Dental Assistants And What It Is They Do

By Heather Givens

If you are wanting to get into the Dental field then one of the best places you can start would to become a dental assistant. You will have to graduate a school or program, but once you are certified you will get the chance to work with Dentists or Hygienists. The duties of a dental assistant will depend on what kind of office you are in, but most of them are the same.

In order to be a dental assistant you must have a variety of skills. You must be able to pay attention to detail, and you must have patience as in some situations, like when a major surgery is taken place you may be sitting in a chair standing by for the Hygienist.

Some of the everyday tasks that Dental Assistants need to perform consist of sterilizing instruments and preparing instrument trays for procedures. They also work closely with patients, taking dental and health histories. Depending on the type of procedures, vital signs of patients could be monitored by a Dental Assistant.

Some of the other duties that they may perform would be taking x-rays, along with documenting all of the patients records. The person that lets the patient know when their next check up is, is often the assistant as well.

A lot of times they will also work right alongside the dentist and hygienist. Starting with making patients feel comfortable and prepping them for procedures. Assistants hand the dentist and hygienist instruments and materials, letting them to remain focused on the patient throughout the procedure.

Organization of the dental tools prior and after dental procedures is also maintained by the assistant. This is to prevent any delays, in many cases busy dental offices may have several assistants per Dentist.

There may be some instances where the dental assistant may need to work the office, such as setting appointments and picking up phones, dealing with cancellations along with many other types of clerical duties. All depends on the place though as some offices have people just for that.

Dental assistants more often than not work with dentists and hygienists in a clean, friendly environment that is well lit. Since the work chair side to the dentist and hygienist, dental assistants learn a lot of information on proper dental procedures. Many just might be able to do them as well as any dentist or hygienist, however, they are not allowed to because they are not certified.

Many assistants take this as a chance to get paid more money, if they choose to become a Hygienist or even a Dentist. They will have an advantage over students that are going to school to become a dentist because they already know what to expect, and what they will be doing.

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