Dental Assistant Salary Range

A dental assistant is one who works as an assistant to a dentist or a dental hygienist in various surgical procedures, and also deals with maintaining dental records, patient history, besides other things. Dental assistants are key members of a dental clinic, as they assist the dental surgeon to provide effective service to the patients. Today, many young career aspirants are looking forward to a career as a dental assistant. This is because the career opportunities in such medical jobs are likely to increase all throughout the current decade, with many health care organizations, dental clinics, insurance companies, and the armed forces recruiting people with dental assistance skills and qualifications. Apart from this, the dental assistant salary range is also quite decent. Let us find out more about the dental assistant duties, educational requirements, certifications, and most importantly, the average dental assistant salary that one can expect.

Dental Assistant Educational Requirements

The educational requirements to become a dental assistant are not too much. After completing high school with subjects such as biology, algebra, geometry, English, dental assistance, computers etc., you can move on to a college that imparts training on dental assistance studies. See that the college is accredited by the Commission of Dental Accreditation and then pursue a 1 - 2 year course on dental assistance. Further, you could be able to become a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA), on completing the examination conducted by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. With all these educational qualifications, your chances to be preferred and recruited by a renowned dental health care organization would definitely increase.

Dental Assistant Job Description

As said earlier, dental assistants are key members of any dental health care organization. The reason behind this is the wide range of duties that they need to perform under the supervision of the dentist. All such tasks and activities of a dental assistant are:

• The first and foremost duty of a dental assistant is to assist the dentist in dental operations and also guide the patients in maintaining dental health.
• Prepare oral health plans under the supervision of the dentist to render effective dental care services to the patients.
• Maintaining medical records related to dental problems, preserving dental history of each and every patient, and producing them whenever required, are part of the dental assistant's job.
• Preparing and taking care of all the dental instruments and supplies for surgeries such as dental implants and laser tooth whitening.
• Polishing and cleaning the teeth by removing soft deposits and tarnishes.
• Helping the dentist in developing dental X-rays, and preparing dental material such as composite, amalgam, impression material and cement.
• Assisting the dentist in organizing, controlling and managing the dental inventory.
• Removing surgical sutures, orthodontic ligature ties, also form an important part of the dental assistant's job description.
• Taking out the excessive cement from the orthodontic bands and fabricated restorations.
• Applying the topical fluoride treatments, pit and fissure sealants.
• Managing and arranging patient appointments with the dentist, calculating and receiving bills from the patients.

Average Salary for Dental Assistant

Here we come to the main focus of our discussion! Actually, the dental assistant salary range depends upon the size of the organization and the range of duties to be performed. In some organizations, 'on-job training', experience, knowledge, manual dexterity and demanded working hours are also considered to be vital factors that decide the salary range. However, on an average, a dental assistant gets paid around $30,000 - 40,000, and is also liable to receive employment benefits on getting confirmed on the job. Let's have a look at the average salaries in all the states.

Dental Assistant State Wise Salary

Alabama $39,000 Alaska $30,000 Arizona $32,000 Arkansas $37,000 California $40,000 Colorado $33,000 Connecticut $39,000 Delaware $35,000 Florida $36,000 Georgia $39,000 Hawaii $28,000 Idaho $32,000 Illinois $39,000 Indiana $39,000 Iowa $35,000 Kansas $33,000 Kentucky $35,000 Louisiana $29,000 Maine $36,000 Maryland $38,000 Massachusetts $43,000 Michigan $34,000 Minnesota $35,000 Mississippi $46,000 Missouri $37,000 Montana $37,000 Nebraska $31,000 Nevada $35,000 New Hamp. $38,000 New Jersey $39,000 New Mexico $33,000 New York $43,000 N. Carolina $36,000 N. Dakota $35,000 Ohio $35,000 Oklahoma $34,000 Oregon $34,000 Pennsylvania $33,000 Rhode Island $39,000 S. Carolina $33,000 S. Dakota $31,000 Tennessee $35,000 Texas $35,000 Utah $35,000 Vermont $38,000 Virginia $38,000 Washington $34,000 West Virginia $38,000 Wisconsin $30,000 Wyoming $40,000

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Now you have a clearer idea of the dental assistant salary range, job description, and the educational requirements of the same. As a matter of fact, however qualified you might be, do not expect health care organizations to pay a lot at the beginning of your career. It is only through experience, knowledge, and improved manual skills that you would be able to increase you market value and quote for a higher pay package in larger organizations.