Dental Assistants

Being An Orthodontic Dental Assistant- What's Involved

The profile of an Orthodontic Dental Assistant covers the care of patients through the multifarious activities that pertain to office and laboratory duties that the assistant needs to perform.

Career Profile

His basic qualifications should be a diploma on the completion of high school and maybe also a degree program from a community or junior college. Additionally, he needs to have an “on-the-job training”. Other careers that qualify him to be an Orthodontic Dental Assistant are pharmacy technician, medical assistant, or a dental assistant.

Duties

Essentially he is a helper and plays the role of a second pair of hands to the orthodontist. His roles cover activities to ensure the patient is comfortable, take and process x-rays, and apply anesthesia prior to an operation. His job involves various office duties like accessing and organizing all dental records and readying the patient for the Orthodontist. The Orthodontist Dental Assistant also needs to prepare the instruments and keep them ready for use. He should be qualified enough to additionally assist the orthodontist during operations, by handing him or her, the correct instruments. He should be familiar and proficient with techniques, procedures and methods of dental procedure. He must be able to assist in anesthetic procedures and placing of rubber dams to isolate the teeth to be individually treated. He needs to prepare impressions and remove sutures.

Personality Profile

He should be presentable and poised with a comforting and calming demeanor to make the patient comfortable at the orthodontist's clinic. He should be qualified enough to assist during consultations, understand and interpret treatment plans, deal with and handle inquiries and payments. He should be courteous and professional in his mannerisms when interacting with patients. His communication skills should be extremely good as he needs to give instructions on general and postoperative oral health care.  

The Procedure to Become an Orthodontic Dental Assistant

In addition to the basic qualification of holding a diploma of a high school or a degree from a junior college, it's a hands-on-job training that is the real qualification you need to acquire to qualify you for this career. These skills are acquired over a period of time while working under the guidance of an Orthodontist, and there are some additional courses on chemistry, anatomy and time management which help you to become an efficient assistant to an Orthodontist.

Skills of an Orthodontist Dental Assistant

The first and foremost requirement is to love the work and people around. The next is to possess excellent communication ability. Then, focus on dexterity in working and other technical skills. You should be dependable and meticulous in your record keeping skills.