Mastering Onboarding: Successfully Integrate New Dental Assistants into Your Practice
Hurray! You successfully recruited, interviewed, and are now starting to onboard your new dental assistant. Whether your new dental assistant is brand new to dentistry or has 20 years of experience you must bring your team member on board properly to fit your practice’s needs. I will admit that in the past I handled new employees differently. I would have new employees shadow for 1-2 days and then they were on their own. It wasn’t that I wanted them to fail, I just didn’t know what proper onboarding looked like and I didn’t realize the importance. Whether my new team member was experienced or not, they were having a hard time assimilating with our very busy practice. It wasn’t until after COVID and the expansion of our new office that I began to restructure our training schedule and protocols for new team members. Below are ways to master on-boarding to successfully integrate new dental assistants into the practice.
Welcome to the Team Communication
Before a team member’s first day at the practice, I send them a “Welcome to the Team” email. It includes standard information like:
- Starting date
- Time
- Location
- An agenda for their first day at the office
The welcome email also includes the trainer’s contact information and new hire electronic forms packet with the following:
- W2
- I-9 IRS Forms
- At-Will Agreement
- Notice of Employment
- Emergency Information
- FLSA with plans signed
- Release of Photo for marketing
- New Team Member Orientation
First Day on the Job
On the first day we host a new team member orientation and go over our practice’s history, our mission, facts about our doctors, team leads and roles, services we provide, and we dive into the employee manual policies. We don’t read the manual word by word, but we find it helpful to go through certain sections like benefits, time of requests, dress code, etc.
During orientation, we also collect any additional information we need from team members such as state IDs, account information, etc. OSHA/HIPPA Training OSHA/HIPPA training is required by the State to be completed 1-3 days after the team member starts their position. We created a training program that includes watching videos with quizzes, reviewing OSHA/HIPPA documents, and a tour of where to find our emergency equipment (fire extinguishers, eye station, first aid kit, AED, etc.). Annually we have our OSHA/HIPPA consultant come to our office and complete a walk-through as well as host a training on any OSHA/HIPPA updates for that year.
Dental Assistant Protocol Training
Now it is time to train the team members in their daily responsibilities. We break down the training into sections level 1, level 2, level 3, and mastery. All their duties are listed on a task list with how frequently it should happen (each patient, daily, weekly, monthly). This task list helps new or experienced team members complete their tasks.
Level 1 – Foundational Duties
- Sterilization
- Flipping a room
- Bringing a patient back
- Taking x-rays, charting pre-existing
- Treatment planning
- Polishing
It pretty much includes anything an entry-level DA can do except restorative with the doctor. Depending on the DA skill set this may take days to several weeks to master. Team members shadow my clinical manager first, then they do tasks together followed by the clinical manager watching over them. We have a set-up binder for all the procedures we do at the office, and this helps new team members know what each doctor’s setup should look like. We also created study guides to help team members with step-by-step protocols for new patient appointments, emergency appointments, and re-care appointments. I do find that treatment planning is always challenging for new dental team members due to the learning curve with our dental software and getting to learn the doctor’s recommendations. We have made a worksheet with different treatment plan recommendations for team members to input while they are not with a patient. It gets them practicing before they work with the doctor.
Level 2 – Basic Duties
I like my dental assistant to master the following:
- Scanning
- Sealants
- Assisting with basic restorative
- Simple extractions, crown deliveries
- Night guard scans
If your office follows the “rock, sand, and water” this would be all your sand procedures. Even if a team member has 20 years’ experience they go through the same process as a new team member. The only difference is that the experienced dental assistant will master those areas faster than a DA who recently graduated. Anytime we have a new team member in restorative, we have our clinical manager shadow them. This helps so that the new DA and doctor have adequate support. Our doctors clear the new team member when they can work without support on procedures.
Level 3 – Rock Procedures
- Crowns
- Bridges
- Implants
- Root canals
- Difficult pediatric patients with restorative needs
These procedures usually take longer, and we need to make sure team members have mastered level 1 and 2 skills. Our office offers CEREC crowns and once team members are ready, we invest in CEREC mastery courses. Our clinical manager often hosts side training for team members on different services or techniques that require more practice, and we use our own team/family members as patients before they work with our patients.
Mastery AKA Cross-training
After team members have completed their onboarding, and we notice they are confident in all level 3 skills, we will cross-train them. We cross-train within different departments, assisted hygiene DA, pediatric DA, general dentistry DA, oral surgery DA, and the business team. Cross-training is ultimately the goal in our office and although a team member may prefer one area then others it strengthens our team to have more team members master a variety of skills.
Who Mentors New Team Members?
Our clinical manager is where our new team members go for any questions they have in the office. I recommend that new team members keep a small notebook, where they can write down their notes and questions. We have the mentor spend time with the new team member. For example, they might have lunch at the beginning, a few weeks in, and end of training which will help the new team member get comfortable with the team.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your team member has now completed onboarding. They are now ready to assist your dentist in all levels of dentistry. Even after onboarding, it is essential to continue to enhance your new team member’s skills by investing in continuing educational courses. Bring in a trainer, attend a workshop, or even enroll in an online seminar. It’s important that training never stops for team members in the office.
About the Author
Vanessa Escobar, MAADOM
Vanessa grew up in Central Florida and graduated from Cypress Creek HS in 2004. She then attended Florida State University and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in International Affairs w/ a Minor in Business Administration in 2009.
Vanessa started with Winter Garden Smiles since pre-opening in December 2011. Vanessa is responsible for overseeing the finance, operations, and marketing of the Winter Garden Smiles & Winter Garden Pediatric Smiles. Her goal is to provide the highest level of customer service to her patients.
She enjoys having an active role in her community. She has participated in organizations such as Lambda Theta Alpha, Central/North Florida Alzheimers Association, Leadership West Orange C/O 2013-2014, Voci Del Coure in 2017, Garden Community Choir, and her neighborhood social committee. She is currently the Founding President of the Central Florida Dental Connection, DPLN and was most recently inducted as MAADOM class of 2022. MAADOM is a nationally recognized mastership for top dental office managers in the nation.
During her time off Vanessa enjoys spending time with her husband Ricardo and her kids. She has two dogs Princess and Balto. She also enjoys singing, traveling, trying out new restaurants, and indoor cycle.
