Becoming a dental assistant can be incredibly fulfilling, offering you work which allows you to literally help put a smile on people’s faces. If you’re not yet certain whether being a dental assistant is the right career road for you to take, have a look at the following four essential job traits to see if you’re a natural match.
Solid chairside manner
Communication skills are a pretty obvious characteristic of great dental assistants, as the work requires strong and clear communication with both patients and other staff members. However, for this job, communication skills alone aren’t enough. You need to be able to offer patients an easy-going and reassuring presence chairside. The dentist’s office tends to be a nerve-wracking place for many people, and it’s your manner that will directly impact how they view their visit and whether they’ll come back.
Stellar attention to detail
Much of your job as a dental assistant will tap into your communication and people skills, but how good you are with details is another crucial part. Whether you’re describing a situation to the dentist, cleaning tools or taking down notes from a patient, you have be on top of all the little things. Leaving an important detail out of a patient assessment, for example, could lead to a disastrous oversight later, something you’ll learn in your dental assistant training.
Passion for dentistry
As with any other job, passion for the field is a must for an outstanding dental assistant. While you don’t necessarily have to love molars or the sound of drills, you do need to have a strong desire to help people have healthy mouths and look and feel their best. When you’re passionate about your career, it will show in your work, so it’s important to have a true love for what you’re doing.
Strong commitment to teamwork
Dentistry is really about the team, from the receptionist to the oral surgeon, and its ability to work as one. If someone isn’t pulling their weight or meshing within the team, the whole practice may suffer. If you enjoy working with others to get things done, being a dental assistant may just be a natural fit for you.
As with any job, there are characteristics that you’ll gain overtime. Even if you don’t feel as though you have one of these traits, it shouldn’t stop you from learning more about the career if you feel interested! The field dentistry and more specifically, dental assisting is constantly evolving and is always in demand. We encourage you to give us a call at 505-395-6240 or even send us a text at 505-207-0145! We’d love to answer any questions you might have about the field or the classes we offer!