Were you aware of how important dental assistants are?
A dental assistant is a core part of any dental office because they do a plethora of tasks that keep the office running. If it weren’t for dental assistants, dentists would have a hard time completing everything. As a result, they’d need to significantly lower how many patients they can see daily.
If you’ve ever been interested in becoming a dental assistant, you should know what they do. Dental assistant jobs aren’t hard to find and training can be done in just a few years.
Read on to learn about the daily duties of a dental assistant and how to become one!
Daily Duties
When people think of a dental assistant, they often think of someone that stands to the side of a dentist whenever they’re doing procedures. However, a dental assistant has many responsibilities that make them crucial to the success of any dental office.
Dental assistance is a high-demand job that comes with many benefits. Working in a dental office as a dental assistant will require you to do various things that will give you a ton of experience.
Help With Procedures
One of the main things a dental assistant does is help a dentist with treatments and procedures. Whether it’s handing the dentist the proper tools, doing routine cleaning, or helping with surgery, the assistant will be there for whatever needs to be done.
Take X-Rays and Impressions
Another thing they do is take and develop x-rays. Whenever new patients come into the office, they’ll need to get their teeth examined so that the dentist can figure out what they need. If teeth or damaged or misaligned, the dental assistant will do an x-ray so that they can get an in-depth idea of what the teeth are like.
They may also take impressions of a patient’s teeth whenever they’re getting retainers or braces. Throughout these processes, they’ll make a patient feel as comfortable as they can.
Perform Office Management Tasks
Although most dental offices have receptionists, a dental assistant may do things like answer phone calls, schedule appointments, and keep track of inventory. This isn’t common, but it does happen in smaller offices that want to reduce payroll expenses.
They may also record patient information when they’re new to the office. They’ll provide a patient with forms to fill out, then they’ll enter the information into the computer.
Work in All Specialties
The world of dentistry has many different specialties, all of which a dental assistant will learn under. Orthodontics, pediatric, periodontics, and oral surgery are all different specialties that dental assistants see and learn daily. This lets them become more comfortable in their field, making them better assistants.
Skills Required
Before looking into dental assistant jobs, you should understand what some of the skills required are. Dentistry is a complex field that requires a plethora of skills due to the nature of the work, but most people shouldn’t have a hard time entering.
Technical
When helping a dentist perform procedures, a dental assistant needs to be extremely technical. Dental assistants must know how to operate all of the equipment in the office. They also need to know about the procedures so that they can organize everything beforehand.
If there’s a dental emergency, the dental assistant must be able to spot it. They should also be trained in CPR because of the risk that oral procedures come with.
Communication
Dental assistants must communicate clearly with patients to ensure they understand what’s going on. They also need to know how to comfort them because many people have a hard time going to the dentist as it is. Friendliness and compassion is something that many dental offices look for in assistants.
Administration
Even if a dental office has a receptionist, dental assistants must know how to operate computers. During dental assistant training, they’ll learn how to perform office management tasks so that they can maintain the office whenever needed.
How to Become a Dental Assistant
Becoming a dental assistant would be a great opportunity for those that are seeking good income. The average salary is $38,447, which is a decent amount for a job that doesn’t require much education.
The exact steps to becoming a dental assistant will vary depending on the state. However, many dental assistants go through technical programs because they’re given a lot of time to focus on dentistry instead of other subjects.
It’s best to have a diploma because you’ll be more likely to get a job. Having a diploma will also make it easier for you to transition into an office in another state because they may have different requirements.
You can take a look at this academy to get a good idea of what a typical school for dentistry looks like. When entering a school, you’ll come out with a degree and certifications for dentistry that will prepare you to enter dentistry as soon as possible.
Consider Becoming a Dental Assistant Today
After reading this article, you now have a better understanding of what a dental assistant is and how to become one. We encourage anyone that’s looking for experience in dentistry to become a dental assistant.
After gaining experience, you can eventually become a dentist and earn much more than the typical dental assistant pay. Look into your state’s requirements for becoming a dental assistant. From there, you can figure out which steps to go through to become one.
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