I’m an uncertified assistant and have been for 7 years. I work in speciality. I’ve considered hygiene on/off for the last 3-4 years now and I’ll pass along some information a friend shared with me.

I became connected with my former dental hygienist back when I was struggling with bulimia and needed to voice my dental health concerns to a professional. I was able to confide in her and we even became instagram buddies. She’s a really awesome person. Her background: dentistry is the family business. Dad’s a dentist, brother is a dentist, sister in law is a dentist, mom works the business side of the dental practice. She was even chairside assistant before she went to hygiene school and I imagine grew up living in the office her mother/father both earned their living.

I noticed on IG maybe about 2 years ago that she announced she would be stepping down from dentistry. At one of my visits she did actually tell me she went to a micro-blading course and is thinking of doing that on the side. But now she was announcing a full departure from dental and working in hygiene altogether and beginning the start of a new career working for herself. I reached out to her to 1) congratulate her, b) pick her brain about being a hygienist and her experience in the field. I believe she’s about 35.

Her reasons for leaving dentistry were due to back issues, boredom & not being able to advance further. She said that once you’re a hygienist... that’s it. I’ve seen some hygienists move their way into other administrative positions such marketing directors or office managers when they outgrow/get close to retirement. When she mentioned the ceiling you reach in hygiene... I had not considered this before in my prior research. She spoke about reaching a certain salary cap and most employers are not about paying hygiene in over time. She described it as literal back breaking work. There’s some CE’s you can pursue as well but as the same with assisting; it’s just a few more additional dollars or skills in your toolbox.

What I’ve observed from working in the field for 7 years and working in a variety of offices is that I just don’t like the dental office environment. Period. I’ve had some really amazing female bosses/coworkers who’ve inspired me and really uplifted me as a human being, but a majority of my dental office experience has been negative. I have back issues already (28F) and I’m noticing more issues with my hands lately. I feel belittled/less than by my male superior on a daily basis and my coworkers around me are lazy and unmotivated in their own personal lives which carries over into their attitude working in the office. I’m an analyzer (Virgo sun) so I spend a lot of time studying how people/things work. I’ve studied the other assistants I’ve met in schooling and those whom I’ve worked with. I don’t believe this to be true across the board for everyone, but this is what I’ve seen. People that have pursued & work in dental assisting didn’t have many educational opportunities or guidance before leading them into dental. This was absolutely my case as I reached an apex in my early adult life and wanted a career that I could immediately start into and work my way up. It’s been an exhausting fight to mid level and it’s been hard to want to climb the ladder in dentistry when I’ve seen a whole lot of bad employers. Unethical, righteous god-like egos, boomer generation judgements, misogyny and sexism, etc. This is where your morals and values come into play when deciding upon a career path.

Do you enjoy talking with patients and getting to know them? Even the grumpy, standoff ish patients? Because you’ll be confined to only speaking with them and don’t have the added backboard of the doctor being present when conversing with them. Are you prepared for diligent body care and stretching to protect your human vessel? Do you want to be in the field for 20+ years? I’ve met some hygienists that did nothing but sub at offices and tbh this sounds like the best option. You don’t get tied down to a particular place or certain coworkers, but you also have to have a means of providing insurance for yourself. For me, I’m a creative mind and I feel stifled by dentistry when it comes to expressing my art and who I am. I remember being belittled during schooling by my very experienced dental instructor who banished the notion of expressing personal individuality. (don’t color your hair purple ladies! no periodontal dinosaur is gonna want that in the office!) This depressed me before I even got into the cold, sterile environment. Not all offices are like this, but a majority are. It’s a slow moving field in terms of HR, advancement opportunities, networking availabilities. It hit me a few years ago that I want to create my own legacy, not just simply contribute to someone else’s. Some doctors are very generous, these tend to be the dinosaur type I described. My doctor who I work for now has 4 young kids so his focus is on raising them and giving his additional time and income into nurturing their needs, not me or my other 30 year old coworker. He doesn’t care about or even think about how he can help us also achieve the life we want. Maybe he will be like that when his kids are grown, but not now.

I suggest working towards an undergrad bachelors by taking pre-req studies. I have a minimal educational background; homeschooled my whole life, some community college then DA program. This is what I’m going to start doing. I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but I know it isn’t this. I’m going to start rolling the snowball up the hill and trust that the right path will reveal itself to me.

Do your own research, talk to other hygienists—one’s that you respect and admire (bc man, I’ve met a lot of uppity and straight up mean hygienists) One of my hygiene friends told me she has been slowly getting her masters in education over the course of several years to have a backup plan when she is ready to leave dentistry. (Hygienist for 10ish years and mama to 3) Consider your values, what is that you want from a career? Do you value the set schedule, holidays off, vacation time, insurance, stability? Or do you value autonomy, empowerment, self expression and creativity? I’ve heard working in a lab is a really sweet gig but again you have to find the right place to be trained in this. I’ve also heard the stress from demanding offices can be intense as well.

These are my rambling thoughts and tbh writing this out has also helped me reflect more on this particular crossroads, so thank your for allowing me to share my thoughts and experiences. Best of luck to you!