Dental assistants are essential in all dental practices. While the dentist may take the central role, their assistants also experience different levels of stress and patience. They are the first contacts of most patients.
It takes up to four years to obtain a dental assistant certification. And it’s both demanding and rewarding. The recent metrics show that the average pay range is from $30,000 to $40,000 per month.
There is no industry without its own challenges, which is why dental assistants are essential in the first place. Here are some challenges in the dental industry that are often entrusted to the skills of dental assistants:
Unreliable Customers
Despite studying accredited dental assistant programs, nothing will prepare you for difficult customers. Some will be late, back out, or forget. Others will cancel at the last minute. One helpful tip is to confirm and remind them a week or a few days in advance to make sure they commit to their schedule.
Tell them it may be hard to reschedule again and remind them of the possible effects of letting their condition get worse.
Patient Anxiety
Dental patients always associate trips to the dentist with pain. At least 19 percent of American patients have difficulty dealing with their dental anxiety, including kids. It involves developing a level of patience and understanding.
But well-developed social skills can ease a patient’s anxieties, no matter their age. After all, trips to the dentist are for their own good.
Pain Management
Painful dental appointments are the source of this dental anxiety for more complicated procedures. It is also part of the process of getting better.
But the actual work also contributes to body pain for dentists as well for long day sessions. Dental assistants don’t just take care of the patients, but the other dental staff as well. Reminding them to take breaks and assisting them in ways that minimize the stress on their bodies can contribute to a more efficient and less painful workplace.
Stressful Situations
Any dental or medical practice will experience stressful situations. There must always be breaks and rest to clear the mind and body and maintain stay calm. Talking to the resident dentist about the stressful issues is also important and can help deal with or lessen them—which is the assistant’s job.
At most, the bigger offices may have two dental assistants or added flexibility on schedules to allow extra hours in between appointments to recover from long hours. Essentially, a dental assistant can alleviate the stress on the entire practice, not just by taking on some of the tasks, but by acting as a buffer.
Final Thoughts
If you have a dental assistant certification, you are eligible to apply for dentist industry jobs. It is a lucrative and respectable career that can lead to greater heights. It also does not hurt that it pays fairly well.
You can Inquire with Northwest Suburban College, where there are grant applications and new career services to get an easy start. Getting into accredited dental assistant programs is also a way to get into dentistry, and can lead to full-time dentistry or a specialty dental career.
