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Employees who are a part of the dental front office staff are crucial aspects of a successful dental office. 

They help to ensure that the dental office is running smoothly and efficiently, and that patients are receiving the best possible care by keeping everything organized and orderly. 

Running a busy dental office has its challenges and difficulties, and sometimes the dentist needs quality team members that can help to maintain order and efficiency within the office. 

This is where good dental front office staff come in!

But how do you hire good dental front office staff? 

To do this properly, there are many factors that you need to consider when finding the right candidates throughout the large amounts of resumes and applications you may receive. 

Let’s read on to find out how…

What do Dental Front Office Staff Do?

Before we discuss how to hire good dental front office staff, it is important to know exactly what their roles and responsibilities are, and what is expected of them on a daily basis. 

The dental front office staff are the first people that patients see when they walk into a dental office, and they help to ensure that the patients are receiving the best quality patient care that they can.

A few of the most common responsibilities of dental front office staff include: 

• Greeting patients when they enter the dental office
• Scheduling and cancelling appointments
• Handling billing and payments
• Filing insurance forms 
• Managing dental office inventory 
• Ordering new supplies and equipment 

To hire good dental front office staff, they must be able to handle all of these responsibilities correctly and in an orderly fashion.

How to Hire Good Dental Front Office Staff

Now that you know exactly what a dental front office staff employee does on the job on a daily basis, it is time to discuss how to hire good dental front office staff. 

There are a wide variety of skills and traits to look for in dental front office staff candidates, to ensure that they are willing and able to be successful in the role.

Here are a few factors to consider when hiring good dental front office staff…

Hard Skills

Hard skills are important to look for in quality candidates for dental front office staff positions. 

It is beneficial to look for applicants that have previous work experience in the dental office or in administrative roles, to make sure that they have the necessary hard skills to bring to your dental office. 

Here are some important hard skills to look for in a dental front office staff candidate: 

• Knowledge of insurance: Dental front office staff members need to be knowledgeable about insurance and how to verify types of insurance coverages. They must also be able to discuss insurance policies and coverages properly with patients for full understanding.
• Understanding of basic dental treatments: As a dental front office staff member they will need to understand what the basic dental treatments are and how they work. They need to be able to discuss them with patients, and to make sure that they understand what will be happening during the appointments.
• Basic computer skills: Dental front office staff members need to know basic computer softwares and programs, as they will be using them on a daily basis to input information and to keep up with scheduling.

Soft Skills

In addition to hard skills, there are many soft skills that are also important to have as a dental front office staff candidate.

There are certain behavioral and personality traits that help a member of the dental front office staff to succeed, and to complete the duties required of them to a high standard.

Here are some beneficial soft skills to look for in a dental front office staff candidate:

• Organization skills: As a dental front office staff member, they will have to keep track of a lot of forms and records, so organization is extremely important. They must be physically organized with documents and their work space, while also being digitally organized with software and programs on their computer.
• Interpersonal skills: Dental front office staff members are constantly speaking with patients about their appointments, treatments, and procedures. This is why it is crucial that they have good interpersonal skills, so that they speak properly to any questions or concerns they may have.
• Communication skills: Dental front office staff members have to be in constant communication with everyone in the dental office to help it run smoothly, which includes dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, and other dental front office staff. They also have to speak with patients and handle any inquiries with them, so they must be able to communicate properly to everyone to keep the dental office running smoothly.

Job Interview

After reviewing all of the applications that you have received for your open dental front office staff position, it is time to choose the best candidates to bring in for a job interview.

Even though everyone is nervous for interviews and may appear a bit timid, a great dental front office staff candidate will be able to show you that they are the best fit for the job during the job interview process.

Here are some things to look out for during the job interview:

• Speaking about their past work experience: Look for dental front office staff candidates that are able to correctly speak about their past work experience, and if they have relevant experience that relates to the work they will be doing in your position.
• Did their research: It is always a good sign if your candidates show that they have done research on your open position and on your dental office. This will be shown if they are able to thoroughly speak about your position, and if they ask questions about your dental office or reference an aspect of your office that is on your website.
• Creates a discussion: An interview shouldn’t just be you throwing out tons of questions to the candidates and them answering the questions. It should be more of a discussion, and this is on the candidates to formulate. If the dental front office staff candidates you are interviewing are asking your questions about the position, the dental office, or you personally, then this is a positive factor for a good candidate.

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