Dental Assistant

Job Title

Dental Assistant

Duties

The Dental Assistant duties include, but not limited to:

• Shows courtesy, respect, and a positive attitude for patients, co-workers and the public
• Provides assistance to customers with questions or concerns and service recovery
• Sets up operatory and/or surgery suite for planned dental procedure and cleans dental unit for timely turnover
• Passes instruments safely, accurately, and efficiently
• Keeps operative field clear of debris and retracts oral tissues effectively and comfortably
• Prepares dental medicaments and impression materials per manufacturer's instructions
• Accomplishes all intra-operative procedures within standard infection control protocols
• Assists in routine general dental procedures using concepts of four-handed dentistry
• Assists in specialized dental procedures, such as oral surgery, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, implant placement and restoration
• Maintains both routine and specialty dental equipment per manufacturer instructions and dental service standards
• Exposes both standard and specialty dental imaging (i.e. TMJ, ceph, cone beam) in traditional and/or digital formats
• Modifies settings to achieve the images as requested by the provider
• Demonstrates proper infection control procedures in setting up and cleaning operatories
• Disinfects oral appliances to prevent cross contamination
• Properly prepares instruments for transfer to SPD for sterilization Follows all Standard Operating Procedures for Reusable Medical Equipment
• Works closely with SPD to ensure availability of instruments so that clinical care is not delayed
• Demonstrates proper infection control procedures in exposing images
• Utilizes all proper PPE per national and local policies
• Follows all hospital infection control protocols including hand hygiene
• Assists in filling gaps in the doctor's schedule due to late cancellations and failed appointments
• Initiates computerized progress note
• Assists dentist in charting findings and treatment plans in patient records
• Locates/tracks all pending patient lab cases for use during patient appointments
• Properly completes all dental laboratory cards
• Monitors patient vital signs (BP, pulse, pulse oximeter) and condition during invasive treatment and during recovery period following procedure
• Applies topical anesthetic at the injection site and applies topical fluoride
• Makes impressions for diagnostic casts and preliminary impressions for prosthetic fabrication
• Removes plaque and soft debris from removable prostheses
• Provides patient preventative education and oral hygiene instruction
• Provides post-operative and other appropriate patient education
• Performs related duties as assigned