Every profession teaches its members a few golden rules or skills. These rules make up the backbone of their industry and are often crucial to professional success. For Dental Assistants (DAs), training gives you the edge you need to get started with your new career. Your training will include the following essential skills:
Administrative Skills
Dental assistants often perform administrative tasks, including maintaining patient records, invoicing patients, and scheduling future appointments based on patient needs. This is a crucial part of the job because a single missed appointment or an inappropriate treatment due to unorganized records can compromise patients’ oral health.
Understanding dental terminology is an important part of a dental assistant’s training. The average dental assistant is responsible for all aspects of patient care.
Not only that, but throughout the various training sessions, you will also learn a bit about inventory management by ordering supplies. Once you’ve mastered these topics, any employer will feel confident that you can help run the practice smoothly.
Technical Skills
Of course, dental assistant training consists of classes where you learn how to prepare patients for dental procedures. You’ll learn what steps to take when preparing for dental work, including how to do cleanings and how to take x-rays. These are important skills that employers in the field will expect you to know and master.
Interpersonal Skills of Dental Assistants
Interpersonal skills are an essential part of the dental assistant’s job, and training takes these skills into account.
You will learn to communicate with patients and their families. This can range from calming someone nervous about dental work, explaining the procedure to them, answering questions, and doing so with a caring, compassionate attitude that builds trust and ensures a positive experience.
Dental assistants must be able to explain procedures and answer questions that patients may have about their dental treatment in a way that they will better understand. Remember, medical terms and surgeries sound scary for most people. That’s also the reason why a lot of people skip visits to the dentist. But with the right set of interpersonal skills, you’ll be able to pacify their fears without sugarcoating the procedure’s side effects, if any.
It is important to know how to communicate with your peers, as well. As a member of the dental team, you will learn how to communicate with other team members and how to communicate with the dentist and the office manager.
To be a good dental assistant, you should be able to work in groups or as a team.
Start Your Training Today
All dental assistants need to know that they have a wide range of duties. If you are pursuing a career as a dental assistant, then one thing that you should understand is that you have much to learn. Although there is quite a lot involved in becoming a dental assistant, most schools focus on the skills that will prepare you for your first position. They don’t expect you to have all these skills at the ready—and that’s what the training is for! So choose your program wisely.
Looking for accredited dental assistant programs to help you get started in your dental assistant career? Contact us today to learn more or enroll in our programs here at Northwest Suburban College.
