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Surgical dental assistant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Aaron Benitez CDA, RDA, RDHAP, MSDH,

Mario Alemagno

Surgical dental assistant example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical surgical dental assistant skills. We ranked the top skills for surgical dental assistants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 23.4% of surgical dental assistant resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a surgical dental assistant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 surgical dental assistant skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how surgical dental assistants use patients:

Billed major insurance providers using ADA codes and processed incoming payments from insured and non-insured patients and insurance providers.
Assisted dentist in prophylactic procedures: provided necessary tools, sterilized equipment, comforted patients.

2. Vital Signs

Vital signs are a set of values indicating different body systems' performance. They are measurements of the body's most basic functions. The four major vital signs used in medicine to assess a patient are body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure.

Here's how surgical dental assistants use vital signs:

Record patient vital signs, assist surgeon with local general anesthesia and IV sedation.
Start IV and monitor intravenous fluids and vital signs during a procedure as well.

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 surgical dental assistants use cpr:

Instructed Dental Students *Chair side and Instruments *CPR Certified *OSHA Standards *Radiology Certified Anatomy and Anesthesiology
Certified in CPR and digital dental radiography and safety certification.

4. IV

Here's how surgical dental assistants use iv:

Maintained drug log and ordered all drugs, including those used for IV sedation.
Trained staff and assisted in general and IV sedation for dental and surgical procedures.

5. Infection Control Procedures

Here's how surgical 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.

6. Surgical Procedures

Surgical procedures include the list of tasks that are done while doing surgery. Usually, a surgical procedure involves an incision with instruments, performed to repair damage or heal the disease in a living body. Surgical procedures are performed by trained individuals such as surgeons, doctors, and nurses.

Here's how surgical dental assistants use surgical procedures:

Involved with approximately 800 surgical procedures of different types annually.
Assisted with general and local anesthesia during surgical procedures.

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7. Dexterity

Here's how surgical dental assistants use dexterity:

Assisted dentists, chair-side, with patient handling and dental procedure completion Skills Used Anticipation Organization Dental informational knowledge Dexterity Human relations
Performed quick technical applications involving manual dexterity and sharply attended to detailed protocols.

8. 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 surgical dental assistants use patient care:

Communicate with other referring clinics regarding patient care referrals and/or x-rays.
Assisted in all facets of patient care including initial patient consultation, patient treatment, and post operative care.!

9. Dental Assistants

Here's how surgical dental assistants use dental assistants:

Orient 10 dental residents and other dental assistants to policy and procedure as well as provide administrative oversight.
Trained New Dental Assistants, Language translation.

10. OSHA

Here's how surgical dental assistants use osha:

Assisted with all dental procedures, ordered all supplies, maintained equipment and OSHA handbook.
Conducted work in compliance with office policies and procedures, safety and OSHA guidelines.

11. Blood Pressure

Here's how surgical dental assistants use blood pressure:

Prepared patients procedures and recorded temperature and blood pressure at every appointment.
Assisted physician with administering anesthesia, monitored blood pressure and other vitals.

12. Medical History

Here's how surgical dental assistants use medical history:

Reviewed patient's medical history and obtained any medical clearance prior to surgery.
Side chaired for all dental procedures crown and bridge endo all composites new patient medical history.

13. Scheduling Appointments

Scheduling appointments is the practice of finding a free slot with the person(s) you want to meet. The process of scheduling appointments involves finding mutually free time, negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and creating new appointments. Scheduling appointments is important to ensure that the timings of consecutive meetings do not clash with each other.

Here's how surgical dental assistants use scheduling appointments:

Handle incoming calls and scheduling appointments.
Assisted surgeons with surgery, patient preparation Customer care/service Computerized accounts receivable, scheduling appointments Knowledge of autoclave Maintaining medical records

14. Oral Hygiene

Oral hygiene is the terminology used to describe the state and measurement of cleanliness and health in one's mouth and, sometimes, the surrounding areas. The most basic way of ensuring and improving a good oral hygiene is the regular brushing of one's teeth, but trips to the dentist and other healthcare professionals are a common need, even if it is just for check-ups.

Here's how surgical dental assistants use oral hygiene:

Provided post operative instructions, oral hygiene instructions, and patient education of needed treatment.
Demonstrate professional oral communication to the customer explaining the benefits of proper oral hygiene and post-procedural care.

15. Dental Care

Here's how surgical dental assistants use dental care:

Exemplified professional development by attending seminars to spread awareness about dental care.
Provided education and demonstrations that promote proper dental care.

5 Surgical Dental Assistant resume examples

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What skills help Surgical Dental Assistants find jobs?

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

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

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.

What type of skills will young surgical dental assistants need?

Mario Alemagno

Dental Coach, Business Coach, Life Coach, Dental School

I do believe that there will. Infection control has always been a point of emphasis in all dental programs. The coronavirus has reinforced this with students and has made them respect the necessity of this imperative part of their education and, ultimately, their practice. This is not likely to be forgotten. On a broader level, it has taught them to be prepared and to adapt to changes that may take place in the way they perform their dentistry and how they run their dental practices.

Do you want to know more?

List of surgical dental assistant skills to add to your resume

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

Patients
Vital Signs
CPR
IV
Infection Control Procedures
Surgical Procedures
Dexterity
Patient Care
Dental Assistants
OSHA
Blood Pressure
Medical History
Scheduling Appointments
Oral Hygiene
Dental Care
Front Desk

Patient Charts
Autoclaves
Health History
Chair Side
General Anesthesia
Dental Procedures
Surgical Instruments
Oral Surgery Procedures
Dental Instruments
Nitrous Oxide
Treatment Rooms
Patient Appointments
Digital X-Rays
Dental Implants
CBCT
Instrument Trays

Surgical Trays
Suture Removal
Patient Education
Alginate Impressions
Dentures
Dental Equipment
Implant Placement
Surgical Rooms
Insurance Claims
Instrument Sterilization
Post-Op Care
Patient Vitals
Dentrix
HIPAA
Prosthetics
EKG

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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