Skills That Make a Good Dental Assistant

How many times have you heard someone say that they hate going to the dentist?” What if you could be one of the reasons to change that mindset?

If you love to help others and want to be the best version of yourself, have a knack for science and enjoy working with your hands, becoming a Dental Assistant might be the right fit for you. Get yourself enrolled in a reputed institute that offers dental assistant classes and begin your journey.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, dental assistants perform a number of different tasks, ranging from taking x rays to patient care and record keeping and scheduling appointments. Dental assistant duties may also include prepping the patient for a particular operation; this duty would involve knowledge of the teeth and most dental procedures. 

Have you enrolled in dental assistant classes? What are the 7 skills of a successful dental assistant? Below mentioned are some of them.

Skills That Make a Good Dental Assistant

• Administrative skills: Dental assistants have a number of responsibilities to fulfill including form filling, billing and coding,  insurance claim processing, payment processing, and secretarial tasks. Throughout the day, a dental assistant has to perform one or all of these administrative tasks. A dental assistant must also do all of this confidentially as personal patient information needs to be secure.

• Detail-oriented – Dental assistants must follow specific rules and protocols when assisting dentists. Adhering to procedure, will help dental assistants from making mistakes during  minor dental surgeries and examinations. A dental assistant also needs to be detail-oriented with respect to billing as it can be possible to bill a patient incorrectly or code an insurance claim incorrectly. This can lead to a lot of back and forth with the insurance company and patient to resolve these issues. Being detail-oriented can help dental assistants stick to a procedure and not make any mistakes.

• Organizational skills – Dental assistants must have good organization skills. Having all the tools neat and clean for the next patient is essential. The dental assistant must keep the dental station and exam room organized so the dentist can find what they are looking for. The dental assistant must meet deadlines when filing billing information and may need to schedule patient’s appointments so organizational skills will help the dental assistant stay organized and focused on the tasks at hand.

These are some of the important skills that make a successful dental assistant.