I need to do a short interview (10 questions) with a Dental Hygienist for a college class. please help me! thanks. :)

I am in a speech class as a pre req. to my Dental Hygiene program, My name is Nicole, I am 21 years old and I am from the Bay area California.
I need to ask a few questions for a speech i am giving about my future career.
If someone can answer them for me i would greatly apprieciate it. thanks.

1. How long did you attend school to obtain your degree?
2. Was your Dental Hygiene program mostly book work, hands on or both?
3. Would you have dont anything different about the process (different school etc)?
4. How difficult was it to find a job right out of school?
5. How did you go about finding your job after school?
6. What do you enjoy about your job?
7. What does your job entail on a daily basis?
8. How many days a week do you work?
9. Do you feel you made the right career choice?
10. Does this profession pay well?

Thanks so much to anyone who answers my questions, and if you do please state your name and where you are currently employed.
Nicole Fabbri.

1. 2 years
2. Both, some classes had massive reading requiring lots of time, but there was
always clinical time.
3. No. I was fortunate in that I already had a degree and some classes
transferred. I saw girls fail the first semester which was 21 hours. I would
recommend having some college experience before taking an intensive program
such as hygiene.
4. I graduated in 1995 and had a job in 2 weeks.
5. Applied to jobs listed at our school placement board for hygienists.
6. My patients, even the difficult ones. I always feel valued by the patient.
7. 8-10 pts., x-rays, perio cht, exams, sterilization, op set-up, trash removal,
laundry of uniforms, fill schedule, filing charts, stocking supplies and
anything else anyone asks me to do. I've even washed windows and the dr's
car! And yes, hygienists have to clean bathrooms.
8. None, I've been laid off 3 months due to the economy.
9. No. There are no benefits, insurance, sick days or vacation, retirement is
rare, and many dentists are type A personality and impossible to please.
Hygienists are trained for quality and patient care. Dentists want
production above all else. A hygienist can never do enough to satisfy.
10. Wages are going down due to the number of hygienists graduating and
saturating the market. Many dr.s are choosing less experience for less
pay. My last position paid $35/hr and the current hygienist is making
$11/hr. Plus there are no jobs. Many hygienists are going back to school
for nursing where jobs are plentiful.

Suzanne Piper RDH
UNEMPLOYED in Indiana

Suzanne in Terre Haute, Indiana said: 1. 2 years
2. Both, some classes had massive reading requiring lots of time, but there was
always clinical time.
3. No. I was fortunate in that I already had a degree and some classes
transferred. I saw girls fail the first semester which was 21 hours. I would
recommend having some college experience before taking an intensive program
such as hygiene.
4. I graduated in 1995 and had a job in 2 weeks.
5. Applied to jobs listed at our school placement board for hygienists.
6. My patients, even the difficult ones. I always feel valued by the patient.
7. 8-10 pts., x-rays, perio cht, exams, sterilization, op set-up, trash removal,
laundry of uniforms, fill schedule, filing charts, stocking supplies and
anything else anyone asks me to do. I've even washed windows and the dr's
car! And yes, hygienists have to clean bathrooms.
8. None, I've been laid off 3 months due to the economy.
9. No. There are no benefits, insurance, sick days or vacation, retirement is
rare, and many dentists are type A personality and impossible to please.
Hygienists are trained for quality and patient care. Dentists want
production above all else. A hygienist can never do enough to satisfy.
10. Wages are going down due to the number of hygienists graduating and
saturating the market. Many dr.s are choosing less experience for less
pay. My last position paid $35/hr and the current hygienist is making
$11/hr. Plus there are no jobs. Many hygienists are going back to school
for nursing where jobs are plentiful.

Suzanne Piper RDH
UNEMPLOYED in Indiana

Hi Suzanne, You are always nice and realistic in your responses to others in or looking into the field of Dental Hygiene. I hope that the person above understands that this field at least in the present time is not one that will be lucrative as a career. Nursing always has a need for individuals that are interested in the medical area.

NicoleFabbri in San Francisco, California said: I am in a speech class as a pre req. to my Dental Hygiene program, My name is Nicole, I am 21 years old and I am from the Bay area California.
I need to ask a few questions for a speech i am giving about my future career.
If someone can answer them for me i would greatly apprieciate it. thanks.

1. How long did you attend school to obtain your degree?
2. Was your Dental Hygiene program mostly book work, hands on or both?
3. Would you have dont anything different about the process (different school etc)?
4. How difficult was it to find a job right out of school?
5. How did you go about finding your job after school?
6. What do you enjoy about your job?
7. What does your job entail on a daily basis?
8. How many days a week do you work?
9. Do you feel you made the right career choice?
10. Does this profession pay well?

Thanks so much to anyone who answers my questions, and if you do please state your name and where you are currently employed.
Nicole Fabbri.

Please think also about the Nursing or related medical profession as the Dental Hygiene field is saturated, and benefits in most cases don't exist. Look into the market in the state(s) that you are interested in finding work :present and future availability. Hygiene school is very expensive and intense. Good luck .

Thanks for the reponses i really appriciate it, i have already given my speech for my speech class. And also thanks for your concerns regaurding becoming a dental hygienist, I am located in California and my uncle is a dentist. :)

NicoleFabbri in San Francisco, California said: I am in a speech class as a pre req. to my Dental Hygiene program, My name is Nicole, I am 21 years old and I am from the Bay area California.
I need to ask a few questions for a speech i am giving about my future career.
If someone can answer them for me i would greatly apprieciate it. thanks.

1. How long did you attend school to obtain your degree? I first did a dental assisting program for 1 year, then 2 years following for dental hygiene assoc. degree
2. Was your Dental Hygiene program mostly book work, hands on or both? Definitely both, lots of hands on. We went to 2 other schools affiliated with the dental hygiene program and had classes there, and also worked in the dental clinics.
3. Would you have dont anything different about the process (different school etc)? I would've gone "away" to college. I lived 10 min from one of the best hygiene programs and at the time and decided to attending close by. I feel I missed the college experience. Also, I would've maybe done a 4 yr program which would open up more opportunities in the dental field. With an assoc. degree I can only work in a dental office.
4. How difficult was it to find a job right out of school? Very easy, their were alot of opportunities. I started working as a part time dental assistant during hygiene school, then when I graduated I got a job 5 minutes from home. I worked as a assistant andhygienist for 2 dentists in the same office. Then I started just hygiene a few months later.
5. How did you go about finding your job after school? In the local paper.
6. What do you enjoy about your job?
7. What does your job entail on a daily basis?
8. How many days a week do you work?
9. Do you feel you made the right career choice?
10. Does this profession pay well?

Thanks so much to anyone who answers my questions, and if you do please state your name and where you are currently employed.
Nicole Fabbri.[/Q

For some reason I wasn't able to continue the questions? I am actually in the process of reactivating my hygiene license. I worked for 19 years, then had a family, and now after 7 years I'm going back. I worked both part time and full time over the 19 year period. I did feel burned out, and was ready to stop working when I did. Due to the economy, I need to work again, and it's the only thing I know that will pay well. I was making $34 per hr back in 2001, so I think now it's close to $40 per hr. I think I made a good choice in careers, I liked the flexiblity of part time or full time, and getting to work closely with people.

BM in Raymond,
Hello and thank-you for the nice comment. I try to keep it honest, at least as I have experienced. Are you practicing now? I have tried desperately for 3 years to stay employed. I'm willing to relocate but to where? I have a tentative offer with the army, but pay is so low. I know the benefits are great, but I'm stressing if I should go back to school for nursing. I tell others, but have trouble taking my own advice.

suzanne in Terre Haute, Indiana said: BM in Raymond,
Hello and thank-you for the nice comment. I try to keep it honest, at least as I have experienced. Are you practicing now? I have tried desperately for 3 years to stay employed. I'm willing to relocate but to where? I have a tentative offer with the army, but pay is so low. I know the benefits are great, but I'm stressing if I should go back to school for nursing. I tell others, but have trouble taking my own advice.

Hi again! I would say , look into the states you are interested in . Contact agencies in those states. I feel though that the recession is pretty much hitting ALL states (except maybe Texas, there seems to be a blogger that is getting $$$, I think "HE" is listed as "Perio in Houston". His comments don't seem very nice though so be careful. The Northeast is feeling the crunch so I wouldn't suggest:MA, NH, RI. I find I just have to keep calling Dr.'s I've worked for, use agencies, and get out there with many resumes on hand. Be aware that some of these offices go to far in the psychological dept. They have your resume, your interview, BUT, they also (not all, but a few) have you fill out 5 or so pages and some read like legal documents that they expect you to sign ( don't give them S.S., your Phsician's name , etc... but be respectful and add your comments ie- If I am offered the position I will be happy to discuss items mentioned with the Dr.). Rigth now I'm taking the employment situation on a day/weekly basis ; mostly filling in when their R.D.H. is sick or on vacation. Sometimes it makes you feel like a tellamarketer.

Excellent and tactful way to handle the forms. You are right, they ask too much information just to be filling out an application. I had one request SS#, release of medical and mental information, and a police check just to apply! I declined the info and never heard from him, but I was put off by it anyway. I saw an ad in our paper for a pt hygienist, the first one in about 4 years. I didn't apply as it was only 1 day and if that is all I can find I'm going back to school. Nice talking with you.

suzanne in Terre Haute, Indiana said: Excellent and tactful way to handle the forms. You are right, they ask too much information just to be filling out an application. I had one request SS#, release of medical and mental information, and a police check just to apply! I declined the info and never heard from him, but I was put off by it anyway. I saw an ad in our paper for a pt hygienist, the first one in about 4 years. I didn't apply as it was only 1 day and if that is all I can find I'm going back to school. Nice talking with you.

Hi Suzanne, Always a pleasure to BLOG with you. There's alot of shall I say "interesting Dentist's, with **** problems:(fill-in the *'s). I know this is a different world in 2009, but the length of some interview's and the material requested is a little out there***. Have you read the BLOG reply's I mentioned on certain R.D.H.'s on this site??? Be careful, they seem to think that they are in a different realm..... Take care, and hang in there, and I hope that a person of your integrity, and experience can find employment with your expertise.
Others answering this comment, please be civil and polite, not nasty and all knowing to those you don't know...

OOps, I just left my comment for this on another post! Sorry!! Yes, I have read some of the comments from the person you mentioned and I agree with you, somethings not quite right with him. Just a gut feeling. You are so optimistic and it cheers me up just blogging with you. Thanks for taking the time.

suzanne in Terre Haute, Indiana said: OOps, I just left my comment for this on another post! Sorry!! Yes, I have read some of the comments from the person you mentioned and I agree with you, somethings not quite right with him. Just a gut feeling. You are so optimistic and it cheers me up just blogging with you. Thanks for taking the time.

Hi Suzanne! Just read your comments recently updated on other "?'s" on INDEED. I notice that you also commented to Sierra in Tonawanda, NY: maybe she is different to her patients as to her dialogue, I hope so, and that students in Hygiene programs right now and may be thinking of this as a career understand information we offer online. Right now it's a "questionable field" for employment. Maybe in 5+ years it will be different??? Have a positve day everybody!

BM in Raymond, New Hampshire said: Hi Suzanne! Just read your comments recently updated on other "?'s" on INDEED. I notice that you also commented to Sierra in Tonawanda, NY: maybe she is different to her patients as to her dialogue, I hope so, and that students in Hygiene programs right now and may be thinking of this as a career understand information we offer online. Right now it's a "questionable field" for employment. Maybe in 5+ years it will be different??? Have a positve day everybody!

Teethpeople ... responses....akso...

suzanne in Terre Haute, Indiana said: OOps, I just left my comment for this on another post! Sorry!! Yes, I have read some of the comments from the person you mentioned and I agree with you, somethings not quite right with him. Just a gut feeling. You are so optimistic and it cheers me up just blogging with you. Thanks for taking the time.

Teethpeople....responses, also are...W.O.