As a dental assistant, we require the skills to be able to interact with our dental patients to use patient education to explain procedures and recovery times, diets, daily habits, and so much more. Without an affable smile and tone, patients will not be trusting of us or of dentistry in general. Social skills in a dental office are critical. From our verbal interaction with the patients to the speechless cooperation with the dentists and hygienists during procedures, sociability may be the single most important skill for a dental assistant. Social skills are detrimental to the office as well as in every day interactions. Recognizing non-verbal cues is extremely important with everybody you communicate with throughout your day, during and …show more content…
This is a career; this is no longer your part time jobs through high school and college. Recognizing non-verbal cues is one of the most important aspects of a dental assistant’s social skills. This is how we pass instruments with the dentist. This is also how we can tell the difference between when a patient feels perfectly fine and happy and when they are agitated and in pain. As a dental assistant, observations of patients’ social cues can help notify us that something is wrong with a patient. If they are grabbing the arms of the chair, they may be anxious to come to their visit that day. “White knuckle syndrome” is one way to tell if a patient is anxious; as they sit in the dental chair, they are anxious and nervous, they may seem calm, but they are grabbing the chair arms If they are extremely anxious, this could lead to syncope, the most common medical emergency. If you did not pick up on these obvious social cues, it could be life or death with some patients. Noticing these nonverbal signs and symptoms can dramatically set you apart from your coworkers in the office. Your dentist will notice these occurrences and will keep track of all that you do well for the office; with that said, he will also keep record of the poor work that you do, so maintain a well-rounded job in your office. Another imperative social skill is to demonstrate authentic interest in your coworkers and patients. In the dental field,
Firstly, showing respect in communication with other care workers is very important as for those who do not show respect to each other give out a negative impression to the service user. Secondly, to be able to successfully show colleagues that you value them, its pleasant to greet them by asking them how they are and by spending time by having a conversation. Thirdly, it is good to show that you are a good listener and are
I observed a second year student in the dental clinic who was incredibly enthusiastic, genuine, cheerful, and helpful, and her personality would fit perfectly into what I consider the typical dental hygienist. She seemed very well prepared and confident in her ability to treat her patient. A dynamic conversation was held throughout the appointment with her easygoing and cooperative patient. Besides the appropriate clock and chair positions, I was not aware of many proper techniques when I observed at the beginning of the semester. I noticed the student kept the patient chair in the same position for treating the maxillary and mandibular teeth. I observed her for the full four hours including the preparation before her patient arrived until
Being a dental hygienist will allow me to be more hands on with improving an individual’s health and appearance. It also allows me to work one on one with people directly, while helping them with their personal health needs. Each patient comes to a dental hygienist for various reasons, whether it’s to improve their appearance for a job interview, special occasion, or simply to improve their oral health. However there are more factors that are needed in the dental field other than the skill and work ethic. Personality traits play a major role when being a dental hygienist because it’s a career that deals with people on a more personal level. Working in an environment where I would be with a patient for an hour or more would require me to be observant, a good listener, tolerate, and caring. Being observant is an important trait because a patient 's
Young children and many adults are terrified of visiting the dentist. The first clinician they would see is the dental hygienist, making it extremely important for the dental hygienist to be kind, understanding, and easy to talk to. These characteristics will allow patients to be at ease and enjoy their dental visits. It is also important for dental hygienists to be good listeners so they could understand their patients` concerns. Physical skills are just as important as interpersonal skills in this career. It is important to have good finger dexterity and near vision. These physical skills will come to good use because the job of dental hygienists require them to use instruments in the small area of a patient's mouth. It is also crucial that a dental hygienist be in good physical shape. Dental hygienists spend most of their time crouched over a patient which could result in back pain if the hygienist is not healthy and
Most assistants will work in an office where they will assist in doing a variety of different things like taking care of all of the equipment as well as the instruments used by the dentist. They will make sure that all of these things are in good working order and ready for whenever the dentist is in need of them.
“ Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond.” Being a dental hygienist and helping others and their hygiene is very important. Showing compassion in your patients and working hard is all that counts. I have always valued the dentist and how they keep my smile great and my teeth very clean. Helping others in the future and making them feel better about themselves is why I have chosen this career. This career offers many great things and I could not of chosen a better career.
A dental assistant must be able to work well with others because they are the second pair of hands for the dentist. A dental assistant must be able to understand the dentist and communicate with the dentist to provide proper tools and assistance. Assistants must be very reliable and have excellent manual dexterity so that they can provide the best service to the dentist and to the patient that they are working with. Dental assistants will also have to be knowledgeable on how to properly sterilize and disinfect equipment and instruments and how to set up and lay out instruments and materials for each patient. They must obtain and update patients records as needed and ensure that their patients are comfortable at all times.
As a dental hygienist, you must, quite literally, get in people’s face. To avoid being considered weird or creepy by your mouth-gaping customers, it is important that you maintain proper interpersonal communication skills. Whether it is talking about the weather, asking about school or work, or talking about each other's day, being able to communicate is key to having a good relationship with whoever’s teeth you are cleaning. College has helped me to prepare my interpersonal skills in several ways. Over the years I have met and learned from an array of people. Different communication classes have taught me how to talk to others and how to be comfortable with
I knew that having some basic background knowledge of the dental world would be very important considering being accepted in to dental hygiene school. As I grew very proficient within my assisting duties a hygienist in the office I worked for asked if I would want to be her personal dental hygiene assistant. I was so thrilled that I was given such an opportunity. I immediately started paying attention to the details of how she performed her job. In our down
As a Registered Dental Hygienist worked in the dental field for more than 6 years, I am passionate with Dentistry. With an outstanding patients’ relationship achievements and understanding of patients first priority, I have established the confident with my people skills. My patients always feel very happy after seeing me, because I treat them like my family members and their comfort and satisfaction means a lot to me. Many patients have requested to see me again right after their first appointment. I also have an excellent organization and time management skills. Self-confident is my key to success and I am qualified to
If people are interested to join a dental assistant school to part of dentistry, and serve in the health care industry, then then may have to know a few things.They need to be ready to present themselves into a dental assistant school to build their future. The number of people enrolling insuch dental assistant programsand schools keeps increasing every year. This has resulted in the growth of the dental assistant population. This is the reason a lot of people are infinite joining dental assistant programs.
During this semester I had the opportunity to work along the side with many dentists, hygienists, assistants, treatment coordinators, and also financial coordinators at Dental Associates of Manchester. Dental Associates of Manchester is located at 120 E Fayette Street, Manchester, Ia 52057. While I was on the work site at Dental Associates my job duties were to watch how the dentist and hygienists work and clean inside a patient's mouth and their full routine of what they do before a patient comes in and after a patient comes in. While I was working up front my job duties were to watch and see how they interact with customers and how they go about signing in patients checking them out and also scheduling them for their next appointment if necessary.
These include, maintaining eye contact, to show interest, nodding to show following to details, paraphrasing back to confirm understanding, asking questions for further clarification. These communication skills demonstrate a base value of respect, patient-centeredness and confidentiality and demonstrate non- judgementalness. Principles of care are demonstrated through effective communication that is dignity, safety, respect, confidentiality, trusting care relationship and job satisfaction.(Gibbs,2010)
The following communication skills are important in my career field. Having a great attitude is a plus as a medical assistant because this field is a customer service field, and when you make the clients feel welcomed, it
I had to learn to master the skill of active listening and properly decoding messages to understand what others were communicating to me even when cultural barriers were present. I had to manage my body language to ensure I was always displaying positive, non-verbal communication no matter the content of what may have presently been taking place. Giving eye contact was critical as the patient needed to know I was present, attentive, and concerned with their health dilemmas. Maintaining pleasant facial expressions, utilizing positive mannerisms and the appropriate tone of voice were skills that allowed me to create a positive experience for the patient even in their time of discomfort.