Midwife to dental hygienist
A midwife already meets 50% of what the dental hygienist role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.
60.6/ 100
1 How much of what a dental hygienist is expected to do is already part of a midwife’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 16 of its required skills as things a midwife already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- apply context specific clinical competences
- apply organisational techniques
- comply with legislation related to health care
- contribute to continuity of health care
- deal with emergency care situations
What stands in the way is 16 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 18 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 midwife background worth leading with.
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies working with computers
- already held respond to changing situations in health care management skills
- already held deal with emergency care situations assisting and caring
- already held use foreign languages in patient care communication, collaboration and creativity
All 18 carried skills, including the 16 the dental hygienist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 18 missing skills fall into 5 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 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 empathise with the healthcare user required
- still to learn manage infection control in the facility 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 interact with healthcare users 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 perform dental radiographs required
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
- still to learn polish dental restorations required
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 18 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held apply organisational techniques 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 develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held use foreign languages in patient care skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held keep records for dental prostheses optional
- optional, not held use technical equipment for sterilisation optional
70 held skills the dental hygienist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role address problems critically skill
- not needed by the target role address side effects of menopause skill
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role advise on childbirth skill
- 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 apply acupuncture skill
- 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 carry out treatment prescribed by doctors skill
- not needed by the target role childbirth knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect biological samples from patients skill
- not needed by the target role company policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role conduct research on reproductive medicine skill
- not needed by the target role conduct spontaneous child deliveries skill
- not needed by the target role dietetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role educate on the prevention of illness 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 epidemiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role examine the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role female reproductive system pathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care occupation-specific ethics knowledge
- not needed by the target role health education knowledge
- not needed by the target role homeopathy 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 lactation knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role neonatology knowledge
- not needed by the target role obstetric ultrasonography knowledge
- not needed by the target role pathology knowledge
30 further entries not listed here
Other moves recorded from midwife
- maternity support worker 74% covered · moderate
- healthcare assistant 56% covered · moderate
- physiotherapy assistant 51% covered · substantial
- dental technician 50% covered · substantial
- specialist pharmacist 49% covered · substantial
- respiratory therapy technician 49% covered · moderate
- orthoptist 47% covered · substantial
- pharmacy assistant 47% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a midwife become a dental hygienist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A midwife already covers 50% of what a dental hygienist is expected to do: 18 skills carry over, 16 of which the dental hygienist role treats as required.
What skills does a midwife need to become a dental hygienist?
16 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is apply antibacterial substance to teeth.
How hard is the move from midwife to dental hygienist?
Its learning distance is 60.6 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.