The transition from dental hygiene school to a full-time RDH job in a dental practice can be quite the transition. In school, you have dedicated time to learn and practice your techniques, but in a dental office, you might only have 45 minutes per hygiene patient. You’re also learning a new office layout, new systems, and getting to know new team members.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed your first few weeks on the job, but with planning, confidence, and a big smile, you can get acclimated quickly to your new surroundings and ensure a long and successful career in dental hygiene.

Ask the right questions in the interview

To increase your chances of landing your dream job, remember to always be yourself and be professional. Don’t get too caught up in the do’s and don’ts of interviewing – just be confident in what you bring to the table.

When you’re interviewing for a new job, remember that this is an opportunity for you to interview your potential employer, too. Ask questions that will help you determine if you’re a good fit for the practice and if the practice is a good fit for you. What are the doctor’s expectations? What about your potential team members’ expectations? How flexible is your schedule? Are there opportunities for mentorship? What does the new patient process look like? Can you see yourself having healthy professional relationships with the doctor and team members?

Ask questions like these and carefully consider the answers. Ultimately, if the office environment doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. If an office doesn’t feel like the right fit for you, don’t force it – keep looking, and you’ll find where you need to be.

Cultivate relationships to acclimate quickly

Finding the right office for you is the first step – next, you’ll want to make yourself at home as quickly as possible so you can start providing stellar patient care. As you’re getting the lay of the land, don’t neglect your team members. The relationships you build with your doctor, dental assistants, and staff up front are crucial. The strength of these relationships will determine your success as a provider.

From the beginning, meet with the doctor and staff to have conversations about how you can work together and what is expected from you. It doesn’t have to be formal – take your team out to lunch, get them little goodies every so often, and connect with them as people. Understand their expectations of you, and communicate your expectations of them as well. Besides making your job easier, being on good terms with your team members will make the work environment a happy one for everybody.

Also remember to maintain the confidence that landed you the job. Be yourself – you made it through school and you have the proper skillset and training to be a great hygienist for your patients. That doesn’t mean you should pretend you know it all, though – don’t be afraid to ask for help from your team, and be open to suggestions and feedback. Your more experienced team members may have helpful feedback to streamline processes to help the office run smoothly.

Master your skills

Once you're settled in your new position, you can take steps to make sure you're set up for a long and successful career. For example, one of the things we struggled with the most as new hygienists was time management. In a school, environment, you have a lot of time to get everything done, but in a full-time hygienist role, that time is drastically shortened. Tricks like pre-auditing your charts in the morning or the day before, working with front office staff to build flexibility into your schedule, and communicating with your team if you're falling behind will all help immesnsely with time management.

As you get more comfortable in your new role, work on mastering your trade. Take advantage of development opportunities so you can conuously learn and grow while taking charge of your business. It's also important to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. We recommend using ergonomic equipment and instead of bottling up any negative emotions, talk to your team members if you're feeling overwhelmed. No one on your team wants to risk burnout, so staying a steap ahead of mental or physical exhaustion can ensure a happy and successful career.

Aspen Dental supports an incredible environment for new hygienists. As hygienists at Aspen Dental practices, we get to work hand-in-hand with doctors to create the best hygiene treatment plans for our patients. The doctors and staff we work with are committed to comprehensive dental care and making sure every patient gets the customized treatment they needs. We have significant flexibility in planning our schedules, which helps us ensure we're working productively and efficiently without sacrificing care quality.

Besides having access to the newest technology and training opportunities ranging from digital dentures to implants, working at an Aspen Dental practice also gives you access to an amazing community of hygienists who actively support one another.

As you're searching for your next career move, carefully consider the kind of culture you want to join. A happy, supportive, caring environment can go along way in enabling your success.

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Lindsay Stewart, RDH is the lead dental hygienist at the Aspen Dental® practice in Pooler, Georgia. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in business management, Lindsay realized she would rather work more closely with other people, so she switched to dental hygiene. She’s been a practicing hygienist for ten years, and loves coming into work every day to help patients achieve their best possible smiles.

Jaimie Ball, CRDH is the lead dental hygienist at the Aspen Dental practice in Boynton Beach, Florida. Jaimie has been a hygienist since 2015, after earning her BA and her AAS in dental hygiene. She enjoys her role as a hygiene trainer for new hygienists onboarding in the Palm Beach area. In addition to mentoring other hygiene professionals, Jaimie loves being able to educate patients about oral care.