If you're passionate about helping others and you're interested in the health industry, but don't want to spend years in school, then becoming a dental assistant is a great option. Dental assistants provide patient care and in-office support while dentists complete exams and procedures. They may also polish teeth or explain proper dental hygiene to patients. Dental administrative assistants are responsible for processing new patient information, scheduling appointments, following up with patients to confirm their appointment, and rescheduling if necessary.
Common tasks include providing information to patients, preparing dental records, and scheduling appointments for the dentist and staff. In order to perform more advanced functions, such as taking x-rays or performing coronal polishing, many states require dental assistants to be licensed or certified. Requirements vary from state to state. Carrington College offers a dental assistance program that can be completed in as little as nine months.
Northwest Career College also offers a dental administrative assistant program that can take between one and two years to complete, depending on whether the desired outcome is a certificate, diploma, or associate degree. As a dental administrative assistant, you'll work in a dental office taking care of administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing insurance claims, and monitoring inventory. Answering phones and scheduling appointments, updating and maintaining patients' dental records, overseeing patient registration procedures, coding and preparing insurance forms, and scheduling referral and testing appointments are all part of the job. A career as a dental assistant can be a lifelong career, but you can use your experience to advance.
Any way you look at it, learning to become a dental administrative assistant through an online school like Northwest Career College offers many benefits.
