Dental Care Secrets

This article is for those considering a career as a dental assistant. If you are interested in dentistry but do not have the time, money or perhaps the inclination to go through full dentistry or even dental hygienist training, a dental assistant program may be suitable for your needs.

A career as a dental assistant will involve various tasks, including but not limited to taking care of patients who visit the dentist, official tasks related to dentistry and patient care, as well as certain jobs related to the laboratory. This however does not mean that you can perform any tasks that are performed by a licensed dental hygienist, and in fact you will be legally forbidden from doing any such tasks.

Main Functions of a Dental Assistant

The over-arching function that you will have to perform as a dental assistant is to assist the dentist in his or her daily activities. This can involve reception duties such as taking calls for appointments and answering inquiries, as well as keeping the dental reports and patient and office records well organized.

As a dental assistant, you may be responsible for making the patients feel comfortable while they are waiting and being treated, possibly even sitting by the dentist’s side as they treat their patient/s, ready to provide whatever help the dentist requires. You may be required to be familiar with tools and equipment to hand the dentist or hygienist, keeping them properly assembled on the treatment tray. You may be the one to clean up and sanitize the instruments after treatments, and possibly even provide advice to patients about which precautions to take after having had their dental treatment.

As a dental assistant, you may sometimes also be called upon to prepare lotions and materials that are used to create teeth impressions, You may also be required to conduct any dental tests that are necessary, and possibly handle collected X-ray films according to the instructions given by the dentist. Other tasks that you may be called on to perform include cutting stitches or sutures, applying disinfectants, and for those with the appropriate training, injecting the patient with anesthetics in the places which needs to be treated.

You may also be required to clean unwanted filling material that is used while filling, and to fix rubber clips that help in marking the infected teeth for which separate treatment is required.

Dental assistants must be professionally trained, and this they can get from attending courses on dental assistance. There are various institutes which offer such courses where all the necessary skills are taught, and your first step should be to ask around your local dentist offices for references of good schools and programs. If you are in college or university and are interested in eventually becoming a dental assistant, you might opt for biology and chemistry courses to help your knowledge base, as well as health- and office practice-oriented courses as these will come in very handy as you embark on a career as a dental assistant.