Blog / Five Dental Administration Career Paths to Consider

Five Dental Administration Career Paths to Consider

Dental administration is a more dynamic field than many people realize. There’s much more to it than meets the eye, and when you see the possibilities available to you, you will want to begin your career as quickly as possible.

Consider the following professional paths and learn how taking dental administration courses online could help you take your career to new heights.

Dental Administration

Dental administration refers to the management of a dental practice, which can include overseeing the workflow of the daily operations, scheduling patients, attracting the most qualified staff members and maintaining compliance within the practice.

While there are a variety of positions available in the dental administration field, all dental administrators should be organized and detail oriented. As these dental professionals are often required to oversee specific departments within the practice, they should also be comfortable and confident leaders who can work well with the entire dental team in

Five Dental Administration Jobs

According to the American Dental Association, these are five of the most common dental administration jobs.

1. Dental Billing Specialist

A dental billing specialist is an administrative professional who works closely with the practice’s financial team. A dental billing specialist manages and maintains payments for the practice. Typical job responsibilities include:

  • Creating cost estimates for patients for dental treatments. These estimates must account for the patient’s insurance coverage and outline the out-of-pocket costs that the patient can expect.

  • Coding the patient’s treatments appropriately and submitting bills in a timely manner to the insurance company. Once the insurance company has distributed funds, the dental billing specialist will send a revised invoice to patients.
  • Working with patients to develop payment plans and ensuring that all payments are collected in a timely manner.

An individual in this position has a unique opportunity to advocate for patients, often negotiating with the insurance company on their behalf and ensuring that they receive the coverage that they both need and deserve for their dental treatments.

2. Dental Office Assistant

A dental office assistant plays a critical role in the overall success of the dental practice. A dental assistant may be required to assist the dentist during procedures, or they may be responsible for administrative tasks that keep operations running smoothly throughout the day.

Some dental office assistant job responsibilities may include:

  • Preparing an exam room so that the dentist has everything they need to perform a procedure, including prepping and sterilizing equipment and welcoming the patient to the exam room.
  • Greeting patients and scheduling them for upcoming appointments.
  • Answering phones, relaying messages and providing patients with additional information about their treatments.

A dental office assistant must have strong customer service skills, as they will often work directly with patients. In many practices, the dental office assistant is the first person the patient sees, meaning they play an essential role in how the patient perceives the office.

3. Dental Technician

A dental technician plays a behind-the-scenes role in the dental industry, often working in a dental lab. The primary role of the dental technician is to create dental appliances and prosthetics for patients who need them for cosmetic and functional purposes.

Job responsibilities of a dental technician include:

  • Transforming the impressions created by the dentist into accurate, well-fitting appliances. A highly skilled dental technician can create an appliance or prosthetic that needs minimal adjustments after the patient has received it.
  • Designing prosthetics using the latest dental technology. Dental technicians should feel comfortable working with advanced technological tools on a daily basis.

Precision and attention are vital when you are working as a dental technician. This is an ideal position for anyone who is self-motivated and interested in working in a lab-based setting.

4. Dental Administrator

A dental administrator is typically a managerial role, and the administrator is often required to oversee a team of dental assistants, office administrators, scheduling coordinators and more. The administrator will need to be able to work closely with the dentist at the office, and ensure that the office operations are in line with the vision of the practice owners.

Indeed.com notes that some of the primary responsibilities of the dental administrator include:

  • Overseeing the practice’s finances, and implementing a billing strategy that results in consistent, timely payments.
  • Supervising staff, including attracting and hiring qualified applicants as well as retaining top talent within the practice.
  • Creating and implementing a marketing strategy that helps the practice grow its patient base in the local community.
  • Creating and implementing best practices within the office, including employee and patient policies that protect the reputation of the practice.

The best dental administrators are experts in the dental industry who also have developed their leadership skills. They should be confident, approachable, flexible and committed to serving the practice as well as growing their career.

5. Dental Scheduling Coordinator

A dental scheduling coordinator is a skilled professional in charge of overseeing the schedule for the practice. Depending on the size of the practice, the dental scheduling coordinator may need to align the schedules of multiple providers and hundreds of patients, ensuring that the schedule is booked efficiently and without any overlap.

The job responsibilities of the dental scheduling coordinator can include:

  • Managing the availability and daily schedules of the dentists and dental hygienists at the practice.
  • Scheduling patients for routine exams, follow-up treatment, surgical procedures and more.
  • Rescheduling patients or providers in the event of an unexpected closure or cancelation.
  • Reaching out to patients who have not had routine care in a while and working to incorporate them into the schedule.

A scheduling coordinator needs to be organized, detail-oriented, empathetic and approachable. This is a customer-facing position and requires you to be friendly and professional at all times.

Dental Administration Program

Regardless of the career path that you want to pursue within the dental administration field, you will need to begin your journey by enrolling in a dental administrator program.

The Dental Administrator Online Program at Medix Online is a comprehensive set of diploma-level courses aimed at developing the skills needed to succeed in this sector of the dental field. Our program includes coursework that allows students to become experts in the fundamentals of dentistry, with topics such as dental software, oral pathology and practice management included in the curriculum. In addition, critical soft skill development is incorporated through courses such as communications, personal financial management and leadership development.

Designed to be an affordable, streamlined experience, this program will allow you to enter the workforce as quickly as possible so you can focus on career growth and professional development.

Dental Administration Courses Online — Learn More Today

Medix Online provides the healthcare training necessary to quickly begin a career in the dental administration field. By prioritizing the organizational and communication skills required of an administrative assistant with the expert knowledge of a dental professional, graduates of this program can pursue lucrative dental administration jobs that suit their personal interests and career goals.

Request more information about our Dental Administrator Online Program today.

Sources

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