Kezia Endsley - Dental Assistants and Hygienists: A Practical Career Guide

Kezia Endsley is an editor and author from Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to editing technical publications and writing books for teens, she enjoys running and triathlons, traveling, reading, and spending time with her family and seven pets.

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Y ou learned in the introduction that the dental health field, which includes dental assistants, dental hygienists, and dental technicians, is large, healthy, and growing. You also learned a little bit about how its different from a career in dentistry or medicine, yet related. You also were reminded that its important to pursue a career that you enjoy, are good at, and are passionate about. You will spend a lot of your life working; it makes sense to find something you enjoy doing. Of course, you want to make money and support yourself while doing it. If you love the idea of helping people for a living, youve come to the right book.

In this chapter, we break out these professions and cover the basics of each. The nice thing is that no matter what degree of postsecondary education you can/want to pursue, there is a way for you work in the dental health field. After reading this chapter, you should have a good understanding of each of these careers and can start to determine if one of them is a good fit for you. Lets start with the dental assistant.

Dental assistants work in many different dental settings and help the dentists they work with provide excellent dental care in the most efficient way possible. They are valuable members of the dental care team. Depending on the type of office you work in (orthodontic, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and even veterinary), your job will bring special challenges and rewards. The best dental assistants have excellent communication skills and enjoy working with others.

The dental assistant job is among the most diverse in the dental office. Dental assistants perform many tasks that require interpersonal and technical skills. States do have different regulations, so the duties and tasks that dental assistants perform will depend on where you practice. However, responsibilities often include the following:

Helping dentists during treatment procedures

Taking and developing dental X-rays