Is a career in Dental Hygiene what it's cracked up to be?

I am a pre-dental hygiene student and recently was told that jobs are getting very difficult to find (unless you only want to work only 2 days a week) and that the lifespan of the career is not very long. Additionally she told me that the great pay was basically to offset the out of pocket insurance costs and limited hours.... I am starting to get concerned that this is perhaps not the stable career that I thought it was when I started school. Was the person I spoke to representing "the norm"? Or just disgruntled??
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I am a dental hygienist in Idaho, and I love my job. A lot of dentists don't advertise employment in the newspaper. I think this is for a couple of reasons: First, the dental community is small. Any time a job opens, every hygienist within a 100 mile radius knows about it... so dentists usually have a pretty good response without having to place any sort of ad. Second, I think for the most part, hygiene is a very stable job. Once you find a good job, you keep it. So, sometimes, it is pretty difficult to find employment if you're not already working. A great thing about hygiene is that it is okay to work at more than one office. So, even though some offices may only offer 2 days a week, it's pretty easy to find 2 or 3 days a week at another office. Or, you can sub at pretty much any office. So, basically you can choose your own hours... which is great if you have a family. When you get your license, you can sign up for the state association which will sometimes put your name on a list to be called for fill-in. The pay is excellent, and you can find offices that provide benefits. My office offers insurance, but a friend of mine works for an office where the dentist gives her a $250 bonus every month to cover insurance costs (or whatever she wants to do with it...) As far as career lifespan, you learn in school what you have to do to be able to practice indefinitely. You need to focus on your posture at all times, make sure your back muscles and your forearm muscles are strong and be very careful with how you move your writst when working. Hygienists will ALWAYS be in demand. And, like someone said above, there are always opportunities internationally. Traveling hygienists make good money and are able to see the world. Beyond that, there are a lot of opportunities outside of a clinical setting. You can be an educator, work for a dental sales company, or do community dental health care by working with Head Start programs or health and welfare. The possibilities are endless. Good luck! It's totally worthwhile, and I have to say that I chose the perfect profession!
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