Looking to get your foot in the door at a dental clinic? Then you need a polished resume. But writing up a resume, particularly if you’re new to this industry, can feel a little daunting.
We’ll cover the essentials you need to produce a dental assistant CV that stands out and take a look at a Rezi template that’ll make the process even easier than your last routine checkup.
Example of a Winning Dental Assistant Resume
Why This Resume Works
Just like you’d carefully assess a patient’s oral care, you need to use a critical eye when creating your resume. After all, your resume is the difference between making it to an interview or ending up in the trash folder.
Using a dental assistant resume template like the one above means you don’t forget any crucial details required for this type of role.
It’s clearly presented, easy to customize, and optimized for applicant tracking systems (ATSs). And if you’d like to set up your own from scratch, you have the option of using Rezi AI Resume Builder to create the ideal dental assistant resume.
Explore more healthcare resume examples:
Rezi has a variety of other healthcare-related resume examples. Whether you’re applying to become a registered nurse or medical assistant, here are a few more resume templates you might want to try:
- Registered Nurse Resume Template
- Medical Assistant Resume Template
- Nurse Resume Template
- Pharmacist Resume Template
- Pharmacy Technician Resume Template
How to Write a Compelling Dental Assistant Resume
For your resume to shine as bright as a well-cared-for set of pearly whites, ensure you’ve dotted your I's and crossed your T's.
We’ll break down everything you need to do to craft an eye-catching dental assistant resume.
TL;DR list:
- Choose the Right Resume Format
- Include a Key Contact Information and Resume Header Section
- Write a Clear Resume Objective Showcasing Your Experience
- Craft a Clear Work Experience Section
Choose the Right Resume Format
Whether this will be your first certified dental assistant position or you’re applying as an experienced dental assistant, the format of your resume is the first place to start.
There are an assortment of resume formats. Your selection should depend on the level of experience you have and your career goals.
Chronological Format
The chronological format is the most commonly used resume format. It’s the best choice for candidates who have a solid work history and no gaps in employment.
You start by listing your work history, with the most recent position first. This type of resume is likely to be the longest, depending on how extensive your work history is.
Functional Format
In a functional format CV, you focus on skills and experience rather than the chronology of your work history. It’s useful if you’re changing careers or have gaps in your employment history. Many recruiters favor experience just as much as positions held, so this is a great way to draw attention to the relevant experiences you’ve had that will set you apart.
Combination Format
This one—as indicated by the name—is a combination of both the chronological and functional resume. This resume highlights your relevant skill set, as well as your work history.
Formatting tips
When formatting your resume, it’s important to consider the smaller details like margins, fonts, and the length of the document.
If it’s too long, you’ll likely put off the recruiter who’s having to sift through all of the applicants. Ideally, your resume length should be one page long.
This can be helped with the right resume fonts and sizing. We’d recommend standard fonts, and a font size of no higher than 12 and no lower than 10 for maximum readability and to ensure you make it through the company’s ATS.
One last consideration to make is the margins on your resume. Make sure your margins are around one inch. Again, it makes the document easy to read and tidies up its appearance too.
A benefit to using the Rezi AI Resume Builder is that it’ll highlight formatting issues that could make the difference between securing an interview or getting a rejection email.
Include a Key Contact Information and Resume Header Section
Before you dive into the meat of your resume, you want to make sure you’ve covered the essentials first. That’s your key contact information and the header section of your resume.
These details may seem obvious but are often missed. Here’s all the information you want to include in your resume header.
- Contact Details: Ensure it’s easy for the recruiter to get in touch. Include an email, phone number, and LinkedIn profile. Add in your location too (country and state/province will suffice). This makes sure you’re reachable for that initial contact.
- Certification: Certifications are particularly important in medical fields. If there are any you’d like to highlight, this is a great spot to do so.
Write a Clear Resume Objective Showcasing Your Experience
With any job application, you’re likely going up against dozens if not hundreds of applicants at a time. That means the recruiter may only have a brief moment to glance at your resume and decide whether it’s worth considering or not.
For your dental assistant resume to get noticed, provide a high-level summary of your career objectives and experience. This section should be concise, detailed, and compelling. It’s the opportunity to hook the recruiter and show them what you have to offer, so they’ll pay close attention to the rest of your resume.
When creating this summary, make sure to include:
- Years of experience
- Specific duties you’ve fulfilled in relevant roles
- Areas of specialized knowledge and experience
- Your goals for this next role
Here’s an example summary section for a dental assistant:
Like what you see? You can use Rezi AI Resume Summary Generator to create a tailored summary of your own based on your background and the skills you want to highlight.
If you don’t have dental assistant work experience yet, be sure to list any relevant skills or related roles you’ve held in the past, even if that’s unpaid work or experience you gained during higher education.
Craft a Clear Work Experience Section
This is the part where you can really shine and showcase your work experience in all its glory.
First off, you need to structure it clearly. With any dental assistant resume example you come across, you’ll typically see the most recent position held first.
When listing the assistant roles you’ve fulfilled, you’ll need to include the essential details:
- Name of the position
- The practice you worked for
- Duration of employment
We recommend bolding this information to aid in readability. Then break down your duties and responsibilities into bullet points so they are quick and easy to understand.
To get started, list your duties. Next, look for opportunities to add extra detail, focusing on how your efforts benefited the practice and resulted in better patient care.
For example, take a sentence like this: “Ordered inventory for the dental practice.”
Rework the above to add context and underscore the value of this task: “Maintained inventory levels and ensured all stock was prioritized in order of expiration dates.”
This shows how this task fits into the bigger picture of practice operations, and how your initiative adds value: by ensuring inventory is used before its expiration date.
Remember to take a close look at the job listing and be sure to mention any asked-for experiences that you have. Include mention of specific dental procedures or terminology that’s relevant to a dental practice, as an ATS will likely be checking for these.
Example of a Skilled Experience Section
Top 20 Key Dental Assistant Skills and Proficiencies
Hiring managers will be looking for key dental assistant skills and proficiencies, including soft skills and technical skills. Let’s take a look at some of the most in-demand skills for your resume.
Soft Skills
- Communication
- Empathy
- A good listener
- Friendly
- Reliable
- Dedication
- Organization
- Strong work ethic
- Attentive
- Flexible
Technical Skills
- General dentistry support
- Specialty-related dental procedure support
- Preparing dental supplies
- Infection control
- Patient care
- Patient education
- Taking dental impressions
- Safety and regulation knowledge
- Maintaining patient records
- Appointment scheduling
- Ordering inventory
- Obtaining and processing x-rays
Showcase Your Educational Background
Your educational background will help you demonstrate your expertise. Make sure you show off your bona fides in your resume, using official titles, so the ATS is able to parse your certifications.
Follow these rules to get this section right:
- List Your Highest Degree First: If you have a degree in a related field, start with that. Include the degree type, your major, and the institution's name.
- Include Dates: Add the years you attended or the year you graduated. If you're currently enrolled in a program, note your expected graduation date.
- Mention Certifications: Certifications can set you apart from other candidates. List any relevant certifications with their full title and the granting organization, like a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification from the Dental Assistant National Board (DANB).
- Relevant Coursework: If you have recently graduated or if your coursework is especially relevant to the job you're applying for, you can include a section for relevant coursework.
- Professional Development: Workshops, seminars, or other training relevant to being a dental assistant are also valuable to include.
Tailoring Your Resume for Different Companies
While it may seem like an extra effort, it’s worthwhile to tailor your resume to cater to different dental practices. It’ll make a big difference in getting your dental assistant resume seen by the right people.
Even though dental assistant jobs might be very much the same from one dental practice to another, some might be looking for a little extra from their candidates or may require proficiency in very specific dental procedures.
Tailoring your resume to each practice you apply to shows your attention to detail, and that extra effort you’re making won’t go unnoticed. To tailor your resume, you can use the Rezi Content Analysis feature to optimize your resume for each of the jobs you’re applying to.
Optimizing Your Resume with Keywords for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
In the world of ATS, it’s no longer enough to optimize your resume for a human reader alone.
You may first need to make it past keyword-scanning software. So, to ensure your dental assistant CV gets seen by a recruiter, add an assortment of industry-specific keywords the ATS is likely checking for.
The easy way is to use the Rezi Resume Keyword Scanner to help ensure you’ve included the right keywords to summarize your skill set and attract attention to your resume.
In the meantime though, here are a few generalized ATS keywords to consider for your dental assistant resume. Ensure any keywords are placed naturally:
- Dental care
- Patient care
- Cosmetic dentistry
- X-ray
- Infection control
- Healthcare
- Sterilization
- Patient education
Looking for more insights? Check out our top resume tips.
Ready to Start Applying? Make a Resume with Rezi
With these dental assistant resume examples, you now have a clearer sense of what recruiters are looking for.
To meet their expectations, you can make use of AI-powered resume-building software like Rezi, starting with a range of customizable resume templates, or using the resume builder to generate one from scratch.
Whatever you decide, with a keyword scanner and formatting assistance that’ll help you get past ATSs and a builder that’s quick and easy to use, you’ll have your optimized dental assistant resume ready to go out in mere minutes. Get started for free.
