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Dental Hygienist School in Pennsylvania – PA

By an allied health world contributing writer
Published: January 11th, 2010

The American Dental Association (ADA) Commission on Dental Accreditation approves associates and bachelor’s degree programs in dental hygiene. A bachelor’s degree will offer you a wider range of courses and also open doors should you choose to teach or take an administrative position. Associates degrees typically take two years to complete, as opposed to four for a B.S. Both degrees will involve a set of prerequisite courses that include nutrition, biology, anatomy and chemistry.

There are master’s degree programs for those who want to teach, research, or administrate in the dental hygiene field. Incidentally, almost all dental hygiene students are female, according to the American Dental Hygienist’ Association (ADHA). There are a variety of dental hygienist schools in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Dental Hygienist Continuing Education Requirements

Dental hygienists must have their license renewed in every odd-numbered year. Among the requirements are that you take a certain number of continuing education courses, of which at least half must be in lecture or clinical presentations. The remainder can be through individual study, such as home-based, or video or online classes. Hygienists must take 20 hours of continuing education credits.

Through campus based and online programs, aspiring Dental Hygienists in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie, Pennsylvania may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Albert Einstein Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Saint Luke's Hospitals and Temple University Hospital.

Source: Pennsylvania Dental Association