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Dental Hygiene

Wallace State’s programs boast a top-notch reputation with an outstanding 90 percent licensure rate and excellent job placement rates, small class sizes and an award-winning faculty.  Choose Wallace State’s Dental Hygiene degree for a career in a highly-rewarding, high-demand field at a fraction of the cost of attending a university.  And if you do choose to continue your education, you’ll be two years ahead on an advanced degree, with employment potential and cost savings to boot.  

Discover your story in Dental Hygiene at Wallace State!       

About the Program

As a practicing member of the dental health team, the dental hygienist acts as an educator and motivator in maintenance of oral health and prevention of dental disease.

Hygienists are in demand in general dental practices, as well as in specialty practices such as periodontics or pediatric dentistry. Hygienists may also be employed to provide dental hygiene services for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, and public health clinics. Dental hygienists remove soft and hard deposits from teeth, teach patients how to practice good oral hygiene, and provide other preventive dental care. Hygienists examine patients’ teeth and gums, recording the presence of diseases or abnormalities. They remove tartar, stains, and plaque from teeth; perform root planing as a periodontal therapy; take and develop dental x-rays; and apply cavity-preventive agents such as fluorides and pit and fissure sealants. In some states, hygienists administer anesthetics; place and carve filling materials, temporary fillings, and periodontal dressings; remove sutures; and smooth and polish metal restorations. Although hygienists may not diagnose diseases, they can prepare clinical and laboratory diagnostic tests for the dentist to interpret. Hygienists sometimes work chairside with the dentist during treatment.

Dental Hygiene Program Information

Program Application

*Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama and The Caring Foundation provided equipment in support of this program.