The dental office front desk staff is the face of the practice and the lifeline to the community. To be successful at the dental office front desk, you will need excellent customer service skills. You will deal with people every day who don’t necessarily want to be there, and you are part of the team who will convince them to invest in their oral health. When you begin your dental office front desk career with front desk dental office training from a high-quality program, you will develop the skills to run the front office with confidence and help patients feel at ease.

Woman sitting at desk with computer and binder

What Does a Dental Office Front Desk Assistant Do?

Your job responsibilities will be varied. You will greet patients, schedule appointments, perform administrative tasks, answer questions, take and process payments, work with insurance companies, answer the phone, reach out to contact clients, file records, and more. Essentially, your job is to keep the office running smoothly and the patients happy and satisfied with the business side of their experience. If a patient feels the office is disorganized or unfriendly, that will set the tone for their entire visit, and they’re not going to look forward to coming back..

What Skills are Necessary for a Dental Office Front Desk Position?

The tasks you’ll do as a dental office front desk assistant are not challenging, but the volume of tasks can be. To be successful, you’ll want to be organized, friendly, and able to multitask. You will need strong communication skills, as you will work with the patients and the rest of the dental office staff. You’ll need to have excellent phone skills, computer knowledge, and the ability to move seamlessly from one task to another. You will need excellent attention to detail, especially when performing scheduling, record maintenance, and billing tasks. Overall, you need the customer service skills of any customer-facing job with the organizational skills of an efficient administrative assistant.

Do You Need a Comprehensive Training Program?

While many dental offices do not specifically require you to complete a dental office administration training program, if you are new to the field with no previous experience, having a training program on your resume shows that you are committed to your new career. In general, the basic requirements to work at the dental office front desk are a high school diploma or GED. But with a training program, you will have a much easier time landing a job without previous dental office experience and will be a much more desirable candidate. Dental offices are very busy, and if you can hit the ground running without extensive on-the-job training, you will definitely have a leg up on your competition.

What Will You Learn in a Dental Office Front Desk Training Program?

In your twelve-week training program, you’ll learn everything you need to know for most dental office software systems, which will give you a great advantage when looking for a job. You will learn how to manage and enter patient information, process payments, handle insurance billing, create reports for the dentists, and handle all of the end-of-day and end-of-month processing. In addition, you will have the opportunity to enhance your phone skills. You will learn the terminology you’ll need to become fluent in when working for a dental office. And most importantly, you will develop connections in the field and can take advantage of job placement assistance.

Dental office front desk training is quick, affordable, and an excellent way to set yourself apart as the ideal candidate for a dental office front desk role. With focused training under your belt, you will have all the skills necessary to manage the office and make every patient’s experience a positive one. If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting career opportunity or to find out how to enroll in our comprehensive front desk training program, contact South Florida Dental Assisting School today!