Embracing a New Era

What Do Orthodontic Assistants Do?

Modified: December 21, 2018 - 10:42 AM

If you choose a career as an orthodontic assistant, you will be glad to know that you are now part of the growing field of dentistry, especially in the United States. When you enroll in our orthodontic training for assistants here at Gerety Orthodontic Seminars, you will learn everything you need to know about this field through our experts. However, you should know that your role as an assistant or dental assistant would be to work alongside a dentist and assist him, so you need the exact qualifications as a dental assistant, but of course with knowledge of the special services that an orthodontist provides for his or her patients. As a fact, your role may rely on the state in which you work.

What’s The Role of an Orthodontist?

Before you make up your mind to enroll in a course or an assistant orthodontic, you must consider what an orthodontic specialist does. An orthodontic specialist or dentist is one who specializes in realigning and straightening the jaws using dental appliances and braces. Orthodontists go to dental school and get a license to practice. In other words, an orthodontist is a general dentist, but this doesn’t mean a dentist must necessarily be an orthodontist.

In the United States, the dentistry field including orthodontics is growing at a rapid pace, with the statistics of labor predicting a growth in the job to about 21% between the years 2010 to 2020. The same trend goes well for people who pursue a career as orthodontic assistants.

The Tasks of an Orthodontist Assistant

As an assistant, your job assisting an orthodontist typically includes taking the oral health history of patients, preparing the appointment room before the patient visits, meeting the patient and keeping him or her comfortable until the specialist arrives. Depending on your experience, skills and state restrictions, you may also make teeth impressions that are necessary to design orthodontic hardware, take x-rays of the patient, and sterilize the equipment orthodontists will use, prepare necessary tools for each appointment, and hand the tools to the dentist during the treatment and examination and remove stitches.  

As an assistant, you will also learn to perform administrative duties including billing, setting appointments, maintaining records of the patient, and taking payments on time.

Becoming an Orthodontic Assistant

The very first step to becoming an assistant in the field of orthodontics is to enroll in Orthodontic Assistant courses. A well-motivated and trained staff is essential to the incorporation of successful orthodontics into any of your practice. Our basic orthodontic training for assistants courses train your staff with the right amount of duties related to orthodontics as well as their responsibilities.

If you are planning to start a career as an orthodontic assistant, you can attend the course Robin Schmidbauer's offers in Nashville once a year. This special 2-day course offers 13 hours of orthodontic continuing education and has everything on a beginning level, specific for assistants, associates, and hygienists who are new to orthodontics and the Straight Wire Technique. Through such courses, you can have a complete understanding of the tools dentists use for orthodontic treatments, place brackets in the right position and height, wire sequence for the Straight Wire Technique, trace a cephalometric x-ray either digitally or by hand. You can also get a comprehensive understanding of the straight wire technique to assist your doctor with all the necessary procedures.

At Gerety Orthodontic Seminars, we guarantee that you are in safe hands, and you can enjoy our seamless learning opportunities. We extend our learning platform to virtual classrooms online and on-site. Start your journey to becoming an orthodontic assistant and become a part of our family!