Dental assistant: responsibilities, workplace requirements, job descriptions

In dentistry, the practice of working with four hands is the most popular and convenient format for the interaction of a doctor and his assistant, therefore, in the clinics engaged in this direction, recruitment agencies try to recruit experienced and reliable employees not only for doctors, but also for junior staff. What are the duties of a dental assistant, what is he doing at the workplace, what are his rights and what does his area of ​​responsibility apply to - comprehensive information in the article.

What kind of profession is an assistant dentist?

A dental assistant is the right hand of any dentist. Without it, not a single clinic can function normally, since he performs all the preparatory work in the doctor’s office, helps him at the reception, and keeps documentation. The remaining duties of the dental assistant are determined by his immediate superiors - the doctor and the head of the clinic (department). Typically, these specialists perform paramedical care without interfering with the treatment process, but sometimes doctors delegate part of their own powers, instructing the assistant to make an initial examination of the patient or to carry out simple manipulations with him.

This profession is quite in demand on the labor market, because there are a lot of offices providing dental and oral treatment services in our country. The responsibilities of a dental assistant in a private clinic may differ from those performed by a specialist in a budget organization. Firstly, because in each institution the doctor works with materials familiar to him and using a certain technology, and secondly, because private practitioners, as a rule, have more modern equipment, they modernize patient management protocols and respond more quickly to innovations in their field of activity.

Dental Assistant Education

In order to work as an assistant to a dentist, it is necessary to have a secondary specialized medical education. At the same time, it is important for some clinics that the candidate graduate from any medical college with a degree in Nursing, while others fundamentally need a diploma in the specialty of Preventive Dentistry.

In addition to a diploma confirming a sufficient level of knowledge for work, the assistant must receive a state specialist certificate in a timely manner. Recall that, by law, employers and regulatory bodies are not entitled to require this document from graduates of educational institutions if they graduated less than five years ago. A specialist certificate is not just another piece of paper, but a serious certification document that ensures that a candidate for a vacant position in the clinic can fulfill the duties of an assistant to the dentist. The certificate confirms that the health care provider has sufficient theoretical and practical skills.

4 hands work

In advertisements for the search for an assistant dental assistant, authors often indicate that the candidate must have sufficient skills and qualifications to work with the doctor four hands. What does this mean? The doctor is forced to do all dental manipulations quickly enough: many filling materials, as well as medicines, must be removed from the packaging as soon as possible and used as directed. At the same time, it is important to observe the phased work, not to confuse anything. Sometimes, work requires highlighting the reconstruction area of ​​the dentition with a special lamp, which the doctor himself will not be able to do. Also, the doctor often needs a quick change of the working tool, drill bits, mirrors, forceps. It is for the speed of all these tasks that an assistant dentist is required. The duties of an assistant are always to be in the doctor’s access area, respond quickly to his requests and know the sequence of his main actions in order to be able to predict the “order” of the boss.

If the tandem has developed successfully, and the doctor and his assistant understand each other perfectly, then their labor productivity increases significantly. Therefore, clinics are so welcomed to work in 4 hands. The duties of a dental assistant do not require a person to show excessive initiative, on the contrary, it is important that the assistant respects business and personal subordination with the doctor, is executive, attentive and responsible.

Dental Assistant Fellowship

The range of responsibilities assigned to the dental assistant is highly dependent on the doctor himself, as well as the services he renders. So, for universal doctors who are involved in surgical, therapeutic manipulations, prosthetics, orthodontics and orthopedics, the requirements for assistants are more stringent. The functional responsibilities of dental assistants are also different in view of the fact that they can be involved in the treatment process to different degrees. Paramedic care consists in the following types of work:

• compliance with sanitary standards in the office, timely disinfection, weekly general cleaning (mopping floors, walls, ceilings, windows, furniture and equipment);
• preparation for operation of tools, their disinfection, sterilization;
• cleaning the doctor’s workplace at the end of the working day, including disinfection of tips, turning off the equipment;
• keeping records of medicines, consumables and dressings, their delivery to the doctor, tracking expiration dates, balances;
• maintaining documentation, patient records, filling out various reporting forms, making entries in cleaning logs, equipment health, instrument sterilization.

And, of course, the main duties of the dental assistant are to quickly follow the doctor’s instructions during work, to meet patients near the registry and to escort them to the chair.

Assistant with Partial Responsibilities

In many clinics, assistants are also responsible for carrying out diagnostic procedures, which means that they must be able to work with a visiograph and an x-ray machine, and use them to aim, intraoral and panoramic images.

If the assistant has a fairly good theoretical and practical knowledge base, the doctor can entrust him with the implementation of more complex tasks. In addition to all of the above, the following responsibilities will be assigned to his shoulders:

• initial examination of the patient;
• partial implementation of preventive, therapeutic and diagnostic procedures;
• assistance in the selection of filling material;
• maintaining cleanliness in the patient’s mouth while the doctor is working (removing saliva, blood, rinsing the mouth).

Filling out a patient card is also the responsibility of the dental assistant. What should he indicate there? The name of the patient, his address, date of birth and age, the amount of work that the doctor did, his prescriptions.

Dental assistant job description

Each clinic develops its own job description for employees. According to this document, the nuances of the work of employees are determined: rights, area of ​​responsibility, duties and requirements. A dental assistant is a serious position, therefore, in relation to him, the instruction should include the following mandatory items:

1. General provisions (education, seniority, additional skills; clarification of the service hierarchy; legislative standards required in the work; the acting assistant in case of his absence is indicated).
2. Job responsibilities - a list of tasks that the assistant will need to perform.
3. Employee Rights.
4. The responsibility that he bears before the clinic and patients.

The job description must be signed by the head of the clinic and subordinate. The date of its creation is put on the document. In this case, one copy remains in the clinic, and the other is given to the hands of the dental assistant.

Work schedule

The duties of the dental assistant can be divided into two components. The first is precisely the work process and its interaction with the doctor. In addition, the dental assistant must have time to tidy the office, order medicines, tools, supplies on time, disinfect and sterilize the instrument. Fulfillment of these duties cannot be cut with the help of a physician when required.

The assistant, as a rule, comes to work earlier than the doctor, and leaves later than him - in order to have time to prepare the workplace before receiving patients and always be picked up by the doctor. Dentists usually work in shifts - before lunch or after. Assistants are also not in the clinic from dawn to dawn, their working day depends on the doctor’s schedule, but it is longer than that of the immediate boss.

Records management

The second component of the duties of an assistant dentist is the maintenance of reporting and current documentation. The assistant fills out patient cards (in paper or electronic form), maintains various records:

• safety precautions;
• drug accounting;
• cleaning;
• disinfection and sterilization;
• equipment health.

Entries in these documents must be made in a timely manner, patient cards are filled out immediately - at the reception.

Rights and responsibilities of the dental assistant

The rights of a dental assistant are not limited solely by the provisions of the labor legislation of the country in which he works - official employment, compliance with the regime of work and rest, the availability of a social package, etc. They also relate to the purely professional employment of a specialist. The assistant must fully receive the information necessary for him to fulfill his duties, he also has the right to demand the support of management for the performance of the functions assigned to him.

The dental assistant is a financially responsible person. Moreover, the doctor’s assistant is responsible not only for the equipment, tools and medicines entrusted to him, but also for his actions. If, due to his negligence, carelessness or unprofessional actions, the patient’s health or life was harmed, he will be liable for this before the court. In case of serious errors, the doctor’s assistant may be fined, deprived of the right to work in his current position or imprisoned in a correctional colony.

Wage

The work of the dental assistant is estimated quite well. The largest salaries in this industry are, of course, noted in Moscow. In large dental clinics, assistants are paid between 60-75 thousand rubles a month, while those who are employed in smaller offices have to be content with 25-30 thousand rubles. There are a lot of open vacancies at labor exchanges, so the dental assistant will be able to find a good job quite quickly. In the regions, things are not so rosy - there are much fewer places and salaries are much lower. The average bar is 20-25 thousand, while some clinic assistants are willing to pay no more than 15 thousand rubles a month.