Listening and Asking Questions is a Dental Assistants Most Important Asset

Often times throughout their busy days of seeing patients, Dental Assistants often forget that they are an important and integral part of the practice. Not only are they often times the first person that the patient sees when heading back to their chair but often times the patients are looking to the Dental Assistant to really notice them and help them bring up any issues to the doctor.

If your practice has patients see the doctor last for the final checkup when coming in for a cleaning they may be so happy to be done and ready to go they may not be willing to talk with the Dentist about their issues. It's the Dental Assistants job to get them comfortable and willing to talk. Yes, the Dental Assistant has many other important and necessary skills and knowledge about equipment, instruments, sterilization, and organization of the treatment room along with helping the hygienist, but having that final skill to listen and ask the right questions may help you to continue have a long and lasting relationship with the patient.

According to Dental IQ's article on listening, Belle DuCharme, RDA, CDPMA says that "while working with the patients, Dental Assistants are often doing other things like charting, radiographs, intraoral photos, impressions, and more. During that time there’s time for conversations with patients as they tell assistants about their dental conditions, concerns, and fears. Patients often tell the dental assistant things that they would never tell the dentist, and they’re often more open to sharing emotions. Ensuring that patients feel comfortable during their visit is vital to dental assistants’ work."

If you need help with putting processes into place to help your assistants gain this important skill, contact us today!