How hard is it to find a job as a dental hygienist?
It depends on the area that you are looking at working in. Some areas have a higher demand than others. You will probably not have much of a problem finding work on a part-time basis, most of the hygienists that I know work part time at several offices. Some dentists like having assistants that work and move up to a hygienist position. Others do not like to spend the time training an assistant who will leave or work a reduced schedule after they start school. I am currently in a dental hygiene program and the hours are not flexible. We go to school during the day while most dentists offices are open. And as you know most of these programs do not offer a part-time option. Why am I saying this; because it might be difficult to find a part-time job and go to school if you are limiting yourself to a dentists office. Your choice of dental hygiene is a stable one and depending on the area that you live in it could be a very lucrative one. Good Luck.
Is a dental hygienist a good job or what?
What you have found in your research is true. There are very few jobs in an economic recession for dental hygienists. When people lose their jobs they stop getting their teeth cleaned if they lose their dental insurance. Therefore there are now too many hygienists and not enough jobs. AND after graduating I found out that most hygienists are MARRIED women with kids who are looking for a part time career and they dont need benefits cause they have their husband's insurance. Most dentists DO NOT hire new hygiene grads cause they want "work experience" in the dental field. I highly suggest you become a RN, a dentist or another health care career because you might end up unemployed or underemployed. I have been a hygienist for 3 years in New England and still am barely working! Most dentists do NOT offer health insurance, do not give sick days or vacation days, and many offices now are open Saturdays and evening hours on weekdays. And the old hygienists don't want those jobs. So most of the job openings are only 1 or 2 days and usually asking for someone to work evenings (like 1pm to 8pm) or Saturdays which are terrible hours to have. Do NOT become a hygienist unless you are on your husband's insurance and only need to work 1 or 2 days a week.
Is becoming a dental hygienist worth it?
I have been going to school since Fall of 2014. I started working on my prerequisites and some of my general classes needed for an AS degree. I have about 5 classes left but I have to take 1 at a time. So basically I have 2 years left. Then I have to apply to a hygiene program and if I am even accepted right away it's going to be 2 more years of school. I would also need a $20,000 loan and the school I would go to is 2 hours away from home. So I would be driving about 4 hours each day PLUS studying for school. I'm not too worried about the whole school thing but many people have said that hygiene is so populated right now. I have kept an eye out on local hiring sites and I have only seen 3-5 new hygiene jobs in the past few months. And they aren't even full time positions. They are temporary positions or 1 day a week. I've also heard hygienists suffer from back pain and carpel tunnel. I'm just torn because if I did graduate and I was able to find a good job I could make really good money! I'm just not sure if it's worth the risk...