Dental officer vs dental hygienist

The differences between dental officers and dental hygienists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a dental officer has an average salary of $88,980, which is higher than the $88,432 average annual salary of a dental hygienist.

The top three skills for a dental officer include patients, oral surgery and dentures. The most important skills for a dental hygienist are patients, patient care, and CPR.

Dental officer vs dental hygienist overview

	Dental Officer	Dental Hygienist
Yearly salary	$88,980	$88,432
Hourly rate	$42.78	$42.52
Growth rate	8%	11%
Number of jobs	77,189	24,234
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Associate Degree, 71%
Average age	38	42
Years of experience	2	-

Dental officer vs dental hygienist salary

Dental officers and dental hygienists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dental Officer	Dental Hygienist
Average salary	$88,980	$88,432
Salary range	Between $60,000 And $131,000	Between $56,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	-	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	-	Rhode Island
Best paying company	-	Bonita
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between dental officer and dental hygienist education

There are a few differences between a dental officer and a dental hygienist in terms of educational background:

	Dental Officer	Dental Hygienist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Associate Degree, 71%
Most common major	Advanced Dentistry And Oral Sciences	Dental Assisting
Most common college	-	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Dental officer vs dental hygienist demographics

Here are the differences between dental officers' and dental hygienists' demographics:

	Dental Officer	Dental Hygienist
Average age	38	42
Gender ratio	Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6%	Male, 6.9% Female, 93.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 10.2% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	4%	7%

Differences between dental officer and dental hygienist duties and responsibilities

Dental officer example responsibilities.

Provide comprehensive dental care for diverse patients
Admit patients and attend to their in-patient dental emergencies
Assist in oral surgery under local and twilight anesthesia in a private practice setting.Primary IV starter and administer anesthetics on command.
Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and operate resuscitation equipment.

Dental hygienist example responsibilities.

Assist dentist to manage dental and medical emergencies by maintaining CPR certification.
Assist front office with eligibility interviews and inputting information of future patients into Dentrix computer system.
Perform all the same duties as a dental hygienist under the supervision of a RDH.
Enter all services render, treatment plan and suggest into DENTRIX computer system; including clinical charting.
Develop a course plan, instruction materials, and curriculum goals for students as a didactic instructor for radiology.
Sterilize surgical instrument trays, set up and operate ultrasonice cleaners, maintain and operate autoclaves, assemble surgical trays.

Dental officer vs dental hygienist skills

Common dental officer skills

Patients, 39%
Oral Surgery, 13%
Dentures, 12%
Dental Program, 9%
Infection Control, 6%
Dental Services, 5%

Common dental hygienist skills

Patients, 30%
Patient Care, 13%
CPR, 10%
Medical History, 5%
Infection Control, 5%
Work Ethic, 4%

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Dental Officer
Dental Officer vs Dental Hygienist

Updated January 8, 2025

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