Description
Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.
- • Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
- • Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
- • Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
- • Feel lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.
- • Apply fluorides or other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.
- • Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
- • Expose and develop x-ray film.
- • Remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.
- • Make impressions for study casts.
- • Administer local anesthetic agents.
- • Conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.
- • Record and review patient medical histories.
- • Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
- • Maintain dental equipment and sharpen and sterilize dental instruments.
- • Maintain patient recall system.
- • Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.
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Healthcare & Human Services
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
