Tips for Veterans to Find Work in the Dental Industry

Tips for Veterans to Find Work in the Dental Industry

Coming home and making the big transition to a civilian job can be difficult, but there are ways to work in the industry of your choice or an industry you’ve had an interest in, in general. The first thing you will need to focus on is getting ready for a civilian life, which you can do by following these tips.

As a veteran, it’s also important that you know about dental care resources for veterans, which can help any patients you see who are veterans who may require help in the future.

Preparing Your Skills and Learning the Job

Knowing which skills you will need to use, and learn if need be, will help you to be ready and start as soon as possible.

Listed below are the skills needed to be a dental assistant:

·       Keeping patient records accurate and up to date

·       Ensuring the workplace is clean, sterilized, and safe for patients

·       Instructing patients specifically on their oral hygiene, how they can improve, etc.

·       Information on dental radiography as well as preventive dentistry

·       Ways they can help prevent oral infections from forming at home

Veterans can also easily become a dental hygienist, as well, which will require you to do the following:

·       Remove plaque and stains from patient’s teeth

·       Take and develop x-rays

·       Apply materials and solutions that help protect patient’s teeth

·       Document treatment plans and overall patient care

·       Educate the patients on oral hygiene techniques and what they can do to better their oral health at home

Fortunately, going into the dental industry does not require an extensive amount of schooling – certainly not like a dentist would.

How to Become a Dental Assistant or Dental Hygienist

For starters, becoming a dental assistant will depend on the state you are living in and planning on working in. While certain states require you to graduate from one of the state’s accredited programs in order to become a certified dental assistant, other states allow dental assistants to learn on the job and get their training first-hand.

Becoming a dental hygienist, however, require that you have an associate degree in dental hygiene, at the very least. This type of degree will take you three years to fully complete. Though this may seem like a long time, you will learn clinical and laboratory studies that relate to dental hygiene, as well as learning experience within your classroom.

Every state requires that dental hygienists are licensed, but the requirements can be different in specifications through each state. For example, you may need to continue your education in dental hygiene in order to keep working and pass certain exams to prove your knowledge.

Taking the Steps Toward the Dental Industry

Though most believe it takes a long time to work in any aspect of the dental industry, it’s a lot easier than you may think at first glance.

For more information, or to enroll in a program to work toward an associate degree, take a look at the many schools for veterans to see what your options are.