Dental hygiene

What's not to like about this job? Excellent job prospects ( as the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us, growing much faster than others), good wages, flexible working hours and a simple system of training at school for a degree.

There really aren't all that many jobs or careers you can find with this excellent mixture of opportunities.

Training in dental hygiene

The training in dental hygiene takes place at one of the 266 accredited schools and usually leads to an Associate's degree. Some programs lead to a Bachelor's degree, or even a Master's. You can get the basic training at such a school in two years.

The job itself is doing the basic dental hygiene work with patients, teaching them to take care of their teeth and checking for signs of other problems that can arise. You'll work closely with the dentist at times and at others almost independently.

The future of dental hygiene

As people live longer, and keep their teeth longer, many more dental hygiene jobs will be available. Going to school or getting training via a degree in an expanding profession is a good idea and the wages, $28.05 an hour on average, are good.

There is also great flexibility; you can decide to work full time or part days or evenings and weekends. If you get one of the higher degrees you can also go on to do research or to teach dental hygiene to more people. A good job, great wages and you decide your own schedule: why not?

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.