A dental assistant handles a wide range of clinical and administrative responsibilities in a dental office, but among the most meaningful is chairside assisting. Passing the dentist instruments, managing water and suction, and working with patients to keep them comfortable and relaxed is an essential role. Also known as four-handed dentistry, chairside assisting is how a dental assistant best supports both the patient and dentist, by serving as a second pair of hands during oral care procedures.
What is Chairside Assisting?
Chairside assisting includes procedures from fillings and root canals, to extractions and implants, require more tools and equipment than two hands can hold. Patients also need to be closely monitored for comfort, safety, and physiological needs. The bottom line is dentists can’t do it alone. A chairside dental assistant’s two hands and watchful eyes are necessary to make four-handed dentistry a success.
From before procedures begin to the moment a patient walks out the door, dental assistants make care safer and more efficient by:
- Setting up the right tools and equipment
- Educating patients about their dental care
- Preparing patients physically and emotionally
- Passing the dentist instruments and filling materials
- Managing suction and air-water syringes
- Encouraging patients to stay properly positioned and relaxed
- Providing clear aftercare instructions
Skills for Success as a Chairside Dental Assistant
Being a partner to both professionals and patients has challenges and requires unique skills, including good communication skills, foresight, time management skills, empathy, compassion, focus, attention to detail, the ability to educate, open-mindedness, team spirit and a positive attitude.
Skill #1: Good Communication Skills
A dental assistant is the cornerstone of a three-person team, the dentist, the dental assistant and the patient. Dental assistants provide hands-on chairside support, staying focused on the dentist’s needs while also being aware of the patient’s responses to treatment. They’re communication managers.
Dental assistants maintain a running dialogue during procedures, letting patients know what to expect during each stage of care while offering feedback and responding to body language that suggests fear or discomfort. A frightened patient, for example, may pull away at the wrong moment, compromising a filling. Being aware of nonverbal cues helps the dental assistant comfort the patient and keep them safe.
As a liaison for the oral care team, a dental assistant spends the most one-on-one time with patients chairside, so oral care professionals depend on them to relate concerns on patients’ behalf. For example, letting the dentist know a patient is worried about aesthetic outcomes allows them to review expectations while patients concerned about cost can be counseled about payment and financing options in advance.
Skill #2: Foresight
Acting as a dentist’s hands requires foresight, the ability to anticipate the dentist’s needs. It begins by setting up equipment and supplies for each procedure. Trays for a simple filling could have two dozen or more instruments, while the extraction of wisdom teeth requires anesthesia and surgical equipment.
During procedures, a chairside dental assistant anticipates the dentist’s every move. This requires in-depth knowledge of each process as well as the terminology describing dozens of treatments and hundreds of instruments. Since procedures can be performed with different approaches, each dentist tends to have their own unique preference that the dental assistant should be aware of. It’s never easy at first, but once the dentist and dental assistant achieve a working rhythm, they work together like a well-oiled machine.
A dental assistant also needs the foresight to predict patient behavior. Patient cooperation is a must for procedures to be safe. By observing patients before and during care, chairside dental assistants can identify potential issues before they occur, and they can intervene more quickly if they do.
By foreseeing patients’ questions about topics from insurance copayments to pre-procedure medication restrictions, dental assistants can better prepare patients for their visit. It’s also helpful when designing written aftercare instructions that include the information patients may need to care for themselves at home under most circumstances without calling the office.
Skill #3: Time Management Skills
A dentist’s time is valuable, and the more patients they see in a day, the better the financial health of the practice and the faster patients receive care. By delegating tasks that don’t require professional attention, dentists maximize their time.
A good chairside dental assistant takes care of everything short of the actual service so dentists can move on to the next patient who requires their expertise. It takes top-notch time management skills, but it helps the schedule run on time, and that’s a win-win for both dentists and patients.
Skill #4: Empathy
More than half of adults have delayed seeing a dentist because of stress. Of those, some admit to dental phobia, and a small portion say they will only see a dentist when tooth pain becomes unmanageable. Part of a dental assistant’s job is to explain treatments and expectations to patients while overcoming objections such as anxiety and fear, but everyone is unique and requires a different approach.
Empathy, the ability to see events from others’ point of view, makes it easier to understand what patients are thinking and why. It helps dental assistants better understand patients’ motivations and tailor care to their unique needs.
Skill #5: Compassion
Compassion is the desire to help those in need. In theory, it’s easy, but it’s much more difficult in practice. Few students would choose a career in dentistry if they didn’t have a genuine concern for others, but when difficult patients don’t reciprocate the feeling, it’s hard not to take it personally.
Dental assistants want to offer the best chairside care possible, but anxiety can get the best of patients who then act out in unpleasant and frustrating ways. Being compassionate means putting aside expectations and working with people despite their emotions.
Skill #6: Focus
Dental assistants are asked to be multi-taskers, but when working with patients, it’s critical to be attentive and focus on a patient’s needs. Patients pay for time, and they expect undivided attention.
From reviewing the services to be performed to answering questions about care, a dental assistant that focuses on patients’ needs minimizes the potential for errors, ensures services go smoothly and inspires patient confidence.
Skill #7: Attention to Detail
Attention to detail reflects how thoughtful someone is toward their work. It’s a pattern of accuracy and professional consistency when accomplishing tasks. Attention to detail is critical in any role where mistakes can affect patient health.
For example, if a dental assistant misspells a patient’s name, it could result in far-reaching errors. Over a million medical mistakes are attributed to name glitches annually. Multiplied over the number of clinical and administrative tasks as a dental assistant does, getting the details wrong can be costly.
Skill #8: The Ability to Educate
A dental assistant is a teacher at heart. Their knowledge and experience combined with their approachable demeanor make them patients’ go-to-source for information. As an ambassador for the oral care field, they take a leading role in educating patients about timely topics, including:
- Pre- and post-procedure care
- Brushing and flossing techniques
- Choosing the best dental health products
- Preventing gum disease
- Nutrition and oral health
- Cleaning and preventive care
- Dentistry for kids
- Restoration procedures
- Dentures and orthodontic appliance care
Patient education is a challenging but rewarding role. Dental assistants work chairside with patients from all walks of life and connecting with them in ways they can understand can be tough, but it’s a smile-saving effort. Simple adjustments, such as limiting technical jargon, improves comprehension and helps patients feel more informed and comfortable in general with dentistry. The goal is to make patients feel like partners in their care.
Skill #9: Open-mindedness
Dental assistants work with people from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, most of whom hold different opinions about the value of dentistry. As an oral care specialist, a dental assistant wants patients to receive the best care, but good dentistry begins and ends with what the patient wants.
Patients without dental insurance, for example, may choose less expensive treatment options over the most advanced techniques while others may put cosmetic outcomes over health concerns. It’s not a dental assistant’s job to judge, their role is to work with the dentist and patients to achieve the best possible results based on the patient’s values.
Skill #10: Team Spirit
Quality dentistry is a team effort, everyone from the receptionist to the dentist has a specific role, yet they all work together toward a common goal. Members acknowledge each other’s responsibilities and support their efforts, and as trust builds between individuals, care becomes more efficient.
At the heart of the oral care team, dental assistants work closely with all members of the staff toward meeting patient expectations, and when they work well together, it shows. It conveys the sense that everyone is on the same page and boosts patient confidence in their treatment plan. Surveys consistently show that patients are more satisfied when they can tell the staff collaborates.
Skill #11: A Positive Attitude
Employers and patients alike appreciate people who bring a positive attitude to work. Visiting the dentist is stressful for patients but working with positive and friendly staff makes it less intimidating.
It also makes a workplace more productive. Studies show the US economy loses money to workplace stress. It’s been linked to health problems, accidents and lost revenue. Meanwhile, a growing body of research suggests that working with positive people has dramatic benefits for both employers and staff.
Final Thoughts
Working chairside with a dentist is challenging but exciting. Dental assistants get a bird’s eye view of what dentistry has to offer while making a lasting difference in the lives of the patients they serve. Few careers offer such a sense of personal accomplishment and the benefits of collaborating with a dedicated team. It’s a great responsibility with an even greater reward.
Did learning about a dental assistant’s chairside assisting skills interest you? Do you need to become a dental assistant first? The Dental Assistant training program at Meridian College provides extensive hands-on training including a school externship at a dental office where you will assist the dentist in treating actual patients.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a dental assistant.