So I hope that helped if you guys have any questions. Just let me know