Clinical practice is deeply rooted in every dental hygienist. It is what we are trained to do and what the majority of us enjoy; educating our patients while providing excellent clinical care. But are you ready to move onto the next level of your career? Ready to transition out of clinical practice and into a new role?
As of December 2021, the American Dental Hygienists Association listed 331 entry-level programs in the United States. Students that successfully complete an entry-level program will earn an associate’s degree. Students generally begin a career in clinical practice with this type of degree. Many dental hygienists have amazing, long, and rewarding clinical practice careers. While others dream of expanding upon their clinical expertise to transition to alternative careers.
What is needed to expand and move forward with a career outside of the clinical practice?
Most opportunities require a bachelor’s degree. In fact, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (2021) recently adopted new guidelines to require, “full-time and part-time faculty of a dental hygiene program to possess a baccalaureate or higher degree” (p. 34). This revision means that all faculty including clinical faculty must have a bachelor’s degree. The standard does grandfather any part-time clinical faculty from this degree requirement if hired prior to July 1, 2022. Changes such as this are not new though; the state of California made a similar shift in 2016. All dental hygiene program faculty in the state of California shall hold a baccalaureate degree or higher from an accredited college or university. If you wish to pursue a career in education (clinical faculty, full or part-time academic faculty, or online faculty), a bachelor’s degree is the minimum degree type required.
What if you do not want to teach in a dental hygiene program? What type of career could you pursue with a bachelor’s degree?
The opportunities are broad, but some may include:
- Public Health-K-12 school settings, community clinics, and outreach.
- Corporate-sales rep, product research, dental hygiene manager.
- Entrepreneur- Speaker, product ideas and development, and opening your own store, author.
- Administrator- Dental hygiene program clinic coordinator. Commission on Dental Accreditation requires a masters' degree for DH program directors.
To earn a bachelor’s degree at Wichita State University (WSU) does not mean you have to quit your job. At WSU, you can continue working full-time and complete an online degree. Our RDH to BSDH program builds on the skill of a registered dental hygienist’s previous educational program to provide a means for continued advancement in the profession, career options in alternate settings, and meeting the necessary requirements for pursuing a graduate degree. The program is self-paced and you could finish in 15 months or take as long as 6 years if needed.
Current requirements for admission include a current dental hygiene license, associate’s degree in dental hygiene from a regionally accredited school, and a cumulative GPA of 2.5. Most credits from regionally accredited institutions transfer at least as elective hours. Twenty-eight hours of dental hygiene coursework will transfer as upper division credit hours. Even better, WSU was recently recognized as one of the nation’s 15 most affordable online dental hygiene programs. The admission process is quick and simple. If you are ready to get started just click WSU RDH to BSDH or contact an academic advisor.
References
American Dental Hygienists Association (2021). Dental hygiene programs. https://www.adha.org/dental-hygiene-programs
Commission on Dental Accreditation (2021). Accreditation standards for dental hygiene education program. https://coda.ada.org/~/media/CODA/Files/2022_dental_hygiene_standards.pdf?la=en