If you elect a career as an orthodontic assistant, you will be part of the growing field of dentistry in the United States. Your role is to assist an orthodontist as a dental assistant would assist a dentist, so you need the same qualifications as a dental assistant, but with the knowledge of the specialty services that orthodontists provide to patients. Your exact role may also be governed by the state in which you work.
What Orthodontists Do
Before deciding to take on the role of an orthodontic assistant, consider what orthodontists do. An orthodontist is a dentist who specializes in straightening teeth and realigning jaws using braces and dental appliances. Orthodontists go to dental school and then get a license to practice in orthodontics. So, an orthodontist is a dentist, but a dentist is not necessarily an orthodontist. The dentistry field, including orthodontics, is growing in the United States, with the Bureau of Labor statistics predicting job growth of 21 percent between 2010 and 2020. This trend bodes also well for orthodontic assistants.
Orthdontic Assistant Tasks
Assisting an orthodontist in his job typically includes preparing the appointment room prior to a patient’s visit, taking the patient's oral health history and making him comfortable until the orthodontist arrives. Depending on your skills, experience and state restrictions, you might also make tooth impressions that are used to design orthodontic hardware, sterilize the orthodontist’s equipment, take patient x-rays, remove stitches, prepare the tools necessary for each appointment and hand the tools to the orthodontist during the examination and treatment. You may also perform administrative duties, such as setting appointments, billing, taking payments and maintaining patient records.
Becoming an Assistant
Your first step to becoming an orthodontist assistant is to check your state requirements. Some states accept on-the-job training with no formal education, while others require formal training plus certification. The Dental Assisting National Board, DANB, tracks individual state requirements and is recognized by the American Dental Association as a national provider of certifications for dental and orthodontic assistants. According to the DANB website, as of November 2012 this organization’s certification program was recognized by 38 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs.
Salary and Jobs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t separate orthodontist assistants from all dental assistants, a field that it predicts will grow at a much faster-than-average rate of 31 percent between 2010 and 2020, with a 2010 median annual salary of $33,470. A 2012 salary survey by the Dental Assisting National Board found that certified dental assistants earn more than non-certified assistants and that many employers reimburse assistants for their certification training and exams. The top five states for orthodontist employment are California, Indiana, Georgia, New Jersey and Ohio, so these states may offer increased opportunities for orthodontic assistant jobs.
- United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Orthodontists
- Medical Jobs: The Scoop on Orthodontists
- United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Dental Assistants
- Education Portal: Orthodontist Assistant: Career Profile
- Dental Assisting National Board, Inc.
- United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Dentists
- Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. Certified Press: DANB’s 2012 Salary Survey Reveals that CDAs Still Earn More than Non-CDAs
- Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images