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Dental Hygiene Career Paths

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is proud to partner with the Texas Higher Education Board in helping students develop and build on skills employers value and seek out in job candidates.

Master of Science in Dental Hygiene Marketable Skills:

General Skills
1. Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. 
2. 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. 
3. Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. 
4. Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
5. Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
6. Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Physical Skills
1. Finger Dexterity — The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. 
2. Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
3. Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
4. Control Precision — The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Practice-Based Skills
1. Treat dental problems or diseases.
2. Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries.
3. Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
4. Record patient medical histories.
5. Examine mouth, teeth, gums, or related facial structures.
6. Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment.
7. Process x-rays or other medical images.
8. Administer anesthetics or sedatives to control pain.

Possible Career Options

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the field is expected to grow. Opportunities for graduates include leadership roles, education, marketing, sales and research.

Your future can include positions with: 

  • Colleges and universities: Associate, Bachelor, and Graduate Level educators and administrators.
  • Hospitals with dental programs:
  • Programs that utilize expanded scope-of-practice. 
  • Public health agencies: Be part of agencies that improve the oral health of the underserved. 
  • Insurance companies: Reviewing dental hygiene claims.
  • Pharmaceutical companies: Become a representative or move into the sales force for products.
  • Corporations: Leadership skills move the student forward in the corporate environment.
  • Dental Product Sales

The Office of Career Development

UT Health San Antonio graduate students have access to the GSBS Office of Career Development (OCD). The OCD provides career and professional development training opportunities including individual meetings/career counseling, workshops & seminars. The OCD also works with the Graduate School’s Career Advisory Council and provides career exploration talks. The OCD provides graduate students a framework to discover next steps in their career along with resources to encourage and prepare graduate students for the future.

 

 

Dental Hygiene