Careers in Dental Assisting Defined

In a dental assisting job, your key role is to assist the dentist in client relations. By being the first point of contact at the dental office, you are an essential representative of the practice.

Your professionalism and skill will be your greatest assets, both with patients and your employer. As a member of a dental care team, your job requires versatility, reliability and a willingness to take on significant responsibility for many different tasks.

Below is a partial list of typical duties for careers in dental assisting:

• Assisting the dentist during a variety of treatment procedures
• Taking and developing dental x-rays
• Asking about the patient's medical history and taking blood pressure and pulse
• Serving as an infection control officer, developing infection control protocol, and preparing and sterilizing instruments and equipment
• Helping patients feel comfortable before, during and after dental treatment
• Providing patients with instructions for oral care following surgery or other dental treatment procedures, such as the placement of a restoration
• Teaching patients appropriate oral hygiene strategies to maintain oral health
• Taking impressions of patients' teeth for study casts
• Performing office management tasks that often require the use of a computer
• Scheduling appointments, answering the telephone, billing and ordering supplies

While most dental assistants work directly with dentists, you also have the following kinds of opportunities:

• Assisting with and helping to provide direct patient care in all dental specialties, including orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics and oral surgery
   
• Working as a representative at dental product companies

Dental assistant career work environments can range from private practice, to hospitals and laboratories. In every case, the focus is patient care. Hours, salary and benefits differ depending your work environment.