Your Team in the Dental Offices
When you walk into a dentist's office, there may be a few people who you do not recognize beyond the patient waiting area. Many dental offices are full of employees who each carry out a crucial part of the dental experience. Just because you are going to the dentist's office, this doesn't mean that you will only find dentists. You may find various team members of the dental office who are not specifically related to the dental process. To be more aware of your surroundings, here is a run down of the different dental team members in the office and how they contribute to the dental experience.
The first person you will probably come in contact with, whether you call ahead for an appointment or walk in, is the dental receptionist. This person is in charge of arranging the dentist's schedule and greeting patients as they walk in. The dental receptionist also takes care of the necessary paperwork which is needed in order to assess the patient's prior medical and dental history and the patient's insurance information. The dental receptionist is one of the most stressful and crucial roles in the dental office team.
The Insurance dental worker often deals with paperwork and meetings with patients. Some financial options are available for patients who may not be insured. Therefore, the insurance worker will work with patients in order to finance their dental needs. If there are any unresolved problems with a patient's insurance the insurance worker will normally take care of all unfinished business and make final decisions regarding issues with one's dental insurance.
The dental assistant will often be working side by side with the dentist as an apprentice in order to learn the trade. The dental assistant most often prepares the patients by welcoming them into the room, accompanying the patient while waiting for the dentist, answering questions, preparing materials for the dentist and assisting the dentist in whatever he or she needs during the dental patient's appointment. The dental assistant is the wing person for the dentist.
The dental hygienist is not a dentist. A dental hygienist usually performs varying tasks which range from taking x- ray photos of the patient's teeth, to polishing and cleaning a patient's teeth. Other tasks that a dental hygienist performs includes preparing for cavity work, including creating the cavity space and filling the tooth. A dental hygienists task duties are normally dictated by the state he or she is working in.
The dentist takes care of just about everything else that a patient needs done. He or she will examine the patient's teeth, make diagnosis and perform all medications without a prescription other types of dental procedures. Such dental procedures include filling cavities, creating crowns, fitting crowns, extracting teeth and much more. Depending on whether a dentist is a general practitioner or a specialist, his or her duties may differ. For example, some dentists perform dental surgery including root canals, wisdom teeth extractions and teeth implants.
Get to know your dental offices team upon your next visit.
Federal finanical aid is not determined by creditworthyness. Don't do private student loans, they are evil.
well, you should've gotten out of the program when you knew you didn't like it.
as for career wise… the only thing i could really tell you is that you could work in different kinds of offices, but nothing outside of dental. you could work with kids or adults or the elderly. or you could work in ortho or general or oral surgery. i would recommend ortho if you really don't want to do much.
by the way, you won't walk out of school as a CERTIFIED dental assistant. i'm guessing you're not in california since you mentioned certified. when you get out of school, you will need to take your DANB exam to be a certified dental assistant. otherwise, you will just be a dental assistant.
since you said this is definitely not the career for you, maybe you could talk to your school president or talk to the admissions counselors and ask them what you could do about transferring to a different program? maybe they will allow you to do medical assisting…
the best advice i could give you, is to just work the most you could in the field and return to school for something else.
if you have any other question, email me.
MedicalWorkers.com – West Virginia – Under the direct supervision of the dentist performs nonprofessional work assisting the dentist during examination and treatment of patients and in the routine handling of instruments and supplies.JOB RELATIONS Wexford H
fantastic