Dental Practice Administrators play a key role in managing administrative tasks to provide qualitative and organized patient care services in various dental care settings. They are not directly involved in treating patients. Their responsibilities include maintaining a safe environment; building cordial relationships with the dentists and other staff members; developing the office budget to achieve profitability; motivating staff members and proactively seeking ways to improve the dental practice; and more importantly, assuring that patient’s needs are addressed in a caring, timely and thorough manner. In addition, they schedule patient appointments and assist in insurance claims.

Dental Practice Administrators work in varieties of environments such as public or private hospitals, group medical practices, dentist’s office, dental care facilities, insurance companies etc. They mostly work full time. They may be required to be available on-phone even in the weekends.

Educational Requirements

To become a Dental Practice Administrator, the aspiring candidates have to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree in health administration or in a related field. The students can go for master’s degree in related field for better job opportunities in this field. These professions may also obtain practical experiences on-the-job training.

The common syllabus includes dental office procedures, human resources administration, dental insurance, quantitative reasoning, fiscal management, accounting, budgeting, computer applications etc.

Certification and Licensure

Since the position of a Dental Practice Administrator requires to be licensed in most of the states, the aspiring candidates need to earn exam-based license. . These professionals can obtain exam-based certification, administered by the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB).

Skill Set               

Dental Practice Administrators possess various traits such as customer service skills, critical thinking ability, time management skills, ability to perform multi-task activities, excellent administrative abilities, effective communication and interpersonal skills, willing to work as a part of team, ability to establish and maintain cordial relationship with staff members, familiarity with medical billing practices, understanding of insurance procedures, computer skills etc.

Job Outlook and Salary

The job outlook for a Dental Practice Administrator remains excellent across the USA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth rate for job opportunities in this profession may rise 23% from 2012 to 2022. The average annual salary of a Dental Practice Administrator was $90,940 in May 2013.