Dental Hygienist Skills for a Resume

Practices hire hygienists who are thorough, gentle and good at helping patients look after their teeth at home. Show the procedures you perform, the duties your license permits and how many patients you see in a day.

Updated

14 skills at a glance

Hard skills

What the work takes, how a hiring manager judges each skill, and a bullet point that shows it.

  1. Prophylaxis and periodontal maintenance

    Give your daily patient load and the mix of adults, children and periodontal patients.

    Example bullet pointSaw eight to ten patients a day for cleanings and periodontal maintenance in a busy family practice.

  2. Scaling and root planing

    Show the volume and the results, such as shallower pockets at re-evaluation.

    Example bullet pointPerformed quadrant scaling and root planing and recorded the drop in pocket depths at six-week re-evaluations.

  3. Periodontal charting

    Accuracy and consistency matter. Mention that you chart at every recall.

    Example bullet pointCompleted full periodontal charting at every recall visit, helping the dentist spot disease earlier.

  4. Local anesthesia and nitrous oxide monitoring, where permitted

    Say which permits you hold. They let the practice book more treatment with you.

    Example bullet pointGave local anesthesia for deep cleanings under my state permit, so patients did not wait for the dentist.

  5. Dental radiography

    List the kinds of images you take, and your retake rate if it is low.

    Example bullet pointTook bitewings and full-mouth series on digital sensors with few retakes.

  6. Sealants and fluoride

    Mention children's care, and school or community programs if you have worked in them.

    Example bullet pointPlaced sealants and fluoride varnish for children at a school-based clinic serving 600 students.

  7. Oral cancer screening

    Show that you screen every patient and refer when needed.

    Example bullet pointScreened every adult patient for oral cancer and referred suspicious areas to the dentist the same day.

  8. Ultrasonic and hand instrumentation

    Mention both, and any advanced instruments you use.

    Example bullet pointUsed ultrasonic and hand instruments to remove heavy calculus while keeping patients comfortable.

  9. Practice software (Dentrix, Eaglesoft)

    Name the system and the tasks: charting, notes and recall scheduling.

    Example bullet pointWrote clinical notes and booked recalls in Eaglesoft before patients left the chair.

Soft skills

Shown through what you did, never claimed as adjectives.

  1. Gentle chairside manner

    Show it through patient comfort, and patients who ask for you by name.

    Example bullet pointBuilt a list of anxious patients who asked to book with me by name.

  2. Patient education

    Show what changed for patients after your advice.

    Example bullet pointCoached patients with gum disease on home care, and their bleeding scores improved by the next visit.

  3. Thoroughness

    Point to charting and screening done every time, not only when there is time.

    Example bullet pointUpdated medical histories at every visit, catching new medications that changed how treatment was planned.

  4. Time management

    Show that you stay on schedule without cutting care short.

    Example bullet pointKept a 50-minute recall schedule on time while completing full charting and X-rays.

  5. Building trust

    Show long-term relationships: patients who return and accept treatment.

    Example bullet pointRaised on-time recall visits by booking each patient's next cleaning before they left the chair.

Licenses and certifications

Give them a section of their own, with who issued each one and the year or expiry date.

  • Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) state license
  • National Board Dental Hygiene Examination
  • Local anesthesia permit
  • Basic Life Support (BLS)

Keywords from dental hygienist job postings

Use the ones that are true for you, in your bullet points as well as your skills list.

  • scaling and root planing
  • periodontal charting
  • local anesthesia
  • X-rays
  • patients a day
  • periodontal maintenance
  • oral cancer screening
  • cleanings

Each posting has its own words. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description shows how to find them and where to put them.

Where to put your skills

  • In a skills section: a short list of the hard skills the posting names, in its words.
  • In your bullet points: every skill that matters should show up in something you did, with a result. That is where a hiring manager believes it.
  • In your summary: two or three of the skills the job asks for most.

More on choosing them in how to choose and prove the skills on your resume.

Questions

What skills should a dental hygienist put on a resume?

Cleanings and periodontal maintenance, scaling and root planing, periodontal charting, X-rays, sealants and fluoride, oral cancer screening and practice software, plus the permits you hold, such as local anesthesia.

Should I say how many patients I see?

Yes. Patients a day is one of the first things a practice wants to know, together with the kind of patients you see.

How do I show soft skills as a hygienist?

Through results: patients who came back on time, improved their home care or chose to book with you again.

Put them to work

Start from a dental hygienist resume that already uses these skills, for an invented person, and make it yours in the builder.

Use this exampleRead the dental hygienist resume example