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Expanded duty dental assistant vs assistant

The differences between expanded duty dental assistants and assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an expanded duty dental assistant and an assistant. Additionally, an expanded duty dental assistant has an average salary of $39,095, which is higher than the $37,363 average annual salary of an assistant.

The top three skills for an expanded duty dental assistant include patients, OSHA and patient care. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Expanded duty dental assistant vs assistant overview

Expanded Duty Dental AssistantAssistant
Yearly salary$39,095$37,363
Hourly rate$18.80$17.96
Growth rate8%-8%
Number of jobs23,594557,900
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 25%Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age3850
Years of experience22

What does an expanded duty dental assistant do?

An Expanded Duty Dental Assistant helps a dentist perform a wide range of administrative duties. Their duties include making impressions of a patients' teeth, performing preliminary oral examinations, and preparing filling materials.

What does an assistant do?

An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.

Expanded duty dental assistant vs assistant salary

Expanded duty dental assistants and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Expanded Duty Dental AssistantAssistant
Average salary$39,095$37,363
Salary rangeBetween $28,000 And $53,000Between $16,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City-Boston, MA
Highest paying state-Massachusetts
Best paying company-Latham & Watkins
Best paying industry-Education

Differences between expanded duty dental assistant and assistant education

There are a few differences between an expanded duty dental assistant and an assistant in terms of educational background:

Expanded Duty Dental AssistantAssistant
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 25%Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common majorDental AssistingBusiness
Most common college-Western Carolina University

Expanded duty dental assistant vs assistant demographics

Here are the differences between expanded duty dental assistants' and assistants' demographics:

Expanded Duty Dental AssistantAssistant
Average age3850
Gender ratioMale, 7.9% Female, 92.1%Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.9% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage4%6%

Differences between expanded duty dental assistant and assistant duties and responsibilities

Expanded duty dental assistant example responsibilities.

  • Sterilize dental instruments and maintain the clinic according to OSHA guidelines in regard to cleanliness and sterilization protocol.
  • Place fillings, coronal polish, take impressions and prepare bleaching trays.
  • Create molds for dentures, retainers, whitening trays, partial dentures, bite guards, etc.
  • Assist with surgical extraction, impressions for dentures and partials and also with soft and hard reline procedures.
  • General sterilization procedures according to OSHA guidelines.
  • Greet patients, sterilize instruments and maintain office equipment.
  • Show more

Assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage circulations, including educational textbooks and DVDS, video technology and supplies.
  • Manage branches providing information technology support, logistics, training and operational support.
  • Manage company's twitter account and communicate with multiple physical therapy providers around the country
  • Optimize productivity in prioritizing and managing special projects, PowerPoint presentations for classes, and proctore exams for undergraduate classes.
  • Assist in jewelry design and assembly, manage company Facebook page, participate in wholesale buying, and manage retail inventory
  • Manage and update company Facebook page with daily updates, finding/sharing relevant and interesting information, and encouraging fan engagement.
  • Show more

Expanded duty dental assistant vs assistant skills

Common expanded duty dental assistant skills
  • Patients, 28%
  • OSHA, 11%
  • Patient Care, 10%
  • Vital Signs, 8%
  • CPR, 8%
  • Dental Care, 4%
Common assistant skills
  • Patients, 27%
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Patient Care, 8%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Sales Floor, 5%
  • Scheduling Appointments, 3%

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