Dental Hygienist resume example
Dental hygienist resumes are credential-first documents. RDH license, state license number, and expanded-function endorsements (local anesthesia, nitrous monitoring, laser, restorative) belong directly under your name — practice managers screen on active license before reading anything else. Then setting: private practice, DSO, community health, pediatric, periodontal specialty, or mobile — each has different patient-volume norms and expected scope of duties. Avoid 'provided quality patient care' phrasing; every hygienist does that.
How to write a strong dental hygienist resume
- 1Credentials directly after your name: 'Alex Kim, RDH, BS'. State license state + number on the line below.
- 2State setting + daily patient load: 'DSO general practice, 10-12 patients/day, 60-minute recalls, 45-minute SRP quadrants'.
- 3Name the EHR and imaging system: Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Curve Dental, CareStack — plus digital radiography (Dexis, Carestream, Sirona), CBCT if you own the workflow.
- 4Quantify program-level contributions: perio-maintenance enrollment movement, recall rate, case acceptance after hygiene exam, no-show reduction.
- 5Expanded-function credentials belong in the body as facts, with state: 'Washington Local Anesthesia endorsement (2021), Laser certification (ND:YAG, 2023)'. Rules vary by state — be precise.
Sample experience bullets for dental hygienists
Copy these as a starting point and adapt with your own numbers. Every bullet is written to read well in an ATS and on a recruiter skim.
- ▸Clinical RDH, 4-provider DSO general practice (Bellevue, WA); 10-12 patients/day across recalls, SRPs, and perio-maintenance on a 60/45-minute cadence in Dentrix with Dexis digital radiography.
- ▸Led periodontal program rollout that moved perio-maintenance enrollment from 21% to 38% over two quarters; SRP case acceptance rose from 62% to 81% after I rebuilt the hygiene-to-restorative handoff.
- ▸Built block-scheduling template that cut hygiene-department no-show rate from 14% to 6% across 2 offices and 6 hygienists over 2024.
- ▸Washington RDH #HG12345 (active since 2019); Local Anesthesia endorsement (2021), ND:YAG laser certification (2023), current BLS and OSHA/HIPAA annually.
Recommended templates for dental hygienists
These templates pair well with the dental hygienist role — they're ATS-friendly, appropriate in tone, and highlight the sections that matter for this kind of job.
Need a matching cover letter?
We've written a companion dental hygienist cover letter example with role-specific tips, a sample letter, and matched templates in the same visual language as the resume templates above.
See the matching cover letter →Ready to write your dental hygienist resume?
Start from one of the recommended templates above. You can switch templates any time without losing your content — and the AI will help you adapt each bullet to the specific job description.
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