It’s not a secret that dental assistants need to be organized, personable, and passionate about what they do. As important as these traits are to any effective candidate, they can only learn certain skills in training. While personal working skills can come naturally and vary by each person, knowing the important skills taught in dental assistant training can help a person further grow and flourish in their career.
Technical Skills
The main role of a dental assistant is to support the dentist by cleaning instruments and performing basic cleanings on patients. This training will involve learning how to use specific dental instruments properly and practicing techniques for using them effectively. This training may also include learning basic dental procedures to prepare patients for larger treatments. Some examples might include administering anesthesia or developing x-rays.
Administrative and Organizational Skills
Along with assisting the dentist with their work, dental assistants also must help run the administrative aspect of a dental office. They often need to schedule appointments, keep records, and sometimes, even take inventory and order new equipment. It’s for these reasons that training will often take a student through basic record-keeping practices to allow them to strengthen their organizational skills.
Critical Thinking Skills
As a dental assistant, a person must have experience with anticipating a dentist’s needs and providing them with the right tools to perform a task. This requires them to think on their feet to have things readily prepared and to adapt when a procedure doesn’t go as planned. It’s for these reasons that instructors will often run through scenarios to provide students with practice adjusting to various situations.
At the American Institute of Dental Assisting, it’s our mission to provide each of our students with the resources, training, and experience to kick off their new career path. Our dental assistant programs in Arizona are known for instilling the essential knowledge of the dental field while also providing our students with priceless, hands-on experience.