Dental assistant resume examples from 2025

Your resume summary sums up your experience and skills, making it easy for hiring managers to understand your qualifications at a glance. Here are some tips to writing the most important 2-4 sentences of your resume:

Step 1: Start with your current job title, or the one you aspire to. Are you a passionate manager? A skilled analyst? It's a good starting point.

Step 2: Next put your years of experience in dental assistant-related roles.

Step 3: Now is the time to put your biggest accomplishment or something you are professionally proud of.

Step 4: Read over what you have written. It should be 2-4 sentences. Your goal is to summarize your experience, not recite your resume.

Hiring managers spend under a minute reviewing resumes on average. This means your summary needs to demonstrate your value quickly and show why you are the perfect fit for the dental assistant position.

Use your Skills section to show you have the knowledge and technical ability to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

1. Start with the job listing. Frequently, the keywords looked for by recruiters will be listed. Be careful to include all skills in the job listing you have experience with.
2. Consider all the software and tools you use on a daily basis. When in doubt, list them!
3. Make sure you use accurate and up to date terms for all the skills listed.

These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some dental assistant interviews.

Next you should include your work experience. Structure your work experience section by listing your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.

Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.

Include only recent, relevant jobs. Avoid including work experience over 20 years to avoid ageism.

Beneath each job, you should have bullet points to emphasize why you're the perfect fit for the dental assistant.

Your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. Instead, it is your chance to show your accomplishments and show why you're good at what you do.

• Use the What, How, and Why format. Answering these questions turns a bland job description into an effective showcase of your abilities.
• What were your responsibilities or goals?
• How did you accomplish them?
• Why were your results important? (How did it impact your company? Can you quantify the results in numbers? )

Here are effective examples from dental assistant resumes:

Here is the best way to format your education section:

• Display your highest degree first.
• If you graduated over 5 years ago, put this section at the bottom of your resume. If you lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
• If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education.
• If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries from dental assistant resumes:

Certifications can be a crucial part of your resume. Many jobs have required certifications.

Start simple. Include the full name of the certification. It's also good to mention the organization that issued the certification. Next, specify when you obtained the certification.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your dental assistant resume:

1. Dental Assistant (RDA)
2. Certified Dental Technician
3. Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
4. Medical Assistant
5. Certified Dental Assistant (CDA)
6. Certified Dental Assistant - Coronal Polish (CP)
7. Certified Dental Assistant - Radiation Health and Safety (RHS)
8. Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA)
9. Certified Preventative Functions Dental Assistant (CPFDA)
10. Certified Dental Assistant - Sealants (SE)