Dental Assistant Essay

This will inform you of the responsible duties of the Dental Assistant (DA). It is estimated that careers in Dental Assisting are expected to grow by 31% between the years 2010 to 2013. Due to ongoing and current technology, oral and general health will continue to increase the demand for preventative dental services.

Essay Example on Why I Want To Be A Dental Assistant

A dental assistant is a oral health care professional trained to provide supportive procedures and services to the dentist and to patients.

These responsibilities include retrieval of patient’s records, greeting and welcoming the patient, taking or reviewing of x-ray’s, leading the patient into a comfortable climate controlled and disinfected treatment room, making the patient comfortable in the dental chair and preparing the operatory for the examination, which includes the set-up of the hand piece instrument tray in order of operation, as well as comforting the patient by means of conversation, informing the pentient of the procedure(s) to be done, and allowing the patient to voice their questions and or concerns.

Once the patient is prepared for treatment, the dental assistants duties are dental materials to the dentist during any and all procedures done by the dentist. Taking impressions of teeth for crown and or bridges, pouring and trimming molds to transfer dental instruments and accessories, and provide a mix and transfer of, constructing custom trays and fabricating temporary crowns and bridges, application of fluoride or seal treatments, and clean/deep cleaning and polishing of teeth or dentures.

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The assistant may also carry out specific phases of patient treatment under the supervision of the dentist. This is known as “expanded functions”, which a specific intraoral skill that is a completed as a procedure or as part of a procedure by the dental assistant delegated by the dentist which may acquire direct or indirect supervision. The DA must acquire advanced training and clinical functions approved by the State before the dentist can delegate such procedures.

Duties also include disinfecting of the treatment room after each and every use, disinfecting and sterilization of hand piece instruments before and after each use and preparation of the basic tray set-up, thereafter.

Added procedures for the dental assistant may also include front office duties, such as front office management, patient appointment setting, patient billing, Bookkeeping, filing, accounting, answering and making calls to patients and or Insurance companies for billing purposes.

Dental Assistants will be a necessity for dentists as it will increase patient care in oral health as well as productivity throughout the Dental career field.

~References~

Bird Robinson 10th Edition “Modern Dental Assistant”. (Chapter 33-3, pg. 522 & 523)