Empiricism

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Dental hygienists held about 174,100 jobs in 2008. Because multiple job holding is common in this field, the number of jobs exceeds the number of hygienists.

And the

[e]mployment of dental hygienists is expected to grow 36 percent through 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. This projected growth ranks dental hygienists among the fastest growing occupations, in response to increasing demand for dental care and more use of hygienists.

And the prospects look good because

[o]lder dentists, who have been less likely to employ dental hygienists, are leaving the occupation and will be replaced by recent graduates, who are more likely to employ one or more hygienists. In addition, as dentists' workloads increase, they are expected to hire more hygienists to perform preventive dental care, such as cleaning, so that they may devote their own time to more complex procedures.

And the

[m]edian annual wages of dental hygienists were $66,570 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $55,220 and $78,990. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $44,180, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $91,470.

If only there were more competition the oppressed d.h.s' wages would rise and the "consumers'," which is to say patients but if we think about the world without the filter of economized language the neo-Liberal project of dehumanizing society collapses, costs would lower because, to repeat myself, more equals more which means lower because, shut up that's why.