Top 12 Hygienist Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the competitive field of dental hygiene, distinguishing yourself through a well-crafted resume is essential. Highlighting the top hygienist skills on your resume not only showcases your proficiency but also demonstrates your commitment to providing exceptional oral care and patient service.
Hygienist Skills
- Periodontal Care
- Radiography (Digital X-rays)
- Prophylaxis
- Dental Software (Dentrix)
- Ultrasonic Scaling
- Patient Education
- Intraoral Camera
- Sterilization Techniques
- Sealant Application
- Fluoride Treatments
- Charting (Eaglesoft)
- Local Anesthesia
1. Periodontal Care
Periodontal care, in the context of a dental hygienist, involves preventive and therapeutic measures to maintain and restore the health of the gums and supporting structures of the teeth. This includes comprehensive assessment, scaling, root planing, and coaching patients on everyday habits that interrupt biofilm and halt disease.
Why It's Important
Periodontal care protects against tooth loss and the systemic ripple effects of chronic inflammation. Early detection, targeted therapy, and tailored maintenance keep gums stable, teeth in place, and patients healthier overall.
How to Improve Periodontal Care Skills
Sharper results come from a tight mix of assessment, technique, and follow-through:
Thorough diagnostics: Record full-chart periodontal metrics, bleeding/suppuration, mobility, recession, and furcations. Stage and grade disease to guide care. Re-evaluate to confirm healing.
Precision instrumentation: Blend ultrasonic debridement with site-specific hand scaling. Adapt lateral surfaces, use light strokes, and work methodically to disrupt biofilm subgingivally.
Risk reduction: Address smoking, diabetes control, xerostomia, and nutrition. Small lifestyle changes, big periodontal wins.
Judicious adjuncts: Consider localized antimicrobials or irrigation when indicated. Avoid one-size-fits-all. Measure outcomes.
Maintenance cadence: Set interval recare (often 3–4 months for periodontal patients) based on risk and response, not the calendar alone.
Keep learning: New tools, sharper protocols, better ergonomics—staying current pays off chairside.
By focusing on these areas, hygienists can significantly improve the periodontal health of their patients.
How to Display Periodontal Care Skills on Your Resume
2. Radiography (Digital X-rays)
Radiography, specifically digital X-rays, uses electronic sensors instead of film to capture detailed images of teeth and supporting bone. It’s fast, clear, and typically requires less radiation than traditional methods, making it a mainstay for detection of caries, bone loss, infections, and anomalies you simply can’t see clinically.
Why It's Important
High-quality radiographs reveal hidden disease early. That means targeted treatment, fewer surprises, smarter prevention, and safer care with measured exposure.
How to Improve Radiography (Digital X-rays) Skills
Clarity without unnecessary retakes—aim for that:
Optimize exposure: Adjust settings to the patient’s size and anatomy. Embrace ALARA/ALADA principles. Keep a retake log and drive it down.
Positioning mastery: Use proper holders and stabilize sensors to reduce cone cuts and motion. Rehearse angulations for bitewings, periapicals, and vertical series.
Use rectangular collimation and thyroid protection: Especially for children and higher-risk patients, when appropriate.
Image review and enhancement: Apply software tools conservatively—enhance, don’t distort. Calibrate monitors and standardize viewing.
Equipment care: Maintain sensors, check alignment, and schedule regular QA on X-ray units.
Infection control: Barriers on sensors, high-touch disinfection, and careful handling to prevent cross-contamination.
By focusing on these areas, dental hygienists can significantly improve the quality and safety of digital radiography in their practice.
How to Display Radiography (Digital X-rays) Skills on Your Resume
3. Prophylaxis
Prophylaxis refers to professional preventive cleaning for patients without periodontal disease. The aim: remove plaque, calculus, and stains, disrupt biofilm, and reinforce home care before disease takes hold.
Why It's Important
Regular prophylaxis curbs caries and gingivitis, helps maintain a stable periodontium, and gives space to coach patients on the habits that matter most.
How to Improve Prophylaxis Skills
Clean smarter, not harder:
Tailor care: Risk-based intervals, selective polishing, and stain-specific strategies. Over-polishing is out; targeted is in.
Modern tools: Ultrasonics, air-polishing with low-abrasive powders, and gentle prophy angles can cut time and improve comfort.
Flawless biofilm control: Disclose when warranted, show-results chairside, and tie instruction to what patients can actually change.
Ergonomics and posture: Loupes, lights, neutral wrist positions. Save your body, extend your career.
Documentation: Record hard and soft deposits, bleeding, and patient-specific coaching. Track outcomes visit to visit.
By focusing on these areas, a dental hygienist can significantly improve the effectiveness of dental prophylaxis, enhancing patient outcomes and satisfaction.
How to Display Prophylaxis Skills on Your Resume
4. Dental Software (Dentrix)
Dentrix streamlines the daily rhythm of a practice—scheduling, charting, notes, imaging bridges, treatment planning, billing—so a hygienist can move quickly and document thoroughly.
Why It's Important
Proficient software use means fewer bottlenecks, cleaner charts, and faster access to histories and radiographs. That’s smoother visits and clearer care plans.
How to Improve Dental Software (Dentrix) Skills
Make the software work for you, not the other way around:
Customize your view: Pin key modules, build quick-access toolbars, and set default templates for clinical notes and perio charting.
Master shortcuts and macros: Use hotkeys and prebuilt phrase libraries for consistent, fast documentation. Less typing, fewer errors.
Tighten chart accuracy: Standardize perio charting protocols, use tooth and surface codes correctly, and link findings to treatment plans immediately.
Imaging integration: Ensure the imaging bridge is configured, name images consistently, and attach them to the correct visit for airtight records.
Security and privacy: Strong passwords, correct user roles, and locked workstations. Follow HIPAA standards for access and audit trails.
Practice workflows: Run mock appointments to refine check-in, charting, radiographs, and handoff. Small tweaks stack up.
By refining setup, documentation habits, and navigation speed, you lift both efficiency and care quality.
How to Display Dental Software (Dentrix) Skills on Your Resume
5. Ultrasonic Scaling
Ultrasonic scaling uses high-frequency vibrations with irrigant flow to fracture and flush away calculus and disrupt biofilm above and below the gumline.
Why It's Important
It’s efficient, kind to hands, and excellent at penetrating pockets where hand instruments struggle. Cleaner roots, calmer tissues.
How to Improve Ultrasonic Scaling Skills
Technique and maintenance drive outcomes:
Light touch, constant motion: Feather pressure, keep the tip moving, and favor the lateral surfaces for safety and efficacy.
Right tip, right site: Standard tips for heavy deposits; slim, curved tips for deep or furcation areas. Replace worn tips promptly—efficiency nosedives as they wear.
Power and water balance: Use the lowest effective power. Adequate irrigation prevents heat and improves debris removal.
Comfort measures: Pre-explain sensations, manage sensitivity, and adjust technique to the patient’s tolerance.
Infection control and servicing: Flush lines, follow manufacturer maintenance, and sterilize components per protocol.
By focusing on technique, equipment care, patient comfort, and ongoing education, hygienists can significantly improve the efficacy and efficiency of ultrasonic scaling.
How to Display Ultrasonic Scaling Skills on Your Resume
6. Patient Education
Patient education means translating clinical findings into everyday steps—brushing, interdental cleaning, diet, fluoride use, recall timing—so patients can protect their own mouths between visits.
Why It's Important
Empowered patients prevent disease. They accept care sooner. They return. Education turns a single appointment into months of protection.
How to Improve Patient Education Skills
Make it visual, personal, and sticky:
Show, don’t just tell: Disclose, mirror, intraoral photos. Demonstrate techniques with their own brushes and interdental aids.
Customize the message: Anchor advice to their risk factors—caries risk, ortho appliances, dry mouth, diabetes, smoking.
Plain language: Short, clear explanations. One or two takeaways per visit. Patients remember less than we think.
Follow-up nudges: Summarize instructions on the after-visit summary and send brief reminders when possible.
Motivational interviewing: Ask open questions, reflect, set tiny goals. Behavior change is a process, not a lecture.
By incorporating these strategies, hygienists can significantly enhance patient education, leading to better dental health outcomes.
How to Display Patient Education Skills on Your Resume
7. Intraoral Camera
An intraoral camera is a small, handheld device used to capture crisp images inside the mouth. It turns hidden corners into visible evidence—perfect for diagnosis, documentation, and powerful chairside storytelling.
Why It's Important
Clear images boost understanding and trust. Patients see what you see, which improves acceptance of treatment and adherence to home care.
How to Improve Intraoral Camera Skills
Clarity and communication go hand in hand:
- Image quality: Keep the lens immaculate, use proper lighting, and stabilize rests to reduce blur.
- Ergonomics: Choose lightweight, easy-grip devices. Practice angulations for posterior access without gag triggers.
- Tell the story: Label images, compare before/after, and link photos to proposed care. Patients remember pictures.
Integrate images into the chart and treatment plans so they live where decisions are made.
How to Display Intraoral Camera Skills on Your Resume
8. Sterilization Techniques
Sterilization techniques in a dental setting focus on validated methods that eliminate all microbial life on instruments: steam sterilization (autoclave), dry heat, and chemical vapor systems. Paired with meticulous cleaning, packaging, monitoring, and documentation, these keep patients and providers safe. Gas methods like ethylene oxide are uncommon in routine dental clinics.
Why It's Important
Proper sterilization blocks cross-contamination, protects vulnerable patients, and sustains trust in the operatory. No shortcuts.
How to Improve Sterilization Techniques Skills
Build a tight, auditable system:
Written protocols: Align with current infection-control guidance and update routinely.
Instrument flow: Clean, rinse, dry, inspect, package with indicators, sterilize, and store closed until use. No backtracking.
Monitor every cycle: Mechanical, chemical, and regular biological indicators. Investigate failures immediately and document actions.
Maintain equipment: Service on schedule, validate loads, and log parameters (time, temperature, pressure).
Competency and PPE: Train staff, verify skills, and enforce PPE and sharps safety without exception.
By implementing these steps, hygienists can enhance sterilization techniques and maintain a safe, compliant environment.
How to Display Sterilization Techniques Skills on Your Resume
9. Sealant Application
Sealant application involves placing a protective resin coating into pits and fissures—most often on molars and premolars—to block bacteria and food from settling into hard-to-clean grooves.
Why It's Important
Sealants sharply cut caries risk in vulnerable surfaces. They’re quick, painless, and cost-effective prevention that lasts when placed well.
How to Improve Sealant Application Skills
Moisture control is the whole game:
Prep the surface: Clean with a brush or pumice, rinse thoroughly, and dry. No residual debris.
Isolate: Cotton rolls, dry angles, or rubber dam. Keep the field bone-dry from etch through cure.
Etch and rinse: Follow manufacturer times, then dry to a frosty enamel appearance.
Apply precisely: Flow material into fissures without pooling. Feather edges; avoid occlusal overfill.
Cure and check: Light-cure as directed, verify coverage, then adjust occlusion.
Review and recall: Reassess integrity at each visit; repair or replace as needed.
Consistent technique, plus strict moisture control, drives retention and long-term success.
How to Display Sealant Application Skills on Your Resume
10. Fluoride Treatments
Fluoride treatments apply concentrated fluoride—often varnish—to strengthen enamel, remineralize early lesions, and reduce caries risk across age groups.
Why It's Important
It’s a fast, proven way to harden enamel and tamp down decay, especially for high-risk patients, exposed root surfaces, and orthodontic cases.
How to Improve Fluoride Treatments Skills
Dial in selection and technique:
Risk-based care: Choose frequency and formulation based on caries risk. Varnish (e.g., 2.26% fluoride) is widely preferred for safety and adherence.
Efficient application: Dry lightly and apply a thin, even coat. Focus on cervical and high-risk areas.
Post-op instructions: Avoid hot liquids and brushing for several hours to maximize uptake. Keep it simple, written, and clear.
Special populations: Favor varnish for children and patients prone to swallowing; limit gel/foam accordingly.
Track outcomes: Note new lesions, white spots, and sensitivity changes to fine-tune intervals.
Incorporating these strategies can significantly improve the effectiveness of fluoride treatments and enhance patient outcomes.
How to Display Fluoride Treatments Skills on Your Resume
11. Charting (Eaglesoft)
Charting in Eaglesoft means capturing periodontal measurements, existing conditions, and planned care inside a digital record that travels seamlessly with the patient. Clean charts, clean handoffs.
Why It's Important
Accurate documentation underpins diagnosis, insurance coding, and continuity of care. It reduces errors and speeds up the clinical day.
How to Improve Charting (Eaglesoft) Skills
Turn consistency into a habit:
Know the layout: Explore the charting and perio modules until navigation is second nature.
Customize toolbars: Surface your most-used tools and set default clinical note templates that prompt required elements.
Use shortcuts: Learn hotkeys for charting, perio entries, and quick toggles to cut time.
Standardize terminology: Agree on consistent findings, codes, and note phrasing across the team.
Attach diagnostics: Link images and radiographs to the correct tooth and appointment for airtight records.
Audit regularly: Spot-check notes and charts for completeness and accuracy; refine templates where gaps appear.
By integrating these practices, you’ll chart faster and with fewer mistakes.
How to Display Charting (Eaglesoft) Skills on Your Resume
12. Local Anesthesia
Local anesthesia numbs a specific area to allow comfortable procedures such as scaling and root planing. Availability and scope vary—many regions require additional certification for hygienists to administer it.
Why It's Important
Comfort opens the door to thorough care. When pain is controlled, deep debridement becomes possible and outcomes improve.
How to Improve Local Anesthesia Skills
Technique, empathy, and safety in tandem:
Set expectations: Use topical first, explain sensations, and coach slow breathing to dial down anxiety.
Meticulous landmarks: Know anatomy cold. Aspirate, deposit slowly, and use the smallest effective dose.
Refinements: Consider warming carpules, buffering when available, and using smaller-gauge needles to reduce discomfort.
Monitor and document: Track patient response, note dosages and vasoconstrictors, and record any adverse events.
Stay current and compliant: Maintain required certifications and refresh skills with hands-on practice and updates.
Adhering to best practices and local regulations keeps patients safe and care comfortable.
How to Display Local Anesthesia Skills on Your Resume
