How to hire a dental office manager

Dental office manager hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring dental office managers in the United States:

There are a total of 521,437 dental office managers in the US, and there are currently 68,831 job openings in this field.
The median cost to hire a dental office manager is $1,633.
Small businesses spend $1,105 per dental office manager on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
Detroit, MI, has the highest demand for dental office managers, with 5 job openings.

How to hire a dental office manager, step by step

To hire a dental office manager, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a dental office manager:

Here's a step-by-step dental office manager hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a dental office manager job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new dental office manager
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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.

Learn more about the specifics of what a dental office manager does

Post a dental office manager job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

The dental office manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

Hiring the perfect dental office manager also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

This list presents dental office manager salaries for various positions.

Type of Dental Office Manager	Description	Hourly rate
Dental Office Manager		$19-37
Office Lead	An office lead is responsible for performing complex administrative tasks, especially in front office operations, managing staff performance, and providing high-quality customer service by responding to visitors' inquiries and concerns and directing them to the appropriate department. These leads monitor daily business transactions, write business reports, and manage the information in the system database... Show more	$24-61
Billing Manager	A billing manager is in charge of overseeing the systems and processes concerned with billing in a company. One of their primary duties is to handle the receivable accounts to ensure smooth cash flow, assess the validity of bills, provide corrective measures when necessary, supervise the workforce's performance, and solve issues raised by staff... Show more	$25-54

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Patients
- Patient Care
- Customer Service
- Dental Care
- OSHA
- Payroll
- Patient Relations
- Bank Deposits
- Front Desk
- Office Management
- Financial Arrangements
- DR
- Insurance Claims
- Dental Practice
Check all skills
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.
More dental office manager duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your dental office manager job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A dental office manager can vary based on:

Location. For example, dental office managers' average salary in montana is 48% less than in new york.
Seniority. Entry-level dental office managers 48% less than senior-level dental office managers.
Certifications. A dental office manager with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a dental office manager's salary.

Average dental office manager salary

$55,915yearly

$26.88 hourly rate

Entry-level dental office manager salary

$40,000 yearly salary

Updated December 17, 2025

Average dental office manager salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New York	$76,442	$37
2	Virginia	$66,043	$32
3	Pennsylvania	$61,303	$29
4	California	$60,546	$29
5	Maryland	$57,166	$27
6	Illinois	$57,028	$27
7	Indiana	$55,300	$27
8	Ohio	$54,642	$26
9	Oregon	$51,512	$25
10	Florida	$50,996	$25
11	Arizona	$50,779	$24
12	Texas	$50,454	$24
13	Michigan	$50,342	$24
14	Georgia	$50,148	$24
15	North Carolina	$49,704	$24
16	Oklahoma	$47,871	$23

Average dental office manager salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	GPAC	$62,601	$30.10
2	One Brooklyn Health	$61,251	$29.45
3	Suncoast Center	$60,987	$29.32
4	Avery Partners	$57,264	$27.53	6
5	Cds Computers	$55,559	$26.71
6	La Jolla Pharmaceutical	$54,301	$26.11	3
7	Elite Dental Partners	$53,685	$25.81	99
8	Jefferson Dental & Orthodontics	$53,642	$25.79	56
9	Hire Velocity	$53,451	$25.70
10	PDA	$53,258	$25.60
11	University Dental Associates	$53,184	$25.57
12	Pearl Dental	$53,184	$25.57	4
13	Affordable Care	$52,786	$25.38	119
14	Dental Care Alliance	$52,700	$25.34	263
15	Familia Dental	$52,663	$25.32	44
16	Great Expressions Dental Centers	$52,654	$25.31	60
17	Robert Half	$52,539	$25.26	136
18	American Dental Association	$51,653	$24.83	55
19	R.M. Schulte & Associates	$51,330	$24.68
20	United American Indian Involvement	$51,316	$24.67	1

Writing a dental office manager job description
A dental office manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a dental office manager job description:
Dental office manager job description example
Our Detroit Midtown dental practice is searching for a full-time Dental Office Manager!
Located at 3670 Woodward Ave., Suite 101B ~ Detroit, Michigan 48201

Join a neighborhood dental center backed by a national network of support.

We're searching for a Operations Manager who wants to join a truly patient-centric dental group. In this highly collaborative role, you will have the opportunity to solve problems while implementing progressive processes and solutions to meet business needs, run a dental practice by monitoring patient flow and work P&L statements, develop team members, partner with our doctors to drive the practice to the next level and so much more. At Great Expressions, you'll feel like you're a part of a local, neighborhood practice while enjoying all of the support of a stable, national network.

Thrive at Great Expressions. Experience our total rewards:

+ Competitive pay and bonus potential

+ Medical, dental, and vision insurance

+ 401k retirement plan

+ Paid holidays and vacation time

+ Life insurance

+ Tuition reimbursement

Our patients rely on us to improve their oral health and we deliver it - one smile at a time.

Founded in 1982, Great Expressions Dental Centers has consistently ranked among the nation's leading dental groups, providing oral health care services, dental education, and setting new standards for clinical excellence and patient satisfaction. And we do all of this while keeping a healthy smile affordable and convenient in a world of tight budgets and busy schedules. Join our team and help us continue to provide high quality, patient-focused dental care to our communities.

Your safety and wellbeing matter.

To maintain the health of our team members and patients, we have implemented a number of added safety measures, as outlined by the CDC, throughout our practices. These include, but are not limited to, daily team member and patient screening, mask usage in non-clinical areas, increased disinfection of common areas and social distancing whenever possible. Our goal is to make sure you feel as safe as possible at work, so you can focus on providing exceptional patient care.

+ Minimum of 2 years in a Dental, Medical, or Retail setting with strong emphasis in customer service is required

+ Management experience preferred

ID: 2022-24496

External Company URL: www.greatexpressions.com

Telecommute: No
Post your job
To find the right dental office manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with dental office managers they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit dental office managers who meet your education requirements.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your dental office manager job on Zippia to find and recruit dental office manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
During your first interview to recruit dental office managers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.
Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new dental office manager
Once you've selected the best dental office manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new dental office manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a dental office manager?

There are different types of costs for hiring dental office managers. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new dental office manager employee.

Dental office managers earn a median yearly salary is $55,915 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find dental office managers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $19 and $37.

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Updated December 17, 2025

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How to hire a dental office manager