Dental assistants perform several functions within a clinic. For example, dental assistants typically help with front office work, such as scheduling appointments and updating patient dental records in addition to back-office work, such as preparing exam rooms, sterilizing instruments, and equipment, taking x-rays, and helping dentists with procedures such as fillings, crowns, extractions, root canals, etc. The type of work that dental assistants do depends on the dental clinic they work at and the state where the dental clinic is located.
Overall, the dentistry field is made up of professional roles which focus either on patients or organizational duties in the clinic; dental assistants work at both ends of the spectrum. As key members of a dentistry team, dental assistants exist to help improve the quality and efficiency of a clinic, both administratively at the front of the office and clinically in the examination room.
Dental assistants work closely with nearly everyone on a dental clinic staff: dentists, hygienists, office managers, billing professionals, lab staff, and of course, patients.
The specific tasks a dental assistant may take on care vary considerably from clinic to clinic. However, here are some of the tasks most dental assistants can expect to perform:
As a Dental Assistant, you will have the opportunity to help make people smile, and will make a considerable difference in someone’s life.
As dental assistants often split time between the front and back of the clinic, they should develop several personal, professional, and technical skillsets that allow them to seamlessly move from task to task while maintaining a high level of focus and attention to detail.
Successful dental assistants, for example, should be as good at communicating with dentists and hygienists as they are at discussing processes, symptoms, and procedures with patients. They should also be trained and skilled in such subjects as dental science, radiography, preventative dentistry, and prosthodontics, to name just a few.
Some skill sets that make a good dental assistant involve innate personal abilities, but many of them can be learned and enhanced. Skills include:
Many of these skills come with training and practice, but they all can be improved and refined with experience in the field. Moreover, each essential skill plays a role in an oral health team’s ability to deliver safe and efficient services within a clinical environment
Copyright © 2023 Rise Dental Academy - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.