Dental Hygiene

Types of Degrees Dental Hygiene Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many dental hygiene/hygienist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	5,512
Bachelor’s Degree	2,388
Basic Certificate	327
Master’s Degree	89
Undergraduate Certificate	67
Graduate Certificate	2

What Dental Hygiene Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to dental hygiene were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Dental Hygiene Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in dental hygiene should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Skills for Dental Hygiene Majors

When studying dental hygiene, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Dental Hygiene Majors

As a dental hygiene major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Dental Hygiene Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with dental hygiene:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Dental Hygienists	19.7%	$74,820
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Hygiene?

This major is dominated by women with about 95% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of dental hygiene majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	194
Black or African American	106
Hispanic or Latino	409
White	1,487
International Students	28
Other Races/Ethnicities	164

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Dental Hygiene. About 1.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Dental Hygiene

Some degrees associated with dental hygiene may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to dental hygiene have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	53.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	18.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	12.6%
Doctoral Degree	8.7%
Post-Doctoral Training	6.7%

Online Dental Hygiene Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	8	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	7	0
Associate’s Degree	291	4
Bachelor’s Degree	1	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	17	4
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Dental Hygiene

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to dental hygiene.

Major	Number of Grads
Dental Assisting/Assistant	16,340
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician	243
Other Dental Services & Allied Professions	72

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.