A Glimpse At The Best Dental Hygienist Schools Across The Country

By Parker Fosterman

Dental hygienist schools provide the guidance needed to direct aspiring hygienists in the right direction towards a career in dentistry. The dental industry continues to expand substantially as oral healthcare is becoming greater in demand throughout the U.S. Compared to their predecessors, the younger generation dentists are choosing to hire hygienists and assistants to keep up with increasing demand. This in turn is expected to increase these job positions by 36 to 38 percent by the year 2018. This growth shows how important it is for those individuals seeking these positions to have the proper education and requirements needed for a career as a dental hygienist.

In order to be approved into one of the dental hygienist schools, the following requirements must be met (requirements may vary by school):

Be 18 years of age

Completed high school courses in English, Math, Chemistry, and Biology

Completed high school with a "C" average maintained throughout

Obtain a high school diploma or equivalent

Acquired satisfactory examination scores or above on the ACT or SAT

Upon completing the above requirements, individuals should be eligible to be accepted by an accredited American Dental Association (ADA) school. They must then graduate with either a certificate, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or master's degree to be eligible to take their board examinations.

Once the student graduates from one of their dental hygienist schools, they will then be expected to take the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination. The exam usually consists of a written test and a clinical procedure test. State boards use these examinations to make sure the students are qualified before becoming licensed. How the student's apply their knowledge of dentistry procedures and their ability to problem-solve in a working environment are the reasons these exams are administered.

States and regions vary the way these examinations are administered. One must be sure to first check with the state that they are seeking to be licensed in to find out which exam they will be tested on and what further qualifications they must meet.

There are over 200 ADA accredited schools for dental hygienist. However, out of that number, there are a select few that stand out compared to the rest. The following dental hygienist schools are among the top for the year 2011:

University Southern California

-The University of Southern California's four year bachelor's program usually stands among the top of the best dental schools. One of the perks of USC's program is that they have an on site clinic that allows students to practice live in the field. Students also receive good compensation while studying as a resident.

New York University

-Known as another one of the best dental schools in the country, this university is usually honored for their extremely wide patient pool, exceptional procedure training, and unmatched research.

University of the Pacific

-The Arthur A. Dugoni dentistry school is normally the top dental school receiving applications for admission, and the university itself ranks nationally each year in the top one hundred universities nation-wide. This school was also the first to introduce an advanced three year bachelor's program.

Western Kentucky University

-A very prestigious dental hygiene program. This school has four different paths in their program: associate's degree, bachelor's degree, bachelor's degree (with focus on clinical teaching), and an online bachelor's degree. One of the bonuses this university has is its own dental clinic on campus that enables students to gain live training.

St. Petersburg College

-The final of our high ranking schools offers both an associate and bachelor's degree. This college's bachelor degree program may only be taken by oral hygienists who are already licensed. The program is strictly online and requires no visits to campus for any classroom or clinical testing.

All of these dental hygienist schools are among the best offered. For any person that is looking to become a dental assistant, they should look into one of the schools listed above.

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