Why Are Dental Assistants Important?
| Update: September 04, 2024
Here at UEI College, one of our favorite analogies about the role of dental assistants is that they’re the air traffic controllers of the dental clinic. It’s a great analogy because dental assistants are often tasked with duties that contribute toward ensuring patient coordination and safety, helping dentistry offices run smoothly on a day-to-day basis.
The only problem with this analogy, however, is that it slightly undercuts the face-to-face, hands-on nature of a dental assisting career. To fully apply this aviation comparison would require us to add a couple more titles to dental assistants’ repertoire – roles such as copilot, flight attendant, booking agent, and so on.
In other words, the typical dental assistant wears so many hats when working within a clinic that most one-to-one comparisons are going to fall short of the essential roles they play within the dentistry field. The essential nature of these roles is why the demand for dental assistants is continually growing in the U.S.
It’s also why, according to a study by the Dental Advancement through Learning and Education (DALE) Foundation, the majority of dentists and dental office managers agreed that dental assistants contribute to the productivity of a dental practice.
Let’s take a look at some specific reasons why dental assistants are so important in the world of dentistry, but before we do, if you’re interested in becoming a dental assistant, consider enrolling in UEI’s Dental Assistant Program. The program can be completed, and you can earn your Dental Assistant Diploma in as few as 10 months, placing you on the fast track to becoming a dental assistant.
Interested In Our Dental Assistant Program? CLICK HERE >
Now, let’s dive into why dental assistants are important. The main purpose of this blog post is to explore the importance of dental assistance in dental offices and clinics.
Why Are Dental Assistants Important?
Dental assistants are important because they are essential to the proper functioning of a dental clinic. They are tasked with ensuring that patients receive the best dental care possible by assisting patients and doctors with tasks such as checking patients into the clinic, preparing patients for procedures, and assisting dentists with common procedures such as filling, extractions, root canals, cleaning, etc.
Let’s dive into more detail as to why dental assistants are important. Here are 7 main reasons they are essential to the efficient and proper functioning of dental clinics and offices.
What Are the Important Traits of a Successful Dental Assistant?
Based just on the broad assortment of duties described above, dental assistants must have a number of significant personal and professional traits in order to be effective at their jobs. While many of the qualities seem as if they should be natural within a person based on personality and upbringing, most all traits can be developed and/or refined over time, especially as you gain more confident through thorough education, career training and experience.
Qualities and traits commonly mentioned as important for dental assistants to be most effective within their careers include:
- Good interpersonal skills, important for both patient communication and relations as well as effectively working with clinic and office staff.
- Ability to work as a team, which helps when both chairside assisting as well as general office communication and coordination.
- Being a self-starter, meaning you’re self-driven, motivated to work on your own, and do not need an office manager or dentist to always tell you what to do next. In other words, you take ownership of your time, your tasks and what needs to be done.
- A willingness to keep learning. As a health, science and technology-based field, dentistry is always changing and evolving. It’s important you’re always willing to learn and keep up with the industry.
- Great attention to details both in the front- and back-office. From scheduling appointments and updating patient records to ensuring all tools and equipment is sterilized, no detail is considered too small or unimportant.
How to Become a Dental Assistant?
Depending on where you live, it’s possible your state does not require a set level of education, training, experience, or even licensing in order to practice dental assisting. Each state is different, though, so to know for certain what it requires in order for one to work as a dental assistant, visit the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. website, which outlines most of what you’ll need to know.
Interested In Our Dental Assistant Program? CLICK HERE >
Of course, being specifically trained to become a dental assistant from an accredited school can help you stand out in a competitive market. Students who enroll in the UEI College Dental Assistant program, for example, are provided with education, skills training, and real-world experience that can help them earn a diploma and begin an entry-level dental assisting careers in as few as 10 months. Graduates emerge from the program career-ready and prepared to seek further certifications, such as Registered Dental Assistant (RDA), that can further improve employment potential.
