Maternity support worker to dental hygienist
A maternity support worker already meets 36% of what the dental hygienist role asks for. The move turns on 20 required skills not yet in the profile.
71.7/ 100
1 How much of what a dental hygienist is expected to do is already part of a maternity support worker’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the dental hygienist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A dental hygienist role treats 12 of its required skills as things a maternity support worker already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply context specific clinical competences
- comply with legislation related to health care
- contribute to continuity of health care
- deal with emergency care situations
- empathise with the healthcare user
- ensure safety of healthcare users
What stands in the way is 20 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A dental hygienist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a maternity support worker background worth leading with.
- already held deal with emergency care situations assisting and caring
- already held contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring
- already held apply context specific clinical competences communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held interact with healthcare users communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide health education communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held empathise with the healthcare user assisting and caring
All 12 carried skills, including the 12 the dental hygienist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 24 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn counsel on nutrition and its impact on oral health required
- still to learn educate on oral healthcare and disease prevention required
- still to learn follow dentists' instructions required
- still to learn promote health and safety policies in health services required
- still to learn communicate in healthcare required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn apply antibacterial substance to teeth required
- still to learn perform dental hygiene interventions required
- still to learn remove calculus, plaque and stains required
- still to learn deal with patients' anxiety required
- still to learn manage infection control in the facility required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- still to learn evaluate clinical outcomes of dental hygiene interventions required
- still to learn perform dental charting required
- optional, not held keep records for dental prostheses optional
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- still to learn perform dental radiographs required
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
- still to learn polish dental restorations required
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a dental hygienist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply antibacterial substance to teeth practise this
- 02 evaluate clinical outcomes of dental hygiene interventions practise this
- 03 perform dental hygiene interventions practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- still to learn use e-health and mobile health technologies required
4 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held keep records for dental prostheses optional
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
38 held skills the dental hygienist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on family planning skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancies at risk skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role anaesthetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role analgesics knowledge
- not needed by the target role assess the course of breast-feeding period skill
- not needed by the target role assist on pregnancy abnormality skill
- not needed by the target role care for the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role childbirth knowledge
- not needed by the target role communicate with nursing staff skill
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role distribute meals to patients skill
- not needed by the target role embryology knowledge
- not needed by the target role empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role examine the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role have computer literacy skill
- not needed by the target role health education knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify abnormalities skill
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role monitor pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role neonatology knowledge
- not needed by the target role postpartum period knowledge
- not needed by the target role pregnancy knowledge
- not needed by the target role preparation for child delivery knowledge
- not needed by the target role preparation for parenthood knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
- not needed by the target role provide basic support to patients skill
- not needed by the target role provide postnatal care skill
- not needed by the target role provide pre-natal care skill
- not needed by the target role sex education knowledge
- not needed by the target role support nurses skill
- not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
- not needed by the target role use obstetric sonography skill
- not needed by the target role work under supervision in care skill
- not needed by the target role work with nursing staff skill
Common questions about this move
Can a maternity support worker become a dental hygienist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A maternity support worker already covers 36% of what a dental hygienist is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 12 of which the dental hygienist role treats as required.
What skills does a maternity support worker need to become a dental hygienist?
20 required skills are missing, plus 4 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is apply antibacterial substance to teeth.
How hard is the move from maternity support worker to dental hygienist?
Its learning distance is 71.7 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.