Do You Have Experience With Any Dental Software
Most dental clinics, including ours, use dental-specific software to keep medical history, appointments, dental treatments, and billing information.
What we are looking for is to know if you have computer literacy and dental software experience.
Answer: Ive extensive experience with Curve Dental cloud hosting software. My previous office used Curve Dental to document and schedule an appointment as well as submit claims to insurance companies.
N.B It is important to know the different dental software and modern equipment, and how to use them.
How Do You Ensure That The Office Equipment Is Properly Sterilized And Cleaned For The Next Patient
One of the key responsibilities of a Dental Assistant is to sterilize and clean the equipment, making sure everything is ready to go for the next patient. What to look for in an answer:
- Sterilization process
- Understanding of how the room should be set up
Example:
“When I start a new job, I make sure that I sit down with the Dentist I will be working with to understand how they like the room set up. I make notes for myself and make sure that I follow these guidelines with every patient that comes into the practice. I make sure that as soon as a patient leaves a room, sterilizing the equipment is the first thing I do so that the room is prepared right away.”
Prepare For Your Dental Assistant Interview
Interviews can be nerve-wracking for even the most seasoned professionals. Whether this is your first interview or your 10th, it is always helpful to brush up on your interviewing skills before the big day.
The more you prepare in advance, the more confident you will feel during your interview.
Research the practice you are interviewing with. Visit their website, social media, online reviews, and ask people you know in the field if they have any knowledge about the practice.
Carefully read the job posting so that you have clear expectations of the job requirements and duties. Demonstrating that you have a strong understanding of the position shows that you are prepared and are confident that you will be a good fit for the position.
Bring copies of your resume for the interviewer and any other guests who may join the interview. They will most likely already have copies, but if they dont you will look professional and prepared by providing them a copy.
Research common questions asked during interviews in general and interviews specifically for dental assistants. If you come prepared with answers to questions that might be asked, you will feel and appear more confident.
Practice answering these questions in front of the mirror or in front of friends and family.
Ask plenty of questions of the hiring manager or interviewer. Prepare these questions in advance based on the job description and your research about the practice.
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How Familiar Are You With Hipaa Guidelines
Because HIPAA law is so important in dental healthcare, its a good idea to review some of the basic protocols before the interview. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your proactive, responsible approach to your work.
Example answer: My training program had a course devoted to HIPAA so Ive spent a lot of time getting to know the different protocols. Patient safety and privacy is very important to me and Im always very careful to abide by HIPAA guidelines.
What Processes Do You Have In Place To Make Sure The Inventory Is Kept Up To Date
A key role that Dental Assistants have is maintaining inventory and making sure supplies don’t run out. What to look for in an answer:
- Organizational skills
- Vendor management
Example:
“Every night before I close the practice I take a look at the inventory. If there is something that is running low I will make a note for myself so that when I arrive in the morning it’s what I do first. I also work with all of our vendors to make sure we are getting the best contracts and rates possible for the practice.”
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How Do I Prepare For A Dental Assistant Interview
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8.01.2020
Dental Assistant Interview Dos And Donts
As the saying goes, you get one chance to make a first impression. When it comes to landing a job interview for Dental Assisting, if you get the call, youve already made a good first impression on paper. Next up is to make a great impression in person.
Here are key dos and donts for your dental assistant job interview.
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Dental Assistant Interview Tips
Like any job interview, preparing ahead is the most important thing you can do. If youve sent in your resume and landed a phone or in-person interview, it means the company thinks your training and experience is right for the position. The interview process, therefore, is about connecting with your interviewer, sharing your personality and more of your professional history, and demonstrating those qualities that will make you a capable employee.
Why Do You Want To Work For Our Dental Clinic
We want to know your career goals and how this dental assistant job will fit into those plans.
Answer: Well, ASmile4U reputation is certainly a factor. I would be thrilled and proud to work for a dental plan with such strong leadership in the industry.Also, I noticed that you have a dental assistant school that offers dental courses. I am interested in working for a company that supports my career growth plans.
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Have You Ever Had To Deal With A Difficult Patient How Did You Handle The Situation
This question should give you a better understanding of how the job applicant handles conflict. What to look for in an answer:
- Conflict-resolution
- Ability to work with a range of personalities
Example:
“I once had a patient who was quite upset that they weren’t able to get the appointment time they were requesting. December was a very busy time for the practice and they were trying to get an appointment last-minute. I was able to calm them down and explain to them how busy we were. Fortunately, I was able to rearrange some scheduling to fit them in last minute, so it worked out.”
Apparel After You Get The Job
It’s a good idea to think about what you’re going to wear to work before you get a job offer. That way, you won’t have to scramble at the last minute to get work clothes ready.
Many professional offices have specific and conservative dress codes. When you are hired, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with them.
That way, you won’t learn that the dress code prohibits open-toed shoes during an uncomfortable conversation with your manager.
It is also helpful to observe what your colleagues and supervisors wear on a daily basis. That’s particularly true if you happen to work at a company with no dress code in placeeven if there aren’t written guidelines, some attire is still too casual and won’t be appropriate for work.
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What Aspect Of The Job Do You Like Least As A Dental Assistant
This question should help you understand where the gaps may be or aspects of the role you will need to look out for. What to look for in an answer:
- Key skills required
- Gaps in knowledge
Example:
“There aren’t many aspects of the job I dislike but I would say I prefer actually working with patients more than I like the clerical duties. Since I’m so outgoing and a people-person I thrive with the customer service aspects of the job. I’m really working on my organizational skills and enjoying that part of the job and process.”
Attire For Dental Assistant Interview For A Boy
The best outfit for a dental assistant interview is a color scrub. However, it is meant best in case it is a working interview. In such a case, a person can wear color scrubs of any kind, design, or color. Undoubtedly, they will give a perfect impression on the interviewer and youll surely pass the first stage.
In case its a meeting, then you can wear formal clothes. A boy can wear a shirt and jeans. It would be beneficial, if you wear a shirt, rather than a T-Shirt, as a shirt gives a more professional and impressive look. Wearing jeans would make it more comfortable and accessible, however, the pants can also go positively. You must make sure that you comb your hair properly and take care that the hair is not wet when you enter inside, so it would be better if you get them dried before leaving the home. You Must polish your shoes perfectly and the nails must be trimmed. Wearing gloves would be beneficial, as they can ask you to pick up certain tools that might be part of your job.
Take a proper bath before leaving the home and make sure to wear clean, ironed, and proper clothes. Putting a little perfume in your underarms will be beneficial so that you dont stink. Also, make sure that your mouth doesnt stink. Hence, youll be ready to leave the home.
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Dental Assistant Interview Questions
Take time to read through these common interview questions for dental assistants. Practice your responses, so that you’ll feel confident during your interview.
- Describe the steps you use to sterilize and disinfect dental equipment.
- How much chair-side experience do you have? Describe two chair-side experiences where you felt entirely comfortable, and another one that you felt was a struggle.
- Are you more comfortable working with children or adults? Why?
- What made you interested in working in the dental field?
- Do you have any laboratory experience, such as making casts of teeth and temporary crowns?
- What are the principles you follow for delivering superb customer service to patients?
- Do you have experience maintaining dental records? Do you have other office or administrative experience?
- What experience do you have with preparatory dental procedures?
- Are you CPR-certified?
- Describe a time when you worked on a team and there was a disagreement between two people. How did you handle the situation?
- How do you work under continuous direct supervision? Explain how you react to constructive criticism?
- Why do you want to work for our practice in particular?
- Describe a time when you had to work with a difficult patient. How did you handle the situation?
What Not To Wear And Other Important Tips When You Have That Interview
Dental Assistants, how you look, sound, and smell affect the impression you make on an interview for that job you really need, or really want? Its true. Here are some Dos and Donts that really can affect how positively or how negatively, your first impression will be for the employer or office manager.
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What Not To Do During A Dental Associate Job Interview
- Donât âwing it.â Thereâs a time and place in life for spontaneity, but your dental associateship job interview isnât it. To give yourself the best chance of landing the job, it is important to plan ahead, do your research on the practice, and prepare properly.
- Donât arrive late. Arriving late gives the hiring manager a bad first impression of you before youâve even met them. As such, itâs important to be punctual. In fact, you should ideally arrive at least ten minutes early.
- Donât slouch or fidget. Your body language can say a lot about yourself. To ensure youâre sending the right message, try to avoid fidgeting, slouching, crossing your arms, or other behaviors that can make you look nervous, closed-off, or unconfident.
If youâre searching for the ideal Dental Associate or Specialist position for you, Henry Schein Nationwide Dental Opportunities can help. We have successfully placed hundreds of general dentists, associates, and specialists at no cost to the applicant. In addition, we also offer complimentary assistance with Curriculum Vitae and cover letter writing. To begin the process of finding the right practice to further your career as a dentist, contact us today.
What Computer Programs Are You Most Familiar With That Are Important For The Duties Of A Dental Assistant
This question should give you a great understanding of the technical knowledge a candidate has of computer programs that are used in dentistry. What to look for in an answer:
- Knowledge of scheduling software
- Quick learner of new programs
Example:
“In my current position, I use Curve Dental every day. We use this program for everything from scheduling patients to handling the billing process. I also use Microsoft Office regularly and am quite familiar with those programs. I am also a very quick learner and can use any program that I’ve been introduced to with a bit of training.”
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Behavioral Questions Test Of Your Attitude
Whether you will get behavioral questions in your interview depends on two things:
1. The quality of your answers to personal questions, and the impression you make on the interviewer.
- If they really like you, if they can imagine working with you after hearing your answers to personal questions, they may even skip the behavioral questions, and offer you the job straight away.
- Similarly, if they strongly dislike you, if they cant imagine working with you after talking to you for first ten minutes, they wont waste time with behavioral questions, and they will send you home.
- But in any other case, when they are not sure, or when there are many applicants, they will proceed to the behavioral questions. Unless they do not know how to interpret your answers to them. And here we come to the second point:
2. The interviewing skills of the person who talks to you.
- Dentists are not professional interviewers. If a dentist leads the interview with you, the chances are high that they know nothing about behavioral interviewing, and will skip these questions altogether.
- On the other hand, when you apply in a hospital or some private clinic, and an experienced medical recruiter leads the interview with you, they will almost certainly use behavioral questions.
Lets have a look at some of these questions.
Special Tip no1: Download the full list of questions in a one page long .PDF document, and practice your interview answers anytime later:
Do Front Desk Receptionists Wear Scrubs
It really just depends on what location youre working at and what the Practice Manager and Regional Manager says is fine. At my location we get to wear scrubs at the front desk. Business casual, but scrubs if they are expecting you to work both the front desk and assist the dr, which was the case in our office.
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What To Wear To A Dental Assistant Interview
Interviews are an important part of everyones life. Its an assured fact that an individual prepares a lot for any kind of interview and so, he never leaves anything and tries best from his end to put everything on the mark. Lets see What To Wear To A Dental Assistant Interview?
Well, its an undeniable reality that a person sometimes gets judged by his attire. This mostly happens in the interviews that the personality and clothes of a person actually tell the person sitting in front, whether you are eligible for the particular job or not. So, it is really important to do a little research on the clothes, as per your job, before leaving for the interview.
Well, if you are preparing to get a job as a Dental Assistant and are ready with everything to give the interview, but are stuck in between your clothes, then for sure, you will get every possible information about the attires that will be suitable to wear in a Dental Assistant interview. Presenting you with the best clothes, that will surely give a positive impression on the interviewer when you go for a dental assistant interview.
Question : Do You Like Working With Patients Or Clerical Duties
This may decide what role you play at the dentists office. Although dental assistants that help patients may do some clerical work, in a bigger dentists office, roles will be assigned based on working with patients or doing administrative work. Make sure you know which role is open at the dentists office to make sure you are going to be happy with the role.
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Tips To Help You Ace Your Dental Assistant Interview
Posted in Articles, Dental Assistant, Dental Hygienist.
Youve done the work and finished school. Youve started your job search and landed an interview. You are so close to landing your dream job as a dental assistant.
The only thing standing in your way is the interview. With all of the experience under your belt you have nothing to worry about.
Keep reading for a list of tips to help you ace your dental assistant interview and land the job of your dreams.
Question : Have You Ever Had To Deal With An Angry Customer How Did You Deal With It
Take this time to show the dentist that you have good customer service. State the problem and how you solved it, then talk about the outcome. Dealing with customers in pain and the patients fear of coming to a dentist is part of the job. Convey your ability to keep patients calm and comfortable while undergoing a procedure they might not be happy about.
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