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Concept
Dental assistant
Summary
Dental assistants are members of the dental team. They support a dental operator (such as a dentist or other treating dental auxiliary) in providing more efficient dental treatment. Dental assistants are distinguished from other groups of dental auxiliaries (such as dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental technicians) by differing training, roles and patient scopes.
C. Edmund Kells, a pioneering dentist operating from New Orleans, enlisted the first dental assistant. The dental field was initially dominated by males, but after this first addition of a female, it was then acceptable for women to seek dental treatment without their husbands. This led to dental assistants of that era also being known as "Ladies in Attendance". Thanks to the addition of women to dentistry, the profession flourished with more and more women seeking treatment and more patients overall receiving care.
It was not until almost four decades later that in 1923 the first dental assistant association was founded by Juliette Southard, named the American Dental Assistant Association and it is still in practise now. It began with just five members, now reaching more than 10,000.
The dental assistant's role is often thought to be to support the dental operator by typically passing instruments during clinical procedures. However, in fact, their role extends much further to include: providing patients help with their oral hygiene skills, preparing the patient for treatment, sterilising instruments, assisting during general anaesthetic dental procedures, positioning suction devices, exposing dental radiographs, taking dental impressions, recording patient notes and administration roles such as scheduling appointments.
It was customary for oral health care workers and dental assistants in the 1980s to practice oral health care without wearing gloves, masks or eye protection. This was at a crucial time due to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) spreading rapidly at a global rate.
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