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Dental Hygiene Resume Examples to Help You Succeed

Dental hygiene experts help people’s teeth stay healthy. Showcase your talents as a dental hygienist in your resume, using these resume samples.

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By Ho Lin 5 minute read

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Create a strong dental hygiene resume with these tips

A dental hygienist is a licensed dental professional, which covers a large range of professions and job opportunities. If you’re interested in landing a dental hygienist job or another position in dental hygiene, here’s everything you need to know about creating a resume, using these examples and tips.

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Jobs for dental hygiene resumes

Many jobs can benefit from a dental hygiene resume, including:

  • Preventative dentist
  • General dentistry
  • Registered dental hygienist
  • Dental assistant
  • Dental services
  • Dental clinic

In general, hiring managers will seek specific skills – some general, some unique – with all of these jobs. Use the guidance in this article to help create a professional dental hygiene resume.

How to write a dental hygienist resume

When writing your professional resume for the field of dental hygiene, you need to be perceived as proficient and knowledgeable in the industry. Here’s how to present your knowledge to recruiters and hiring managers.

Resume summary or objective

The first thing you showcase in any resume format will be your objective or summary. Provide a brief overview of your experience, your key skills and your best achievements. You can also mention your training as well as particular strengths in patient care.

Skills

The skills section is what hiring managers look at to see if you have the right abilities for the job. You will need to list both soft skills and technical skills on your resume. Consider these skills:

  • Fluoride treatments
  • Oral x-rays and digital x-rays
  • General help with oral health and oral hygiene
  • Periodontal charting and managing periodontal disease
  • Periodontal debridement (Including root planing)
  • Prophylaxis of dental disease
  • Preventative dental screenings
  • Usage of dental sealants
  • Educating patients on dental care and flossing
  • Dental cleanings
  • Creation of treatment plans
  • Dental treatment
  • Usage of Dentrix and Eaglesoft
  • Digital radiographs
  • Administration of local anesthesia and nitrous oxide
  • Identifying oral cancer
  • Pediatric tooth care
  • Sterilization of tools
  • Interpersonal skills

Select about four to six skills to feature in a chronological resume format or up to 12 skills in a combination resume or functional resume format.

Work Experience/Work History

Your work experience is an important part of meeting a hygienist job description. Remember to use action words to describe what work you’ve performed in the dental field – state “Educated patients” and “Managed patient records” to clearly highlight your abilities.

Education

In the education section include your academic accomplishments, whether you completed a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene degree or you are currently working towards an associate’s degree. Either way, your education and certification details are an important part of determining that you’re legally allowed to practice dental hygiene in the United States.

Certifications

All dental hygienists in the United States need licensure by the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination before they can practice. You may also choose to get another dental hygiene certification from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner. Listing these certifications in this section allows the hiring manager to see that you meet the job requirements.

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3 tips for creating your dental hygiene resume

Include these skills and tips even if you’re just beginning your dental career and applying to an entry-level position.

  1. Discuss specific elements of health care you were responsible for in previous jobs.
  2. If you helped administer teeth whitening and provided patient education, mention it on your resume.
  3. Include both soft skills and hard skills on your resume. Besides skills to provide dental services, you also need to provide good communication with your patients.
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FAQ: Dental hygiene resume examples

Have questions? We’re here to help.

Yes, it’s always a good idea to submit a cover letter with your resume. These cover letters allow you to showcase your biggest skills and request a job interview. Use the cover letter builder from ResumeHelp to help you write a professional cover letter quickly and easily.

Most candidates in the dental hygiene industry will have some sort of training, even if it’s not through paid work experience. If you’re a fresh graduate applying for your first-ever job, mention your education and training, and also list volunteer or internship work you’ve done if it features skills and achievements that connect with what the job needs.

It’s always important that you change up your dental hygiene resume when you apply to a new job posting because of resume keywords. Every job description will have specific resume keywords that the hiring manager is looking for in an applicant. If you can reflect those keywords in your resume, it will get recognized by applicant tracking systems (ATS). The ATS scans incoming resumes to make sure they meet certain criteria before a hiring manager looks at them.

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WRITTEN BY Ho Lin

Ho Lin is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and editor with two decades of experience in content strategy, creation, and development. He holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University and his background includes experience aiding military veterans as they transition to civilian careers.

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