Hygienist vs therapist

The differences between hygienists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a hygienist has an average salary of $83,134, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a hygienist include patients, oral health and patient education. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Hygienist vs therapist overview

	Hygienist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$83,134	$55,943
Hourly rate	$39.97	$26.90
Growth rate	11%	17%
Number of jobs	13,991	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	42	41
Years of experience	-	-

What does a hygienist do?

The Hygienist is a specialist in the promotion of clean conditions for the preservation of health. They work in various environments, from factories and building sites to offices.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Hygienist vs therapist salary

Hygienists and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Hygienist	Therapist
Average salary	$83,134	$55,943
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $116,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	Petaluma, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Private Practice	Childhelp
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between hygienist and therapist education

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

	Hygienist	Therapist
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Dental Assisting	Psychology
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	California State University - Long Beach

Hygienist vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between hygienists' and therapists' demographics:

	Hygienist	Therapist
Average age	42	41
Gender ratio	Male, 15.2% Female, 84.8%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 74.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	12%

Differences between hygienist and therapist duties and responsibilities

Hygienist example responsibilities.

Manage construction and demolition nationwide.
Perform oral prophylaxis and periodontal maintenance therapy for adult and geriatric patients with active periodontal disease.
Provide oral prophylactics and scaling and root planing on adults.
Perform oral prophylaxis, root planing, and soft tissue management.
Participate in several OSHA inspections for field and plants location from employee complaints.
Accelerate patient care includes prophylaxis, radiographs, SRP, anesthesia and fluoride.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Hygienist vs therapist skills

Common hygienist skills

Patients, 43%
Oral Health, 9%
Patient Education, 6%
Clinical Findings, 6%
Planing, 5%
Aspen, 5%

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Hygienist
Hygienist vs Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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