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Dental assistant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Aaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDH
Dental assistant example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical dental assistant skills. We ranked the top skills for dental assistants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 30.1% of dental assistant resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a dental assistant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 dental assistant skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how dental assistants use patients:
  • Organized and maintained dental officers calendar and kept detailed schedule of patients treatment appointments.
  • Greeted and prepared patients and rooms for routine/specialized treatment and procedures.

2. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how dental assistants use patient care:
  • Provided patient care and service while resolving daily complications, projecting a positive attitude, developing positive patient rapports.
  • Dedicated to providing office and laboratory support, while ensuring an unwavering commitment to patient care.

3. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how dental assistants use cpr:
  • Instructed Dental Students *Chair side and Instruments *CPR Certified *OSHA Standards *Radiology Certified Anatomy and Anesthesiology
  • Certified in dental radiology and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

4. Oral Care

Oral care is the custom of keeping the mouth clean and free of disease by regular brushing of the teeth and cleaning between teeth. Oral hygiene must be practised regularly to enable the prevention of bad breath and dental disease.

Here's how dental assistants use oral care:
  • Performed coronal polishing, irrigation, applied sealants, provided personal oral care instructions and educated patients in post-procedure care.
  • Prepared age appropriate presentations for oral health education and demonstrated correct oral care techniques for students and in-office patients.

5. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how dental assistants use customer service:
  • Provide front office administration and support including database administration, scheduling of patient appointments, inventory control, and customer service.
  • Assisted 180 clinical hours with responsibilities for sterilization, radiography, several restorative procedures, customer service and patient communication.

6. Dental Procedures

Dental procedures is a term used to refer to the medical procedures and processes which occur within or otherwise related to a patient's teeth or other connected and nearby elements. Such procedures are medical in nature and thus must be done, specifically, by medical experts and professionals who also must be in possession of the appropriate medical licenses. These procedures can include but are not limited to: dental fillings, crowns, extraction of teeth, and braces.

Here's how dental assistants use dental procedures:
  • Worked closely with patients before, during and after dental procedures while maintaining proper universal precautions and infection control procedures.
  • Provided excellent support passing instruments to dentist during various dental procedures in an efficient and organized manner.

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7. Chair Side

In most cases, chairside refers to the activities that take place beside a dentist's chair. Chairside assisting stands for any operation performed by a dental assistant to assist the dentist during a procedure or dental examination.

Here's how dental assistants use chair side:
  • Chair side assisting * Performed Sterilization and disinfecting procedures * Performed X-ray
  • Prepared rooms and Patient/ Chair side assisting/ Digital X-rays/ Sterilization/ Charting

8. OSHA

Here's how dental assistants use osha:
  • Maintained OSHA regulations and sterilization for a state of Nevada accredited paperless dental back office.
  • Assisted the hygienist, documented patient information, and utilized sterilization protocols required by OSHA.

9. Treatment Procedures

Here's how dental assistants use treatment procedures:
  • Job responsibilities included daily charting, restorative treatment procedures, fabrication temporary crown and bridge for lab processing.
  • Provided assistance to doctor/hygienist in a variety of dental treatment procedures: preparing instruments and taking panoramic x-rays.

10. Dental Care

Here's how dental assistants use dental care:
  • Documented dental care services by charting in patient records and maintains patient confidence and protects operations by keeping information confidential.
  • Participated in Dental care education and Preventive care programs during various community outreach activities.

11. Oral Health

Here's how dental assistants use oral health:
  • Conducted high caries briefings for several hundred military members on hygiene techniques enhancing oral health awareness.
  • 2-Maintained an aseptic and positive environment and educated patients on postoperative and general oral health care.

12. Excellent Organizational

Here's how dental assistants use excellent organizational:
  • Recognized for excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Possess excellent organizational, interpersonal and administrative skills.

13. Infection Control Procedures

Here's how dental assistants use infection control procedures:
  • Maintained proper dental infection control procedures including sterilization and storage of all dental equipment and supplies.
  • Sharpened and sterilized dental instruments, maintaining universal precautions and infection control procedures at all times.

14. Work Ethic

Here's how dental assistants use work ethic:
  • Possess a positive attitude and hard work ethic, punctual, committed and reliable to excellence at any task.
  • Observed the doctor's work ethics and assisted with suctioning the patient's mouth.

15. Oral Surgery

Here's how dental assistants use oral surgery:
  • Work closely with doctor in the following dental procedures oral surgery/implant, sterilization of dental equipment.
  • Assisted dentists and patients with procedures including preventative dentistry and oral surgery.
top-skills

What skills help Dental Assistants find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What dental assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Aaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDHAaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDH LinkedIn profile

Dental Assisting Faculty, Articulation Officer, Website

In the Dental Assisting program at West Los Angeles College, the advice that we give our students includes several topics. The main recommendation is to take the California's Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) exam. Other advice includes, creating a professional resume (cloud based and on paper), always be respectful of other's time and having a professional mindset. These are qualities that are timeless.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about dental assistant

List of dental assistant skills to add to your resume

Dental assistant skills

The most important skills for a dental assistant resume and required skills for a dental assistant to have include:

  • Patients
  • Patient Care
  • CPR
  • Oral Care
  • Customer Service
  • Dental Procedures
  • Chair Side
  • OSHA
  • Treatment Procedures
  • Dental Care
  • Oral Health
  • Excellent Organizational
  • Infection Control Procedures
  • Work Ethic
  • Oral Surgery
  • Dexterity
  • Vital Signs
  • Strong Customer Service
  • Front Desk
  • Dental Treatment
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Dental Instruments
  • Blood Pressure
  • Medical History
  • Coronal
  • Treatment Rooms
  • HIPAA
  • Dental Services
  • Instrument Trays
  • Infection Control Policies
  • Patient Education
  • Dental Equipment
  • Patient Charts
  • Exam Rooms
  • Dentures
  • Oral Hygiene
  • Lab Cases
  • Digital X-Rays
  • Root Canals
  • Dental Materials
  • Dental Radiographs
  • Disinfect Instruments
  • Study Casts
  • Surgical Procedures
  • Patient Appointments
  • Assist Dentist
  • Resuscitation
  • Study Models

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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