Dental Hygienist

The Dental Hygienist provides professional dental hygiene care to the patient. Contributes to the goal that patients are treated with courtesy and respect in a professional manner by all dental staff. This position will advance to a Public Health Dental Hygienist title. To become a Public Health Dental Hygienist (PHDH), you need to build on your existing RDH license with specific experience (2 years/4000 hours), complete 42 hours of specialized continuing education (CE) in areas like geriatrics, pediatrics, and medical emergencies, pass an exam, and become certified in Illinois. This certificate will allow you to provide care in schools, FQHCs, and community settings with a collaborative dentist. PHDH certification will be paid for by MCPHD after meeting the requirements above.

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Minimum Requirements

• Requires diploma from a recognized Dental Hygiene Program
• Requires license to practice in the State of Illinois
• A minimum of 1 year of supervised experience providing direct service in a dental clinical setting
• Maintains certification through appropriate credentialing bodies
• Must possess professional knowledge of oral health principles, practices, and processes. Must also maintain dental knowledge through ongoing education and/or training.
• Computer knowledge beneficial
• Good organization skills and communication skills required
• Ability to deal tactfully with patients and others in various situations
• Ability to handle instruments and materials carefully and safely
• Ability to work with others as a team to provide competent care
• This position requires the ability to be mobile without any limitations and to stand for long periods of time
• Ability to handle intermittent sitting, bending, reaching
• May be exposed to bodily fluids during routine duties; must always wear gloves, safety goggles and other related safety equipment and follow proper exposure safety procedures.
• Deals with radiography procedures and must follow related safety guidelines
• Must be current on all vaccinations and immunizations
• Must have current BLS

Illustrative Examples of Work

• Set up treatment room and seat patient
• Perform dental prophylaxes on children and adults
• Perform scaling and root planning on children and adults
• Place dental sealants on children, as prescribed by the dentist
• Perform periodontal charting as needed
• Demonstrate and/or provide oral hygiene instructions to scheduled patients
• Have attending dentist perform exams on all patients
• Take and develop x-rays as prescribed by the dentist
• Take impressions, as prescribed by the dentist
• Make entries in patient chart of all treatment performed and conditions noted.
• Clean up the treatment room and set up for the next patient
• Maintain instruments for peak performance and in compliance with OSHA standards
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Dental Program Coordinator