Dental Assistant

Dental Assistant

Career Overview

Dental assistants perform many tasks in a dentist's office including preparing patients for treatments, cleaning instruments, assisting dentists during treatments, record keeping, and the scheduling of appointments. Their duties may vary by geographical location and by the offices in which they work.

Education

Completing a one to two-year certificate or college degree program in dental assisting is necessary in certain geographical locations to obtain these positions. Requirements may vary by location. In areas where there are no educational requirements, the job is learned through on-the-job training.

Future Outlook

Employment of dental assistants is projected to grow 7 percent from 2019 to 2029, faster than the average for all occupations. Dentists will continue to hire dental assistants to complete routine tasks, allowing dentists to work more efficiently.

Work Environment

Dental assistants work for and are supervised by dentists. Most work full time, but about 1/3 do work part-time.

Recommended High School Courses

  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Psychology
  • Math
  • Communication
  • First Aid
  • Chemical Process Safety
  • Health science
  • Science

  • Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Assist practitioners to perform medical procedures.
  • Clean medical equipment.
  • Prepare medical instruments or equipment for use.
  • Maintain medical records.
  • Interview patients to gather medical information.
  • Operate medical equipment.
  • Record vital statistics or other health information.
  • Explain technical medical information to patients.
  • Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
  • Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
  • Teach medical procedures or medical equipment use to patients.
  • Make patient-assistive devices or device models.
  • Fit patients for assistive devices.
  • Process medical billing information.
  • Schedule patient procedures or appointments.

Schools

usa_school
Adelphi University
Alvernia University
American Academy Of Denta...
Angelo State University
Assumption College
Atlanta Technical College
Atlantic Technical Colleg...
Auburn University
Augustana University
Ball State University
Barry University
Baylor University
Belmont University
Bemidji State University
Bismarck State College
Bob Jones University
Bowling Green State Unive...
Carrington College- Albuq...
Carrington College- Boise...
Carrington College- Citru...
Carrington College- Glend...
Carrington College- Las V...
Carrington College- Mesa...
Carrington College- Phoen...
Carrington College- Pleas...
Carrington College- Portl...
Carrington College- Sacra...
Carrington College- San J...
Carrington College- San L...
Carrington College- Spoka...
Carrington College- Stock...
Carrington College- Tucso...
Carroll College
Cerritos College
Chippewa Valley Technical...
Chippewa Valley Technical...
Clackamas Community Colle...
Clover Park Technical Col...
Colby Community College
College Of Central Florid...
Cook Inlet Tribal Council
Cornell College
Cypress College
Dakota County Technical C...
Diablo Valley College
Eastern Oregon University
Eastern University
Edinboro University
Elizabethtown College
Emily Griffith Technical...
Evangel University
Fairmont State University
Ferris State University
Fortis College- Dothan Ca...
Franklin And Marshall Col...
Harrisburg Area Community...
Herzing University- Minne...
Hillsborough Community Co...
Iḷisaġvik College
Indian Hills Community Co...
Institute Of Business & M...
Jefferson State Community...
Jefferson State Community...
Jefferson State Community...
Jefferson State Community...
Kapiolani Community Colle...
Miller-motte College- Ral...
Miller-motte College- Wil...
Miller-motte Technical Co...
Minneapolis Community And...
North Central Texas Colle...
North Central University
Palm Beach State College-...
Pikes Peak Community Coll...
Pikes Peak Community Coll...
Portland Community Colleg...
Praxis Institute- Hialeah...
Praxis Institute- Miami C...
Sacramento City College
San Joaquin Valley Colleg...
Seattle Central College
Spokane Community College
Suny Erie Community Colle...
Suny Hudson Valley Commun...
Suny Plattsburgh
Ultimate Medical Academy-...
University Of Alaska Fair...
University Of Alaska Fair...
University Of The Pacific
Vista College- El Paso Ca...
Wake Technical Community...
Western Technical College
Westmoreland County Commu...
canada_school
Academy Of Learning- H...
Academy Of Learning- R...
Bow Valley College- Do...
Cambrian College
Campion College
Canadian Academy Of De...
Canadian Mennonite Uni...
Cape Breton Business C...
Cdi College- Calgary N...
Cdi College- Edmonton...
Cdi College- Montreal...
Cdi College- Scarborou...
Cdi College- Surrey Ca...
Cdi College- Winnipeg...
Confederation College
Durham College- Oshawa...
George Brown College-...
Medix College- Brampto...
Medix College- Scarbor...
Medix College- Toronto...
Nova Scotia Community...
Oulton College- Main C...
Oulton College- Pacifi...
Professional Career De...
Red River College- Not...
Saskatchewan Polytechn...
St. Clair College
St. Claire College- Wi...
Trillium College- King...
Trillium College- Osha...
Trillium College- St....
Westervelt College

Potential Scholarships

5 Strong Scholarship
Agnes M. Lindsay Scholars...
Curt Pozan Trades Scholar...

Approx Salary Expectation

Currency:
Low End:
$27,980.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$40,080.00 /yr
High End:
$56,930.00 /yr

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.