You can never go wrong by choosing to become a dental assistant as your career. It is, in fact, a highly popular choice because of the essentiality of dental care, where its customers are the whole population. With a growing population, the demand for quality dental care increases. This means more dental clinics rise, giving plenty of job opportunities for dentists and dental assistance.
What is a dental assistant?
Dental assistants provide a wide array of services to support dental teams. This includes assistance for dentists performing services and the administrative work involved in a dental clinic’s daily operations, such as record-keeping, booking appointments, and the like.
Some of the reasons people choose to become dental assistants include the joy of working with and providing service to others, ease and speed of entry to the dental assisting industry workforce, and job stability.
Although it can be quick to enter this line of work, as fast as nine months, a dental assistant must be skilled, attentive, and equipped with more than enough knowledge on this field. Tasks for dental assistants generally include handling equipment for dentists during procedures, scheduling appointments, and other jobs mentioned above. Training and education are vital to have a successful career path as a dental assistant.
How can I become a dental assistant?
Whether you’re still soul-searching for the right job or you’ve decided on becoming a dental assistant, here are the necessary steps towards this career path:
Do your research
The first thing in fully deciding upon dental assistance as your career is understanding what the job entails. Dental assistance requires you to have different skills and perform various technical and interpersonal tasks. Some states and clinics allow dental assistants to perform advanced procedures. Thus, they may require a more intensive training program. However, whether they qualify and need you or not, it is always advantageous to have knowledge and training on advanced duties.
Find dental assistant programs
When you’ve finalised your decision, the next thing on the list is attending an accredited program on dental assistance. You can find these programs in vocational or technical schools, community colleges, other colleges, and universities. You can check out dentalassistanteduto find programs near you, together with the popular schools providing these programs and school reviews.
Take the examination for certification
Requirements for dental assistants vary per state. Contact the Board of Dental Examiners in your area to know more about the specific requirements. Although most states are not strict on entry-level dental assistants having to be licensed or certified, some states still do, especially when they allow dental assistants to perform advanced procedures such as infection control, radiography, and more.
Get on-the-job training
Some clinics provide this themselves when you start working for them, especially when they have particular ways of conducting business. Other clinics and employers prefer candidates to have formal training before they hire them.
Dental assistance continues to be a flourishing industry. More and more people now value quality dental care. With becoming a dental assistant, not only do you get a stable job, but you also get the opportunity of advancing your career. After gaining years of experience, you can enrol in advanced degree programs and become a dentist or a dental hygienist.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
