29-1292.00 · Task explorer
Dental Hygienists: reported tasks and exploration worksheet
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.
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Read the task inventory
This source lists 16 tasks, including 14 marked Core and 2 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.
Task source dates: 08/2021.
16 tasks shown
Core · Task 18536 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Record and review patient medical histories.
Core · Task 417 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
Core · Task 421 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
Core · Task 416 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
Core · Task 18537 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
Core · Task 418 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
Core · Task 422 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Expose and develop x-ray film.
Core · Task 23921 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.
Core · Task 420 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.
Core · Task 18538 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.
Core · Task 18539 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Maintain patient recall system.
Core · Task 419 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.
Core · Task 427 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Administer local anesthetic agents.
Core · Task 424 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.
Supplemental · Task 428 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.
Supplemental · Task 425 · 08/2021 · Incumbent
Make impressions for study casts.
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Source and practice material
Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.
Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.