Dental Assistant vs. Hygienist
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When it comes time to visit a dental clinic, most patients expect to have their teeth examined by a dentist. However, the majority of the time spent at a dentists’ office is in the care of dental assistants and hygienists. While dental assistants and hygienists both care for the needs of dental patients, these two careers have distinctive duties as well as educational and licensure pathways.
Dental assistants perform a wide range of dental and administrative patient care duties. They handle the logistics of a dental patient’s visit through leading patients to examination chairs, ensuring patient comfort, preparation and sterilization of dental instruments, processing x-rays and laboratory tasks, educating patients on healthy oral hygiene practices, scheduling follow-up appointments, and handling billing and payment requests. In some states, dental assistants are allowed to perform limited dental procedures such as coronal polishing, and application of sealants, fluoride, and topical anesthetic.
By comparison, dental hygienists are largely responsible for cleaning teeth, examining patients for oral diseases, and educating patients on preventative dental care practices. They use many types of specialized dental tools to perform their job including hand, power, and ultrasonic tools. Dental hygienists take x-rays of patients’ mouths to check for problems with teeth or jaw alignment. They remove tartar, stains, and plaque from patients’ teeth, apply sealant and fluoride treatments, complete oral health assessments and report their findings to dentists, take documentation notes about patient care and treatment plans, educate patients on how to select oral care devices, and how to properly brush and floss teeth for patients’ optimum dental health.
Educational and certification requirements differ for dental assistants and dental hygienists and individual states have unique career pathways. Dental assistant requirements vary the most; some states require no formal education in lieu of on the job training while other states require students to graduate from a one or two-year dental assistant vocational program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), an organization associated with the American Dental Association (ADA). Some states require dental assistants to earn nationally-recognized certification through the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB).
Dental hygienists are typically required to earn an associate’s degree in dental hygiene and more than 300 dental hygiene programs are accredited through CODA. Associate’s degree programs in dental hygiene typically take three years to complete and include courses such as anatomy and physiology, nutrition, radiography, pathology, medical ethics, and patient management. Bachelor’s and master’s degrees are less common and only required for dental hygienists desiring to focus on research, teaching, or clinical practice in public dental health programs.
Laboratory and clinical courses give dental hygiene students hands-on experience in addition to classroom instruction. Every state requires dental hygienists to be licensed and requirements for each state are set forth by individual state’s board of dental examiners.
While dental assistants and hygienists have unique sets of educational backgrounds and responsibilities, the two professions also share some similarities. In order to effectively care for the needs of dental patients, both dental assistants and dental hygienists must possess specialized dental knowledge and certain skills including detail-orientedness, interpersonal skills, hand dexterity, and high verbal communication skills.
Most dental clinics also require dental assistants and hygienists to maintain current cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification. Both careers are experiencing a higher than average rate of national growth; data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2021) predicts a rate of 11 percent growth for dental assistants and an 11 percent rate of growth for dental hygienists between the years 2020 and 2030, meaning 36,900 and 23,100 new jobs will be created in each respective field.
Read on to explore the unique professional, educational, and licensure differences between dental assistants and dental hygienists.
| Dental Assistant | Dental Hygienist | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dental assistants perform a range of tasks related to patient care and administrative clinical work. | Dental hygienists clean and polish patients’ teeth, perform dental health examinations to check for oral diseases, and educate patients on best dental practices. |
| Typical Responsibilities |
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| Education | On-the-job training in place of formal education is accepted in some states. Other states require students to complete a one or two-year dental assistant vocational program accredited by CODA. | An associate’s degree in dental hygiene is typically required and takes approximately three years to complete. More than 300 dental hygiene programs are accredited through CODA. |
| Work Environments |
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| Salary | Employment: 312,140
Mean wage: $42,310
(BLS May 2020) |
Employment: 194,830
Mean wage: $78,050
(BLS May 2020) |
| Licensing & Certification | Licensing requirements for dental assistants vary by state; some states require dental assistants to earn nationally-recognized certifications through the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB). Current CPR certification is required for employment by most clinics. | Licensure is required by all states for dental hygienists. Each state has unique requirements for dental hygienists as determined by the states’ board of dental examiners. Current CPR certification is required for employment by most clinics. |
| Resources |
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| The Bottom Line | Dental assistants provide dental and administrative care for patients and assist dental hygienists and dentists with clinical procedures. They have contact with patients from the moment they walk into the door, ensuring patient comfort, setting up the room for dental procedures, sterilizing equipment, and handing tools to dentists or dental hygienists during a patient procedure. Some states allow dental assistants to perform basic dental procedures. Dental assistants handle administrative tasks such as appointment scheduling and billing and payment questions. |
Dental hygienists’ responsibilities are largely centered on patient care. They clean and polish teeth, perform examinations to identify and prevent oral diseases such as gingivitis and do basic oral cancer screenings. They are responsible for assessing patients’ overall oral health and delivering oral summaries to a dentist prior to examination. Dental hygienists advise patients on what types of oral health tools are best for their individual needs, and educate patients on proper brushing and flossing homecare techniques to promote good oral health practices. |
Featured Dental Assisting Programs
Coastal Alabama Community College
Coastal Alabama Community College offers an associate of applied science degree and a certificate in dental assisting providing students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for assisting with the care of dental patients under the supervision of a dentist.
The AAS requires completion of 62 credits, while the certificate is made up of 48 credits. The curriculum explores topics such as microcomputer applications; introduction to dental assisting; dental materials; anatomy and physiology for dental assisting; basic sciences for dental assisting; dental radiology; dental office procedures; and pre-clinical procedures.
- Location: Bay Minette, AL
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Expected Time to Completion: AAS (24 months)
- Estimated Tuition: $162 per credit
Kirkwood Community College students have the option to first earn their diploma and then go on to take additional courses to earn their associate’s degree in dental assisting. During this program, students will gain hands-on, classroom, and laboratory experiences by working with dental patients at the University of Iowa’s College of Dentistry and other private dental offices.
The diploma comprises 46.5 credits, while the AAS degree consists of 64.5 credits. As part of the program, students will delve into topics such as dental terminology; dental anatomy; fundamentals of dentistry; dental materials; oral pathology for dental assisting; preventive dentistry; specialty dentistry; and dental nutrition.
The program opens up opportunities in private dental offices or clinics, teaching, research; consulting; sales and insurance claims; hospitals, and more for graduates.
- Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Expected Time to Completion: Diploma (12 months); AAS (24 months)
- Estimated Tuition: In-state ($186 per credit); out-of-state ($249 per credit)
Gwinnett Technical College offers a dental assisting diploma preparing students for employment in a range of positions in today’s dental offices. Students will be provided with hands-on training including dental assisting instruction with chair-side and laboratory procedures, dental office management, adjunctive patient care, patient education, and infection control.
Made up of 58 credits, the curriculum includes courses such as dental anatomy; preventive dentistry; dental radiology; dental practice management; oral pathology and therapeutics; and microbiology and infection control.
Graduates of this program receive the Georgia Radiation Safety and Expanded Duties certification and will be eligible to take the Dental Assisting National Board examination.
Apart from the diploma, Gwinnett Technical College also offers a basic dental assisting certificate and an advanced dental assisting certificate, both comprising 14 credits each.
- Location: Lawrenceville, GA
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Expected Time to Completion: Diploma (three semesters); certificate (one semester)
- Estimated Tuition: In-state ($100 per credit); out-of-state ($200 per credit)
Featured Dental Hygiene Programs
Mesa Community College offers an associate of applied science degree in dental hygiene preparing students for the necessary licensure requirements required to begin a rewarding career in this dental hygiene profession. Successful graduates will develop and demonstrate critical thinking skills, as well as professional and ethical behaviors required by the field.
Comprising 58 credits, the program includes courses such as emergency medicine; dental radiology; dental anatomy, embryology, and histology; prevention of dental disease; pharmacology; head and neck anatomy; dental materials; dental anesthesia; and periodontics.
Graduates will be ready to take up dental hygienist positions at places such as dental offices, dental clinics, hospitals, schools, and many such areas.
- Location: Mesa, AZ
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $85 per credit
Pima Community College’s associate of applied science program in dental hygiene will prepare students to work collaboratively with patients using an evidence-based and patient-centered approach in multidisciplinary teams of health professionals. Graduates will be prepared to take regional and national licensing exams to either work as dental hygienists or pursue a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene. They will receive hands-on, state-of-the-art training at Pima’s dental hygiene clinic and will be taught by dental professionals.
Students for this program will be required to complete preparatory coursework in areas such as critical reading; human anatomy, physiology and histology; and fundamental chemistry before beginning the application process. The program consists of 74.5 credits (excluding preparatory coursework) and 98.5 credits (including preparatory coursework).
Sample some of the courses in the curriculum: dental hygiene; oral embryology and histology; preventive dentistry; oral radiography; periodontology; pharmacology; oral pathology; dental materials; pain and anxiety control for dental hygiene; and ethics and practice management.
- Location: Tucson, AZ
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: In-state ($87 per credit); non-resident ($308.50 per credit)
Cypress College offers an associate in science degree in dental hygiene preparing students for the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examiners’ written examination, and the WREB examination (Western Regional Examining Board) for licensure as a registered dental hygienist.
The program consists of 60.5 credits including courses such as dental anatomy and morphology; oral health assessment; clinical dental hygiene; oral embryology and histology; general and oral pathology; dental anesthesiology; and pharmacology.
- Location: Cypress, CA
- Accreditation: Commission On Dental Accreditation (CODA); Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
- Expected Time to Completion: 24 months
- Estimated Tuition: $46 per unit
