How does a general dentist differ from a registered dental hygienist?

A LOT: It''s like asking how does a medical doctor differ from a nurse practitioner. Dental hygienists clean teeth, and do a limited amount of deep cleaning (root planing and subgingival curretage). Dentists do everything else that has to do with teeth and the oral cavity. If you are asking about just a cleaning, i would probably want to see an rdh, while for everything else, i would want to see a dentis.

Alot: A hygienist mainly takes xrays, clean the teeth, scalling them deeply if needed and polishing them, also he or she might see things in the mouth to alert the dentist to look at. A dentist treats the whole mouth, does filling, crowns, surgery, root canal, etc. The dentoist also can do cleanings and scalings also.