The duties of the dental assistant are among the most comprehensive and varied in the dental office. The dental assistant performs a wide range of tasks requiring both interpersonal and technical skills. Some specific tasks dental assistants may perform include:
- Assisting the dentist during a variety of procedures
- Providing oral health care
- Exposing and processing radiographs (x-rays)
- Recording the patient's medical history and vital signs
- Preparing and sterilizing the proper instruments and equipment for the dentist's use
- Providing the patient with post-operative instructions
- Taking impressions for study casts;
- Performing office management tasks
- Performing basic dental laboratory tasks.
Many types of practice settings are available to dental assistants. An assistant may choose to work in a private practice or a group practice. In addition, an assistant can work in a general dentistry or specialty practice, such as oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, or pediatric dentistry. Job opportunities also exist in public health facilities, federal government facilities, hospitals, dental school clinics, insurance companies, and vocational schools or community colleges and universities teaching others to become dental assistants.
