The Importance of Organization as a Dental Assistant
Another extremely important quality for a dental assistant to develop is organization. The dental office can be very fast paced environment, so in order to successful, you have to learn the routine and learn to thrive within it.
An Clean and Organized Operatory
In order to adhere to regulations and also to provide a visually pleasing setting for patients, it is vital that a dental assistant maintain an operatory that is sterile and free of clutter. That means having a routine for taking hand-tools to be sterilized, changing light covers and chair covers, wiping down surfaces when necessary, taking out the trash, etc. There should never be extra personal items lying around either; all purses and other personal items should be stored out of sight. Again, the idea to is maintain a space that is both sterile and that doesn't look junky.
Efficiency and Punctuality
It is also very important as a dental assistant that you learn to be efficient and that you stick to the schedule so that the office can run smoothly and things don't get behind, causing wait times and frustrated patients and office staff.
This means that you have to stay on task as you take patients to their operatories and get them situated, as you transition from patient to patient, and as you enter any information into the computer system that you may need to. With that said, and while efficiency is of high importance, entering patient information properly must be done with upmost care and not so rushed as to cause error - so quality of quickness, but you need both.
A dental assistant also needs to be mindful of his/her time during scheduled breaks or lunch hour.
If dental assistants are not puntual, so many things can begin to run behind very quickly which will affect the whole dental office.
The essence of the matter is to remember to work hard and work smart. Dental assisting is a demanding and rewarding profession that requires you to stay on point and also be looking for new ways to be more efficient on the job. But for goodness sake, don't get so caught up with being efficient that you forget that you are serving real people and that you need to be friendly and kind. Read more on communication with patients.
Stay tuned for more ideas and pointers!
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