Відео

I do have a background in dental assisting about 4 years before I got accepted to dental hygiene school. I would say it is not necessary to do assisting, but it will help you to get comfortable with dental instruments, tools, dental flow, and patient experience overall. I would recommend shadowing an office & help out prior to applying:)

@anatherstory okay thank you so much! Also, one more question how was hygiene school like for you?

Hygiene school was harder than I thought because it was nothing like being an assistant. You build your way up with skills and knowledge to become a professional who provides treatments based on the patients’ needs during school. You’ll learn so many chapters in a week, and won’t be able to catch up if you are behind a lot. Because even when you are on track, it’s just a lot to memorize and understand while you also stress yourself out about bringing your own patients (if your school does not provide patients) for specific categories and need to do well for the clinic grade. Don’t mean to scare you since nothing is easy to become! You’ll get used to the setting and studies in hygiene school:)

@anatherstory okay thank you so much for the insight! I appreciate that alot! :)

Happy New Year! 네, 감사합니다! 처음 환자볼때 되게 떨리는데, 그래도 하루하루 클리닉지나면 적응되실거에요:) 저는 youtube에서 pharmacology 비디오 (Osmosis, Ninja nerd..) 틀면서 공부하고 그냥 overnight memory로 시험본거같아요. Final은 어떻게 잘봤는지도 모르겠네요 ㅎㅎ. 두번째 학기 힘내세요,화이팅!

@@anatherstory pharmacology를 그냥 overnight memory로 보셨다니 진짜 넘 대단해요 저도 그게 가능할지 모르지만, 열심히 해봐야죠. 감사해요. 영상자주 올려주세요!!

Thank you! And good luck😊

Hey! Mine is 3.3x. I believe it’s the smallest magnification they have, the recommended magnification for hygienists:)

@ I just ordered the ergo air which is lighter by 7g but they didn’t have 3.3x only 3.0x. Would you recommend going higher? It will jump to 4.0x

Oo I didn’t know they have a new ergo! That sounds good with a light weight. Personally, I think 3.0x will be better than 4.0x because you can also bring the patient chair up if you need to be closer. Even with 3.3x, sometimes the patient chair hits my legs or my legs can be uncomfortable since the chair is low due to high magnification.

@@anatherstory got it! Thank you!!

I thought so! I guess I wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Thank you so much!❤️ “As a freshly polished smile” 🤣

Hi! Honestly speaking, as a temp hygienist I do my part to chart a new patient’s existing restorations. But I’ve seen offices where the dentists like to chart it while they check the xrays, so it could vary. If you have a permanent position, I think it could be discussed with the dentist after you chart what you see in the xrays and visually, and have them go over when they do the exam.

@@anatherstory Thank you so much for your comment! It’s great to know that charting isn’t solely the hygienist’s job, lol. I feel a bit more relieved now, haha. Thanks again for sharing your experience!

I always recommend my patients to use Waterpik, electronic toothbrush, and Platypus/alternative flosses. And brushing needs to be longer than 2min so they can remove plaques. I also recommend them to come in 3-4mo based on their gum health:)

Also do you use any hand free suction or do you hang the suction when cleaning?

I get back pains when the chairs aren’t great for the providers. I go through different chairs from temping, and I can say a lot of offices don’t invest in chairs sadly. I rather choose to stand and clean if the chair isn’t comfortable for me to sit. And, I do just hang the suction on one side of the pt’s mouth during cleaning. I rarely use Releaf/Dryshield suction, but I should definitely use them more often.

Hey! It’s coming so soon! I know the senior year is a lot to handle, but don’t worry too much. It will all pass and you’ll do well:) And, I won the health department award if I remember correctly🤔. But, congratulations! Thank you for keeping up with my videos and viewing them🤍.

@@anatherstory You're amazing, Ana!! I can't wait to be where you are. 🥰 Also, I dug through my phone and I actually found your number from when I first texted you about your porta-sim stand haha. I'd love to shoot you a message if I ever needed to get in contact with you if that's okay!

It’s gonna come really fast, trust me. And of course! Reach out to me anytime:)

Your routine is fascinating to me. I never thought about what it would be like day-to-day for a hygienist. Had a dentist in the family but she passed early in her career. Thanks for sharing. 💜

@firelakie thanks for watching!:)

Luckily I have Ergo loupes. For sure, this keeps me away from getting back & neck pain. So if you can, try to invest. I know a lot of hygienists go see chiropractors/therapists or get massages frequently (once or twice a week). And personally, I don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome yet but my wrists can get sore when piezo/cavitron units are very week and the patient has tenacious + heavy tartar build ups. It can also get sore from pulling out the patient’s tight/strong cheek. I try to be cautious and relax & reset my body. And I make sure to do wrist rocking motion to prevent injuries! Hope this helps:)

Try to go over the ppts before taking the exams and always study for the subjects/competencies questions on each chapter:)

Hey! Small world, glad to hear from you! Hope your senior year goes well, you are almost there:)

I’m so nervous, aaah! I’ve been hearing so much about the fall semester 🥲 If you don’t mind, I’d love to be able to keep in contact with you throughout the semester just to get your insight on things. 💖💖

Don’t be nervous! You’ll do just great:) And of course!

Hi! Yes, you could check out my other videos regarding DH school advice and how to study:)

Sounds like you had an amazing day lol

You are not required to work full 5 days and you can pick the days you want to work for.

Hi! Thank you for liking the videos:) Let me go ahead and answer the questions: 1. No, I don’t recall any interviews before getting accepted. But there will be two meetings that you’ll have to go when getting accepted. One is for Top 50 students to introduce you to the program, and they will eventually cut it to 18-22 students I believe. 2. The curriculum can be somewhat overwhelming. But if you have the basics to dentistry, first semester could be easy to follow than other students who have no knowledge at all. But anywhere after that, everyone should be in the same page and can be challenging! You’ll have to manage your time and skills really well. 3. TCC professors are really helpful and approachable. Or at least it was when I was there. Hopefully my professors are still there! If you show them the effort you put in and their advice, they will guide you all the way through. You should apply if you are interested in DH career. Very rarely I see students dropping out because they are just too grossed out of seeing people’s mouth. I recommend shadowing DHs at a local dental office or working as an assistant to look more closely, but not necessarily. Hope this helps!

@@anatherstory Thank you so much for responding in great detail. I will take and use this advice in the future. Your videos give good insight and inspire me to keep going on my DH journey. Keep the wonderful videos coming Ana. I wish you well in your career and life!!!

Thank you so much!😊

I was 27 when I started the hygiene school and graduated when I was 29. I would have started earlier (at your age) if I knew I would like it this much:)

​@anatherstory Hii, this is such a stupid question, but did you take prerequisite classes beforehand? (bio, science, etc.) I thought I could get enrolled into dental school immediately after graduation from highschool but I haven't done my research 😅 pretty lost right now haha

Hi! Yes, you’ll need to take pre-reqs in order to apply to those programs. Schools might be slightly different with their requirements, so you should look into that and talk to academic advisors:)

@anatherstory thank you so much!! Thanks for that!!

Thank you so much! Love being a RDH😊

I did have both last year and I don’t think there’s a huge difference for us

Thank you for watching my video😊. And yes, I’ll say I love the flexibility so much!

Ooo thanks for sharing

Hi! I am not quiet sure about that exam. You should try reaching out to the school advisor so that they can guide you on what you need. This may be used as an additional source if you haven’t seen it. jcnde.ada.org/en/inbde

네! gu_anastasis 입니다:)

I just started picking up some shifts from OnDiem due to one of my temp offices wanting to switch to that agency. They do taxes for you! In Texas it’s in the gray area, but still allowed (I think). I had no problem working with 1099 last year as a temp hygienist. But, working through agencies that do taxes for you is convenient. I would say the only down side is that the rates are mostly set.

Hey there! So, our school only used Eaglesoft and that’s what I’ve only used as an assistant prior to hygiene school too. After I started temping I’ve been seeing many other softwares and I am now comfortable using 4-5 different softwares. Many offices that I’ve been going to use Eaglesoft, Dentrix, OpenDental, Carestack, and Curve. It takes time, but only the first couple times are rough lol. I mostly learned during my shift since I was too lazy to watch UA-cam videos. And my weakness is Dentrix😂

Hey! Thank you for liking the videos! And so excited for your journey as well:) I started doing videos because there was no info about hygiene back then. I was and still is camera shy! 😂

Hey there! This will be my first year to go through that. After it’s done, I will try to share the experience:)

I actually think it’s a great experience to see what dentistry is (trying out whether it works out for you or not) through working as an assistant overall, but it’s not necessary!

I will try to upload my next video about that!:)

I guess it really depends on who we see and whether they have heavy build ups or not. I introduce myself to patients when they come in, go straight into cc and medical hx, take bp, take xrays, perio chart or spot probe, review their status of the gum health, clean teeth, ane have doctor’s exam. There’s a trick that my professor taught me, if you don’t see a lot of tartars and see heavy plaques, start off by using a polisher to remove the plaques around the gum line. It helps the clinician to visualize better. Also, just try not be stressed. Like I mentioned in the video, try to do your notes and schedule the next recall appointment while waiting for doctors to come in. Hope it helps:)

Hey there! That’s crazy! I feel like I see many comments that they are from Dallas area. Well, I’m gonna say that your school is beautiful! Loved how things were upgraded. I do not remember the name of the chief examiner, but it was an older male. He was so great, making us to relax and stress free by joking around and calming us down. Hope you guys have him again!