If you are thinking about becoming a dental hygienist, you can expect to attend school anywhere between two to three years. This includes any pre-requisites you may have to get as well as any licensing examinations you may need to take. There are a lot of 
graduates who can find jobs with only an associate’s degree and in some cases, a certificated is needed. Still others can find jobs with either a certificate or an associate’s degree. If a dental hygienist wants to advance further into her career, then a bachelor’s or master’s degree may want to be pursued.
Education for Becoming a Dental Hygienist
One should first be sure to obtain a high school diploma. When one is pursuing her high school education, courses in biology, mathematics and chemistry should be taken. Also, if you want to be admitted into a program for dental hygiene, usually you are going to have to take college entrance tests, such as the ACT and SAT.
It is important for a dental hygienist to graduate from a school that has been accredited. There are many programs that will now only grant an associate’s degree; still others offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees. It just depends upon how far you want to go into your field of practice
If you plan to work in a private practice dental office, then that will usually require you to have an associate’s degree; however, some may merely accept a certificate. If you ever want to go into teaching, public health or research, then the dental hygienist is going to have to go on to get her bachelor’s or master’s degrees.