Dental office manager vs desk manager

The differences between dental office managers and desk managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a dental office manager and a desk manager. Additionally, a desk manager has an average salary of $75,140, which is higher than the $55,915 average annual salary of a dental office manager.

The top three skills for a dental office manager include patients, patient care and customer service. The most important skills for a desk manager are CRM, sales process, and quality customer service.

Dental office manager vs desk manager overview

	Dental Office Manager	Desk Manager
Yearly salary	$55,915	$75,140
Hourly rate	$26.88	$36.12
Growth rate	28%	-
Number of jobs	68,831	45,871
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a dental office manager do?

A dental office manager oversees the business operations of the dental practice, including billing, expenses, and budget. Dental office managers are leaders in the practice. Among their duties and responsibilities are appointment schedule maintenance and staff supervision. They coordinate the treatment of patients and oversee billing. They may become successful when they incorporate modern communication skills.

What does a desk manager do?

A desk manager's responsibilities focus on facilitating communication and performing organizational support tasks to maintain the smooth flow of operations at offices. Although the extent of their duties primarily depends on their company or employment industry, it usually includes handling calls and correspondence, answering inquiries, resolving issues and concerns, forwarding calls and messages, arranging appointments and schedules, organizing files, and overseeing various communication materials. In some offices, a desk manager manages different teams, supervising their performance while enforcing company standards and policies.

Dental office manager vs desk manager salary

Dental office managers and desk managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dental Office Manager	Desk Manager
Average salary	$55,915	$75,140
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $77,000	Between $44,000 And $127,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Eureka, CA
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	GPAC	ServiceNow
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between dental office manager and desk manager education

There are a few differences between a dental office manager and a desk manager in terms of educational background:

	Dental Office Manager	Desk Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Dental Assisting	Business
Most common college	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities	California State University - Bakersfield

Dental office manager vs desk manager demographics

Here are the differences between dental office managers' and desk managers' demographics:

	Dental Office Manager	Desk Manager
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 9.7% Female, 90.3%	Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 5.3% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between dental office manager and desk manager duties and responsibilities

Dental office manager example responsibilities.

Manage medical health documents, submit laboratory works and input diagnoses, ICD-9 and procedure codes.
Manage daily office operations, policies and procedures, and OSHA compliance in a fast pace setting.
Help dentist manage dental and medical emergencies by maintaining CPR certification.
Manage business accounts receivable and payable, payroll, and insurance verification and submission responsibilities.
Work a POS register and sell movie tickets.
Ensure HIPAA compliance, perform monthly inventory, order supplies.

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Desk manager example responsibilities.

Provide leadership and direction to facility management and program owners while motivating and interacting with employees to achieve continuous improvement.
Maintain POS transactions and hotel budget.
Shred patient information to comply with HIPAA regulations.
Follow HIPAA guidelines to ensure staff compliance.assist with all dental procedures.
Design a multi-part training program for the primary POS program used in retail locations.
Import and export all patient data into the EMR from hospitals and other qualify health care providers.

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Dental office manager vs desk manager skills

Common dental office manager skills

Patients, 24%
Patient Care, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Dental Care, 6%
OSHA, 6%
Payroll, 5%

Common desk manager skills

CRM, 19%
Sales Process, 12%
Quality Customer Service, 10%
CSI, 9%
Sales People, 8%
Sales Desk, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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