Career Opportunities
Hygienist
Dental Hygienists remove soft and hard deposits from teeth, teach patients how to practice good oral hygiene, and provide other preventive dental care. Hygienists examine patients' teeth and gums, recording the presence of diseases or abnormalities. They remove calculus, stains, and plaque from teeth; perform root planing as a periodontal therapy; take and develop dental x-rays; and apply cavity-preventive agents such as fluorides and pit and fissure sealants. Although hygienists may not diagnose diseases, they can prepare clinical and laboratory diagnostic tests for the dentist to interpret. Hygienists sometimes work chairside with the dentist during treatment.
Dental hygienists also help patients develop and maintain good oral health. For example, they may explain the relationship between diet and oral health or inform patients how to select toothbrushes and show them how to brush and floss their teeth.
Dental hygienists use hand and rotary instruments and ultrasonics to clean and polish teeth, x-ray machines to take dental pictures, syringes with needles to administer local anesthetics, and models of teeth to explain oral hygiene.
Dental Assistant
Dental assistants are responsible for working directly with dentists while patients receive treatment. They review and maintain patients' charts, pass instruments to the dentist during procedures, sterilize instruments, make temporary crowns and impressions of teeth for study models, polish patients' teeth, and take and develop X-rays. They also assist with tasks such as scheduling appointments and ordering supplies.
Financial Coordinator
The Treatment/Financial Coordinator is a professional, organized, reliable, team player who plays a vital role in the practice. The Treatment/Financial Coordinator educates the patient about their treatment plan, after the dentist has diagnosed and reviewed the treatment with a patient; continuously researches and forms working relationships with outside patent care financing companies in order to give our patients a wide range of viable financial options; determines insurance benefits that apply to treatment plans and estimate patient co-pay amounts; assists patients with dental insurance; presents fees and gives estimates of treatment; works with accounts receivable; generates end of day reports; monitors treatment plans and case acceptance; and implements financial policies.
