What Does a Dental Assistant Do?
| Update: November 25, 2025
The dentistry field is unique in that it provides critical services that exist within two important categories: health care and personal aesthetics. Offering this level of diversity and scope within a single field requires a coordinated team of highly trained dental health professionals – among which dental assistants serve an essential role.
For those who truly enjoy helping people look and feel better as they maintain a healthful life, becoming a dental assistant can be the first step toward a long and rewarding career in dentistry. Being trained as a dental assistant can open the door to greater career opportunities within this state-of-the-art healthcare field.
And, it’s possible to be trained and ready to begin your career as a dental assistant in less than a year’s time.
Before you go out and enroll in a Dental Assistant Program at one of our UEI College campuses, however, ask yourself this: is a career as a dental assistant right for you? After all, dental assisting requires a broad set of medical, administrative, technical, and interpersonal skills – skills you will use every day as you work with patients and dentistry staff.
What does a dental assistant do? Keep reading, and you’ll learn what it means to be a dental assistant and what it takes to succeed within this essential, past-paced role.
What Does a Dental Assistant Do?
Dental assistants perform a number of functions within a clinic. For example, dental assistants typically help with front office work, such as scheduling appointments and updating patient dental records. Also, dental assistants perform back-office work, such as preparing exam rooms, sterilizing tools and equipment, taking X-rays, and helping dentists with procedures such as fillings, crowns, extractions, root canals, etc. The type of work that dental assistants do depends on the dental clinic they work at and the state where the dental clinic is located.
Overall, the dentistry field is made up of professional roles which focus either on patients or organizational duties in the clinic; dental assistants work at both ends of the spectrum. As key members of a dentistry team, dental assistants exist to help improve the quality and efficiency of a clinic, both administratively at the front of the office and clinically in the examination room.
So, if you’re considering a career as a dental assistant, you should keep in mind that you should be willing to take on multiple roles. Dental assistants work closely with nearly everyone on a dental clinic staff: dentists, hygienists, office managers, billing professionals, lab staff, and of course patients.
Again, the specific tasks a dental assistant may take on care vary considerably from clinic to clinic. However, here are some of the tasks most dental assistants can expect to perform:
Dental Assistant Administrative Tasks
- Answering phones and scheduling appointments
- Updating and maintaining patient dental records
- Overseeing patient check-in procedures
- Coding and preparing insurance forms
- Scheduling referral and testing appointments
- General office administration
Dental Assistant Clinical Tasks
- Showing patients to their exam rooms
- Preparing patients for procedures and/or surgeries
- Assisting with procedures such as fillings, crowns, and extractions
- Making dental impressions
- Sterilizing dental tools and equipment
- Post-procedure clean-up
- Generally chairside assisting of dentists and hygienists
Where do Dental Assistants Work?
Dental assistants usually work in dental clinics, assisting dentists with front office work, such as scheduling appointments and updating patients’ records. They assist dentists with tasks such as performing X-rays and procedures such as root canals, fillings, cleanings, etc. Although the vast majority of dental assistants work at dental clinics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics points out that dental assistants also work in physician offices and governmental offices.
How Does One Become a Dental Assistant?
Perhaps surprisingly, some states do not have set education, training, and licensing requirements for one to become an entry-level dental assistant so long as he or she works under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist. Some states have set special licensing and training requirements for performing certain tasks within the position, such as radiography/X-rays, coronal polishing, and other expanded functions. Visit the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. website to learn what’s offered and required in your state.
That said, being specifically trained with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully perform the duties of a dental assistant can help one stand out within a competitive market. Students enrolled in the UEI College Dental Assistant Program can complete such training while also earning on-the-job experience at a local clinic in as few as 10 months. Graduates emerge from the program career-ready.
What Does UEI Dental Assistant Training Entail?
The Dental Assistant (DA) program at UEI College focuses on teaching students the most necessary and current skills, tasks, and tools used by dental assistants within today’s modern dentistry clinic.
The program, which can be completed in as few as 10 months provides a mix of classroom instruction, hands-on lab training, and real-world experience that strives to prepare students to be career-ready upon completion of the entire curriculum. And, all classes and labs are taught by instructors with real-world experience in the dental field.
Courses within the program include:
- Dental Sciences / Medical Emergencies
- Dental Anatomy and Physiology
- Radiography
- Dental Materials
- Preventative Dentistry
- Dental Specialties
- Prosthodontics / Administrative Assistance
The program also includes a 170-hour externship during which students may develop real-world experience in a dental clinic, office, or practice. In its entirety, the UEI College Dental Assistant Program prepares students for entry-level positions with titles like dental assistant, orthodontic assistant, oral surgery assistant, orthodontic technician, and surgical dental assistant.
Look for a UEI College campus near you. To learn more information about the program, please visit the Dental Assistant Program page. You may also contact us directly at (877) 463-4472 or through our online form.
