Dentists, dental assistants, and dental hygienists work together as a team, making sure a dental office functions like a well-oiled machine. Have you ever considered a career as a dental assistant? If you have, NCOHC has some tips for you!
As a dental assistant, you can fill plenty of different roles. Some work chairside, helping dentists and hygienists care for patients. You can also work as:
- An office manager, helping schedule appointments, handling day-to-day activities, and managing the business side of dentistry.
- A sterilization technician, keeping dental instruments and treatment rooms clean and ready to use.
- A treatment plan coordinator, working with providers and patients to map out health care needs and keep track of appointments and follow-up care
- And more!
Becoming a Dental Assistant
There are several paths you can take to become a dental assistant. If you enroll in a program at an accredited school, you can graduate and enter the workforce as a DAII (Dental Assistant II).
Proprietary school programs also provide a condensed form of dental assistant training. You graduate ready to enter the workforce as a DAI (Dental Assistant I) through these programs or programs offering National Entry Level Dental Assisting (NELDA) certification.
Alternatively, dental assistants can jump in and train chairside, taught by a dentist in a dental office.
What’s the difference?
A DAI is an entry-level assistant. While the training is quicker for DAIs, DAIIs earn higher salaries and have more options for the roles they can fill in a dental office.
If you want to learn more, check out our interview with Kati Garrett, a dental assistant and educator overseeing Catawba Valley Community College’s dental assisting program.
This blog post was originally written by NCOHC intern Sydney Patterson and later edited by Allison Hackman
