The Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) recently featured an article on the Three Essential Qualities for a Dental Assistant. At ACI Medical & Dental School, conveniently located in Eatontown, NJ, you can train to become a Dental Assistant in under four months with certification by the DANB. As an added value to our students, our program also includes Dental Radiology licensing.
In a recent survey conducted among over 500 dental office managers via Facebook, the question posed was: What are the three most crucial qualities you seek when hiring an exceptional Dental Assistant? Here’s the list of the top three answers:
1. Effective Communication Skills
Being able to communicate well is critically important for Dental Assistants in order to help a dental practice run smoothly. There are several different parts to this:
- Written Communication will help for responsibilities like updating dental records and sending emails.
- Verbal Communication will help when talking with your coworkers, the dentist, and patients.
- Body Language. Pay attention to things like facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and how you stand when talking to people to help improve communication.
- Listening carefully, understanding what’s being said, and responding in the right way is crucial for working with the dentist and patients.
Good communication is very important in a dental practice. We’ve seen that Dental Assistants who are good at communication can help the dentist, dental team, and patients understand each other better, which improves everyone’s experience.
2. Coachability
A lot of people quoted in the survey said it’s important to be open to learning and growing as a Dental Assistant. This means being eager to learn new things, being open to getting advice, and wanting to keep improving at your job.
Here’s an example they gave: One assistant had no experience when they started but was really open to learning. They asked a lot of questions, took good notes, and even got a Radiology license to take x-rays. Because they were so open to learning and getting feedback, they became really good at their job.
Being open to learning is something employers really look for when hiring. When a new hire shows a lot of interest in learning and adapting to how things are done in a dental practice, this makes the whole team work better and improves job satisfaction.
3. Compassionate Service
At the end of the day, it’s really important for Dental Assistants to care about helping patients. Even if some parts of the job are hard, like dealing with patients who aren’t feeling well, are angry or upset, or even have bad breath, it’s crucial to show kindness and care.
When Dental Assistants first get started at their new job, they can have trouble with grumpy patients at first. But seeing how much of a difference compassion made in their experience changes their perspective. Hiring people who genuinely care about making patients feel better is really important.
Dental Assistants who truly care about patients make the workplace better and helps build the relationship between patients and caregivers. We’ve seen how being kind and caring can turn tough situations into positive ones, so it’s something we always emphasize in our Dental Assistant students.
Learn More About Becoming a Dental Assistant in NJ
These points from dental office managers show how important it is to focus on these core qualities when hiring Dental Assistants. Good communication, being open to learning, and caring about patients are some of the most important things for success in this job.
What to learn more about becoming a Certified Dental Assistant with Radiology? Contact ACI Medical & Dental School today to schedule a tour of our state-of-the-art facility. Take the first step towards an exciting new career with hands-on training and outstanding student results.
