When you have a dental hygienist position open in your organization, your goal is to fill it with top talent as quickly as possible. This means writing a high-quality job description that not only outlines the details of the job but also sells the applicant on your organization’s mission and culture. You can quickly write a sub-par job description, but this will attract unqualified applicants or those who don’t fully understand the expectations of the position. You will save time in the long run by taking the effort and time to write a strong job posting. What follows is an example of a well-written dental hygienist job description sample.
Dental Hygienist Job Summary
Dental hygienists work alongside dentists to meet the oral health needs of patients. They provide preventive dental care and educate patients on ways to maintain and improve good oral health.
Dental Hygienist Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Prepare treatment room by adhering to protocols and procedures
- Select equipment and material by examining the oral health of the patient
- Prepare patients for treatment by welcoming, seating, draping, and soothing patient
- Maintain instrumentation by sterilizing, sharpening, and selecting instruments
- Apply fluoride and other agents to prevent cavities
- Clean patients’ teeth using a variety of methods and tools
- Prepare and take dental x-rays
- Detect disease by examining gums, screening for oral cancer, and assessing levels of periodontal disease
- Prepare and administer treatment plans
- Educate patients about good oral hygiene including plaque control and postoperative instructions
- Administer anesthetics
- Prepare fillings
- Polish and smooth dental restorations, fabricate temporary restorations, and remove cement from bridges and crowns
- Document services by recording dental histories and recording visits in patient’s chart
- Maintain clean and safe working environment by complying with regulations, rules, and procedures
- Maintain dental supplies inventory by checking stock and placing orders
- Maintain patient confidentiality
Dental Hygienist Job Requirements
- Associate degree in dental hygiene
- Dental hygienist state license
- Basic life support certification
- Maintain annual HIPAA, Infection Control, and OSHA training as required by law
- Ability to use a variety of dental technologies
- Good finger and manual dexterity
- Steadiness of arm and hand
- Control precision
- Caring bedside manner
- Good verbal and written communication skills
- Positive demeanor and attitude
- Good professional and grooming image
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
Company Profile
Anderson Dentistry has been providing family, cosmetic, and preventive dentistry for years. Our office is a fun-loving environment that creates a festive, positive, and warm atmosphere for not only our patients but also for our staff. We consider staff to be family, and we throw periodic activities to reward and inspire all of our members. We are looking for a positive individual who wants to join a team of like-minded individuals.
Best Practices When Writing a Job Description
- The above is a good example of what a dental hygienist job description sample should look like, however there may be times when you don’t have an outline to go by. The following will outline some of the major guidelines to make sure you find the best qualified candidates.
- Use direct and action-based language to give applicants an understandable view of the responsibilities and qualifications. Upon reading, candidates should have a good idea of what a typical day would look like.
- Use bullet points when listing the job responsibilities and qualifications. This makes it easy to skim and read, keeping a candidate’s attention for a longer period of time.
- This is your opportunity to share the culture and environment of your company. Share your vision and goals, the size of the company, additional employee perks, and anything that may motivate or inspire an applicant to apply.
- At the end of the description, make it clear how to apply. Encourage applicants to email or mail in their resume and include the correct address.
- Check with your company’s policy about posting benefit and salary information. This may be better suited to bring up during the interview process.
- Make sure you proofread and spell check your job description before posting it. You want to appear as professional as the candidates you are trying to attract, and having a top-notch description is important.
Dental Hygienist Job Responsibilities
Your goal when writing the responsibilities section in your dental hygienist job description is to strike a delicate balance. If you portray the job as too accessible, you will have to sort through many unqualified applicants’ resumes. However, if you paint the barrier of entry too high, even those talented professions you are after will not apply. The dental hygienist job responsibilities section is largely responsible for managing this aspect, so carefully consider everything you include.
This section is best formatted as a list of bullet points. You should include 6-8 bullets, which is not too short and not too long. Another good formatting standard that you should adhere to is making the first word of each bullet point a strong action verb. The following sample entries provide examples of both good choices of verbs and how to write a strong responsibility criterion for your dental hygienist job description.
- Prepare patients for dental work, taking x-rays, completing cursory examination and making assessments for needed dental work
- Remove plaque and tartar from teeth effectively, gently and thoroughly
- Document patient care, billing and dental information and treatment plans
- Interact with patients, providing information, reassuring them, answering inquiries and educating them about proper dental health practices
Dental Hygienist Job Specifications
When describing the dental hygienist job specifications in your job description, it is a good strategy to split them into two categories. By listing mandatory requirements and preferred qualities separately it is easier for candidates to understand what the expectations are to be seriously considered for the position. This will encourage those who are truly a good fit for the job to apply while discouraging unqualified applicants. Be sure to speak with your superiors to fully understand what qualities are must-haves and which can be more lenient.
It is easy to assume that the job qualifications and skills section is the least important in the dental hygienist job description. While it is the shortest section the posting, it is also one of the most important. This is precisely because it has so much control over whether or not an individual candidate decides to submit an application.
The following examples include both sample mandatory and preferred qualifications. Review them to be better prepared to write your dental hygienist job description.
- Completion of a dental health process required
- Must be fully certified to practice dental health and operate dental equipment
- 2 years of experience working as a dental hygienist or dental assistant
- Strong communication skills and bedside manner