Dental Hygienists
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Job description
These individuals provide dental hygiene treatment and teach measures to prevent oral diseases and conditions. They use, under the guidance of a dentist, scientific methods for the control and prevention of such conditions. They work in:
- Dental offices
- Hospitals
- Educational institutions
- Private industries
- Government agencies
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Equipment, machinery, tools
- Hazardous chemical
- Biological agents
- Odours
- Humidity
- Radiation
- Noise
- Violence
Main tasks
- Assess clients’ oral condition.
- Re-evaluate oral condition during and after dental hygiene procedures, treatments, and care.
- Take impressions of teeth and make a mouth guard from the impressions, as required.
- Plan dental hygiene treatments based on assessment, diagnosis, and prognosis.
- Advising clients on oral hygiene.
- Clean and stimulate the gums and remove stains and tartar to prevent disease and cavities.
- Perform restorative dentistry or orthodontic procedures under the direction of a dentist.
- Supervise dental assistants.
- Doing record keeping.
- Perform a variety of oral procedures such as
- Topically apply desensitizing substances.
- Remove stitches and periodontal dressings.
- Proceed with supra- and subgingival scaling.
- Take X-rays.
Hourly wage
The hourly wage is calculated by averaging wages from 2022 to 2024.- Minimum
- $29.00
- Median
- $38.00
- Maximum
- $45.00
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Les 2 champs de sélection ci-dessous vous permettent de comparer 2 régions. Les données des régions seront automatiquement mises à jour à la sélection. Par défaut, la province de Québec est sélectionnée pour la première région.
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Job prospects
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Very good
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available
Total jobs for 2023
All of Québec
6,000
All of Québec
na
Gender distribution
All of Québec
Not available.
- 97.4% Female
- 2.6% Male
Not available.
- 97.4% Female
- 2.6% Male
Job types
All of Québec
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Yearly wage on 2020
All of Québec
$48,400
All of Québec
Other characteristics
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
Sectors of activity
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 621, 622, 62397% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 55, 560% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 450% of jobs
-
NAICS 910% of jobs
-
Others2% of jobs
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 621, 622, 62397% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 55, 560% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 450% of jobs
-
NAICS 910% of jobs
-
Others2% of jobs
Training and requirements
Formation
Most training programs are offered in French only.
College
Also required
- Membership in the Ordre des hygiénistes dentaires du Québec (OHDQ [Quebec Order of Dental Hygienists]).
- Licence in good standing with the OHDQ.
Sometimes required
- Knowledge of the existing IT system may be required or an asset.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Oral expression
- Active listening
- Critical thought
- Information processing
- Result evaluation
- Written expression
- Judgment and decision-making
- Service oriented
- Social perception
- Active learning
- Reading comprehension
- Coordination
- Teaching
- Time management
- Persuasion
Abilities
- Awareness of issues
- Near vision
- Oral comprehension
- Verbal skills
- Digital dexterity
- Hand-arm stability
- Speech clarity
- Deductive reasoning
- Speech recognition
- Selective attention
- Written comprehension
- Manual dexterity
- Written expression
- Control accuracy
- Inductive reasoning
- Classification
- Information organization
- Time sharing
Knowledge and attributes
- Spoken and written bilingualism (French and English)
- Knowledge of customer and personalized services
- Capacity to work in a team
- Attention to detail
- Capacity to be discrete
- Vitality
- Friendliness
- Assiduity and punctuality
- Impeccable appearance
- Patience
- Knowledge of medicine or dentistry
Interests
- Direct, organize, and manage
- Draft, communicate, and inform
- Work in sales or client service
- Create, design
- Carry out research
- Work manually
- Assist and advise
- Collect, verify, sort, and classify data or information
- Conduct tests and trials, control processes
- Teach or educate
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Investigative
- People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
- Realistic
- People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
Official name of the NOC 32111
Dental hygienists and dental therapists
Job titles
- Dental hygienist
- Expanded duty dental hygienist
- Restorative dental hygienist
- Orthodontic hygienist
- Community dental hygienist
Skill type
Health
Last update: January 29, 2026
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