and pulse taking and developing dental radiographs (x-rays) removing calculus and plaque (hard and soft deposits) from all surfaces of the teeth applying preventive materials to the teeth (e.g., sealants and fluorides) teaching patients appropriate oral hygiene strategies to maintain oral health counseling patients about good nutrition and its impact on oral health making impressions of patients' teeth for study casts (models of teeth used by dentists to evaluate patient treatment needs) performing documentation and office management activities Dental Hygienists Salary Jobs for dental are well paid almost on all states of the United States. The median annual wage for dental hygienists was $77,810 in May 2021. The median annual wages for dental hygienists in the top industries in which they worked were as follows: States with the highest employment level in Dental Hygienists: Top paying states for Dental Hygienists: Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Dental Hygienists: Top paying metropolitan areas for Dental Hygienists: Periodontal treatment Gum disease is caused by a sticky film of bacteria called plaque. Plaque is always forming on teeth, but if it is not cleaned well, the bacteria in plaque can cause gums to become inflamed. When this happens, the gums pull away from the teeth and form spaces called pockets. Plaque then gets trapped in these pockets and cannot be removed with regular brushing. Untreated gum disease can lead to bone and tooth loss. If the periodontal pockets are too deep a deep cleaning (scaling and root planing) is necessary to remove the plaque in these pockets. Scaling and root planing is a careful cleaning of the root surfaces to remove plaque and calculus from deep periodontal pockets and to smooth the tooth root to remove bacterial toxins. Scaling and root planing is sometimes followed by adjunctive therapy such as local delivery antimicrobials, systemic antibiotics, and host modulation, as needed on a case-by-case basis. Most periodontists agree that after scaling and root planing, many patients do not require any further active treatment. However, the majority of patients will require ongoing maintenance therapy to sustain health. The maintenance phase involves continuous care, at patient specific levels. Timeline of dental hygienists 1906: Alfred Fones trained his chairside assistant (and his cousin), Irene M. Newman, to clean teeth and perform other preventive treatments on children, making her the world's first dental hygienist. 1913: Alfred Fones began the first school for dental hygienists in Connecticut.