Hygienists are in demand in general dental practices and in specialty practices such as periodontics or pediatric dentistry. They also may be employed to provide dental hygiene services for patients in hospitals, nursing homes and public health clinics.
UA's mascot is an elephant called Big Al.. The name was chosen in the late 1970s in a campus-wide contest. The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. On October 8, a sportswriter wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game.
Hence, in 1979, the Alabama Student Government Association asked the University to legitimatize the elephant as an official school mascot and give him a name. Thus was born Big Al, the instantly recognizable sideline icon of the Crimson Tide.