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The career choice of a dental assistant is very ideal, so it is also very competitive when it comes to being chosen for an interview and hired for the job. 

This is why it is important to have a quality resume that is detailed and descriptive, and that highlights all of your experience and accomplishments that will help you get the job.

A resume objective is a great addition to include on your resume, to help you stand out against other applicants. 

But what is a resume objective?

A resume objective is an area on your resume where you state your career goals and outline your best skills. It should be straight to the point, and should only be one sentence long.

What Does a Dental Assistant Do?

Before you can fully understand what to include in an objective for a dental assistant resume, it is crucial that you know what a dental assistant does. 

The roles and responsibilities of a dental assistant can vary depending on where you work, but there are many patient-focused and administrative tasks that stay consistent between each position. 

Some common patient-focused duties of a dental assistant include:

• Greeting and seating patients when they come in for an appointment
• Taking and maintaining patient medical records 
• Educating patients on good oral hygiene and best practices
• Answering questions and handling requests from patients 
• Providing chairside assistance to dentists during appointments and procedures 

Some common administrative responsibilities of a dental assistant include:

• Processing payments and billing 
• Keeping track of inventory
• Ordering new equipment and supplies 
• Answering the office phones 
• Preparing instruments, tools, and treatment room for appointments and procedures 
• Sterilizing instruments, tools, and treatment room

Purpose of a Dental Assistant Resume Objective

Since dental assistants are a vital part of a successful dental office, it is important that the hiring manager knows that you are up for the challenge of handling all of the responsibilities that the job of a dental assistant requires. 

Your resume objective should show your ability to perform all of the tasks listed above, based on your prior experience, your qualifications, your skillset, and your personality traits. 

Remember, this should all be incorporated into one descriptive sentence.

What to Include in a Dental Assistant Resume Objective

There are a few important aspects that make up a quality dental assistant resume objective, that will set you apart from the other candidates applying for the job. The five main aspects include:

1. Job title 
2. Years of experience
3. Hard and soft skills
4. Best achievements
5. What you’ll do 

Now, let’s explore all of these elements in more detail.

Job Title

This is the job title of previous jobs that you have held in the past, that are relevant to the dental assistant job that you are applying for. 

Some examples of good job titles for a dental assistant resume objective would be certified dental assistant and dental receptionist.

Years of Experience

The years of experience that you will include on a dental assistant resume objective is the number of years of experience that you have with dental assisting, administrative jobs, or within the dental field.

Hard and Soft Skills

It is important to include hard and soft skills in your dental assistant resume objective. Since resume objectives should only be one sentence long, it is beneficial to incorporate one hard skill and one soft skill into that sentence. 

Some examples of hard skills to include in your dental assistant resume objective are:

• RDA license 
• Computer skills and use of medical software
• CPR certification 
• Use of dental instruments and tools
• X-ray license 

Some examples of soft skills to include in your dental assistant resume objective are:

• Customer service 
• Communication 
• Active listening
• Organization 
• Team player 
• Detail oriented

Best Achievements

This aspect of your dental assistant resume objective includes your top accomplishments that you have earned during your schooling, certifications, or prior work experience. 

Some examples of best achievements would be that you graduated at the top of your class, or that you maintained a high positive patient rating during a past job.

What You’ll Do

For this part of your dental assistant resume objective, you will list what you will do in this new job that is necessary for this position, and how you’ll benefit the dental office as a whole. 

Some examples of this include strong administrative abilities and providing quality preparation.

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