The Top 5 Dental Assistant Challenges and How to Conquer Them Successfully

A dental assistant is a top-notch option for candidates seeking a challenging, yet rewarding career. Dental assistants are like the lifeblood of a dental office, whose responsibility extends from effective patient care to treatment room preparation and handling patient records for optimal functioning of the dental office.

However, like all other professions, dental assistants have to deal with a fair share of challenges and hurdles daily. Your efficiency and competency as a dental assistant lie in the way that you handle and overcome these hurdles. That’s why reputed Dental Assistant Schools in California put the candidates through rigorous training modules in real-time dental settings to help them learn to cope with the challenges successfully.

In this blog, we will discuss some of the top challenges that dental assistants face, along with some effective advice on conquering each of the hurdles effectively.

The Hurdles and The Solutions – How to Deal with Dental Assistant Challenges

• Physical Stress Due to Long Hours of Standing

The job nature of a dental assistant disables them from taking a seat during working hours! Since their primary job is to keep the dental office up and running, along with proper patient care, most of their day goes by standing on their feet. This can put a strain on your feet and lower back and might be the reason behind chronic pain.

Since standing is an inevitable part of this trade, try to invest in a pair of comfortable footwear to dampen the stress off your feet. Along with that, start working out regularly to strengthen your lower back to avoid muscle spasms and stiffness in the long run.

• Managing Patients with Anxiety

The sight of a sharp tool in the hands of the dentist, or the whirring sounds of instruments aren’t normal instances in a patient’s everyday life. So, they might get anxiety attacks while visiting a dental office, which might cause severe hindrances during the procedure.

A calm and composed demeanor, and compassionate behavior are the key instruments that help dental assistants deal with such patients effectively. The best dental assistant training schools follow this procedure while training their candidates to help relax the patients first and then proceed further.

• Staying Updated with Evolving Technology

The medical realm has long been hit by technological advancements, that have helped the sector to progress significantly. The dental realm has also welcomed technical advancements with new and updated software to make procedures easier and more convenient.

As a dental assistant, you must keep yourself updated with the rapidly evolving technologies to stay ahead of the learning curve. And you can achieve this by attending training courses and workshops, and self-learning procedures. Graduating from a reputable dental assistant school near me like MDS Dental Assisting Academy helps you hone the necessary skills that you might require to conquer the common challenges that come your way in your career!

• Dealing with Appointment Disruptions

As a dental assistant, one of your responsibilities is to manage patient appointments. Now, some of the most troublesome things that you have to face are appointment rescheduling, abrupt cancellations, and patients being late for their appointments. These activities heavily affect the schedule, so learning to deal with such situations becomes mandatory.

One of the best ways to deal with such unreliable patients is to call them up a week before their scheduled date of appointment and seek confirmation from them. Other than that, dropping a message two or three days prior to their appointments and reminding them of their date and time is also a great and effective way to steer clear of such challenges.

• Losing Job Satisfaction

Imagine this- you've completed your dental assistant certificate program, and have started working in a dental clinic. Things were very good initially, but as you slowly completed a year and a half in that office, you saw that your boss had started to take you for granted. You’re entitled to work for extra hours, and there are no signs of raise in your current payment structure. Situations like this can result in you starting to hate your workplace.

The best way to tackle such a situation is to sit and openly talk about your grievances with your superior. If that doesn’t turn up well, you’re free to switch to a new job at any point in time! Else, you can also start consulting in cloud dentistry which would allow you to manage your work life on your terms.

To Conclude

The total number of enrolments in a dental assistant certification course has increased significantly. This is because students have realized that becoming a certified dental assistant is an exceptionally rewarding career choice.