What Does a Dental Receptionist Do?

Are you interested in learning more about becoming a dental receptionist and want to understand what a dental receptionist does?

Most of us will have spoken to a dental receptionist at some point in our lives. Perhaps you’ve called to book an appointment, or you’ve made a payment for dental treatment with the receptionist. As with any other job, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes, and so while you can take a good guess at some of the more obvious tasks that form part of the role of a dental receptionist, there may be other duties that you hadn’t thought about.

So read on to learn in more depth exactly what you do when you work as a dental receptionist, so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not you would be well suited to this career.

Greeting patients as they enter the premises

Welcoming anyone who visits the dental practice is a key job for a dental receptionist. As the first and last face patients are likely to see during their visit, it’s important to make a good impression, so the very best receptionists will have a cheerful disposition and will take the time to offer a friendly greeting and smile to everyone, regardless of how busy or under stress they are.

A truly great dental receptionist also understands that some patients have a fear of the dentist, and others may be in a lot of pain with a toothache.

Having a comforting, sympathetic character will help put people at ease and ensure the dental clinic earns a good reputation.

Taking payments and dealing with insurance policies

There is likely to be a financial aspect to any dental receptionist job.

As a dental receptionist you’ll need to know how to take a variety of payments, deal with insurance policies, update accounts, and issue receipts.

All financial transactions will need to be secure, adhere to all the relevant protocol, and of course, attention to detail is vital as there can be no errors when you’re dealing with payments.

Most dental surgery accounts systems will be online these days, so excellent IT skills are also a must.

Answering the phone and making calls

A clear and precise telephone voice is incredibly important for a dental receptionist.

Speaking on the phone is one of the major tasks involved in this position and so to excel you’ll need to be polite, clearly spoken, and knowledgeable.

Some conversations will be simple, reminding someone of their appointment, or dealing with a cancellation, but other discussions may be more difficult.

You may have to deal with complaints, you could find you have to tell someone in pain that you do not have an immediate appointment available, or perhaps you’ll need to provide a firm reminder to someone who has not yet paid their bill.

Some of these conversations may be a little difficult, but the best dental receptionists always keep their cool and understand how to deal with any situation, calmly, professionally, and with a friendly, reassuring tone.

Booking appointments and managing the dentist’s diaries

Dental receptionists are also in charge of booking appointments.

They’ll ensure that appointments are filled in a way that takes into account the time restraints of both the patient and the dentist. There will be cancellations, there will be time changes, and there may be alterations to the availability of a particular dentist.

The clinic may also have dentists who specialize in particular treatments, so the dental receptionist will need to ensure that each patient is booked in with the correct dentist according to their treatment needs.

Then just when everything seems well organized, a patient may call up with an emergency situation that just cannot wait.

A good dental receptionist will be able to juggle appointments with the minimum of upheaval to ensure everyone remains happy, and the emergency patient can be seen as soon as possible.

Prioritizing emergency appointments

But how does the dental receptionist know what is a true emergency? Sure, the patient will tell them, but some people can over exaggerate and be rather dramatic, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they require urgent treatment.

A well-trained dental receptionist will take all the details and assess the true nature of the situation, they won’t simply designate emergency appointments to the person who shouts the loudest!

The best dental receptionists will do their research and understand the severity of different types of dental emergencies. This knowledge then puts them in a good position to make accurate judgment calls quickly and efficiently.

Providing information and help for patients

Learning more about dental conditions and procedures also enables a dental receptionist to offer genuinely helpful advice.

While diagnosing conditions and suggesting specific treatments don’t fall within the duties of the dental receptionist, they can help to clarify information, give more details regarding treatments, and work through other processes that patients may be struggling with such as filling in forms or claiming on their insurance policies.

By helping patients in this way, it takes the weight off the dental surgeons, ensuring they can spend the majority of their time treating patients rather than simply talking with them and answering their questions.  

Dealing with post and email messages

As with any modern receptionist’s position, there will be plenty of administrative tasks to complete, and one of these will be to deal with correspondence.

These days, a working office gets so many messages, and it’s a time-consuming task processing it all, deciding what is important and what is not, and all that work usually falls to the dental receptionist.

Whether it’s physical mail through the post, or electronic mail, there’ll be a generous mix of spam and vital paperwork to be sorted through and dealt with.

Keeping reception clean and tidy

Being organized and efficient is key to being a successful dental receptionist, and that should be reflected in the surroundings.

As a dental receptionist, keeping the reception area clean and tidy will be part of your daily routine. When you work behind a reception desk in a public building, you need to be on top of the tidying. You can’t have piles of paperwork building up, or boxes of files lying around being a tripping hazard!

A pleasant and professional looking reception area is an asset to the business.