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Dental assistant/receptionist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Aaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDH

Dental assistant/receptionist example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical dental assistant/receptionist skills. We ranked the top skills for dental assistant/receptionists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 31.0% of dental assistant/receptionist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a dental assistant/receptionist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 dental assistant/receptionist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use patients:

Contacted pharmacist to authorize medication for patients prior to dental procedures.
Provide state-of-the-art individualized orthodontic treatment to adult and adolescent patients.

2. 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 assistant/receptionists use customer service:

Experienced Customer Service Representative Self-directed, detailed oriented and organized individual that is comfortable working in an open team environment.
Increased customer retention and patient compliance significantly by improving scheduling, high level customer service and treatment planning.

3. 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 assistant/receptionists use dental procedures:

Sterilized instruments and disinfected equipment, preparing and laying out instruments for various dental procedures.
Sterilized and delivered instruments to treatment area, assisted dentist in dental procedures.

4. Appointment Scheduling

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use appointment scheduling:

Demonstrated organized clerical work, effective maintenance of medical records including patient processing, answering phones, and appointment scheduling.
Front desk responsibilities - greeting/checking-in patients, new patient paperwork/information, database management, appointment scheduling and patient accounts.

5. Strong Computer

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use strong computer:

Utilize strong communication skills as well as strong computer and internet research skills.

6. Dental Care

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use dental care:

Provided general administrative support and comprehensive general dental care and complex dental issues.
Participated in a citywide marketing campaign to promote specialized dental care.

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7. Front Desk

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use front desk:

Managed front desk administrative duties including billing and payment processing, organized and maintained patient records, scheduled appointments.
Front Desk, billing, X-Ray Assisting doctor during procedure Patient interaction Patient information/billing

8. Financial Arrangements

A financial arrangement is an arrangement or debt instrument under which a person receives money in consideration for a person or another person either at a future time or in case of a future event.

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use financial arrangements:

Maintained front office duties including payroll, data entry, financial arrangements and all administrative responsibilities.
Maintained office accounts receivable information, making financial arrangements with patients before treatments.

9. 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 assistant/receptionists use chair side:

Chair side assisting answering phones making appointments instrument sterilization
Provided chair side assistance as necessary

10. 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 assistant/receptionists use patient care:

Collaborated with practice management consultants in developing, implementing, and evaluating basic operating and patient care protocols and procedures.
Ministered routine patient care and monitoring, including instruments and material set up and sterilization.

11. Infection Control

Infection control describes the principles and practices used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities to control and minimize the spread of infections with the aim of lowering rates of infection. Infection control refers to the process of detecting and controlling pathogens in order to reduce their spread.

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use infection control:

Greeted and prepared patients for dental examinations Properly sterilized dental equipment and examination rooms in accordance with infection control policies.
Followed an inventory control, ordering system, sterilization and infection control protocol.

12. Insurance Claims

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use insurance claims:

Skilled in insurance coding, electronic filing, monitoring and resolving insurance claims/disputes resulting in timely accounts receivables.
Verify insurance benefits, collected co-payments, coordinated with insurance companies regarding insurance claims and reimbursements.

13. Office Appointments

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use office appointments:

Answered phones and scheduled/confirmed office appointments and surgeries.
Handled all office appointments and daily schedules for the patients and doctor; maintained all office records of patients dental health.

14. Patient Appointments

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use patient appointments:

Scheduled patient appointments-Entered patient personal and insurance information into computer-Answered phones, filed reports, and assisted when needed
Set patient appointments filed confidential records and maintained a productive clean working atmosphere

15. Dental Services

Dental service is a diagnostic, maintenance, preventive or corrective procedure related to teeth, gums, and mouth performed by or under the supervision of a dentist and covers oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and restorative dentistry. The goal of dental service is to prevent complications such as cavities (tooth decay) and gum disease and to maintain the overall health of the mouth.

Here's how dental assistant/receptionists use dental services:

Maintained accurate records and detailed reports to ensure quality dental services.
Verify insurance coverage and billing insurance for dental services.

5 Dental Assistant/Receptionist resume examples

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What skills help Dental Assistant/Receptionists find jobs?

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Aaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDH

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?

List of dental assistant/receptionist skills to add to your resume

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

Patients
Customer Service
Dental Procedures
Appointment Scheduling
Strong Computer
Dental Care
Front Desk
Financial Arrangements
Chair Side
Patient Care
Infection Control
Insurance Claims
Office Appointments
Patient Appointments
Dental Services
Patient Charts
Oral Hygiene

Oral Surgery
Patient Scheduling
Insurance Forms
Insurance Verification
Vital Signs
Instrument Trays
Treatment Rooms
Lab Cases
CPR
Insurance Benefits
Insurance Eligibility
HIPAA
Patient Education
Medical History
Dental Equipment
Digital X-Rays
Dental Instruments

Examination Rooms
Hippa
Dental Insurance
Dentures
Root Canals
Instrument Sterilization
Patient Accounts
Insurance Billing
Insurance Coverage
Insurance Payments
Alginate Impressions
Dental Materials
Eaglesoft
Study Models
Surgical Procedures
Disinfect Instruments

Updated January 8, 2025

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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