subject: What Does The Dental Assisting Profession Involve? [print this page] How many Dentists do you know that can have their hands in your mouth during an examination, whilst updating your records on a computer? The answer should be none. This is one of the reasons why the Dental Assisting Profession is important; they are primarily there to make the patient feel relaxed and to aid the fully trained specialist.
Furthermore, the assistant has to make sure that the room and any tools used are properly sterilized before the next person enters. All liquids or anesthetics that may be used need to be topped up on a regular basis and this is something that the Dentist does not have the time to check.
With the growing population there are a lot more people needing regular check ups or dental work, this in turn leads to a growing demand for these professionals. Moreover, the average age, nowadays, within many countries is on average in the late seventies to early eighties, this is significantly older than what it used to be therefore people are requiring more dental work.
In addition to the above, due to the advances in technology it means that many dental procedures are not as painful as they used to be. This results in more people having cosmetic dental surgery. This includes teeth straightening and teeth whitening because it generally does not hurt as much as it previously did.
The salary does vary across the Dental profession; it normally depends on your experience and the location that you live in. Generally you will find that working in a bigger city means a higher salary and a smaller town translates to a smaller wage but you will also find that the cost of living will be higher in a larger city, and less in a little town.
Often entering this profession is good for those that have been thinking about going to a Dental school but are unsure of whether they have what it takes and do not want to waste their money. This allows you to view first hand what will be expected of you. The period of training and education that is required to enter the profession is relatively short, so an individual can begin working soon after they enter a program.
An advantage of the Dental Assisting Profession is that once you are working in this sector there are a lot more career opportunities available to you. This is because you already have experience working within this industry and it will take shorter time to train you than an external candidate which is often preferred.
