AddressDental Assistants are an important member of the Air Force health care team. They support Air Force, civilian dentists, and civilian dental hygienists, working for the ADF to provide high quality treatment.
They are employed in dental chair-side support roles, assisting for dental treatment under general anaesthesia and conscious sedation, oral health education, practice administration and other health support duties. They may be required on occasion to undertake these duties with portable dental equipment either within Australia or overseas. Generally, a Dental Assistant will be classified as a non-combatant role and will be a protected person under international law when performing these duties on operations.
Dental Assistants are usually the first point of contact for a patient seeking dental treatment and are therefore, required to have well developed interpersonal skills, sound written and verbal communication and excellent attention to detail.
Dental Assistants are required to follow stringent infection control protocols in order to maintain a safe working environment and patient care.
Their duties may include:
- Provide chair-side assistance to dentists and civilian hygienists as directed
- Prepare dental restorative impression and therapeutic materials for use by the Dentist
- Operate and maintain all dental surgery equipment as directed
- Process, classify and mount intra-oral radiographs
- Prepare, interpret and maintain patient records on both manual and electronic systems
- Coordinate and maintain dental appointment system
- Perform hygiene / sterilisation / infection control procedures for chair-side procedures including cleanliness of dental surgeries, instruments, and equipment
- Assist with accounting procedures for dental section stores, equipment and material
