Dental Hygienists
Career Description
Dental Hygienists are regulated health care professionals whose work focuses on the oral health of an individual or a community. Dental hygienists are involved in a variety of key responsibility areas related to dental hygiene practice (e.g., clinical, education, health promotion, administration, research).
In their practice, dental hygienists assess, diagnose, and treat oral health conditions through the provision of therapeutic, educational, and preventive dental hygiene services and strategies to promote wellness. Dental hygienists work in a variety of settings including interdisciplinary health centres, dental practices community health, continuing care facilities, independent dental hygiene clinics, or mobile practices and provide in home oral health care.
Academic and Licensing Requirements
There is both a Diploma program as well as a Bachelors program. For admission into the Diploma program, one must have completed:
- 5 full year university classes
- Statistics
For the Bachelors program, one must have completed:
- the Diploma of Dental Hygiene program
- an additional year of study
Upon completion of the educational requirements, one must write the Canadian National Dental Hygiene Certification Exam.
A person who wishes to work as a dental hygienist in Nova Scotia must be registered with the College of Dental Hygienists of Nova Scotia (CDHNS).
Upon fulfilling the requirements of registration one will be issued a practicing license.