What Is a Dental Practice Manager and How to Become One

Dental practice managers ensure that operations at a dental clinic run smoothly and efficiently. In this career, your duties focus on managing billing procedures, overseeing office employees, and ensuring that patient care and record keeping meet industry standards and regulations. Your responsibilities can also include responding to clinical issues and complaints and ensuring the clinic is adequately staffed to meet patient needs and cover scheduled appointments. You manage administrative staff and plan and track the budget for the clinic. You coordinate with the dental team when it comes to issues such as referrals and scheduling issues.

The qualifications needed to become a dental practice manager include a degree or equivalent experience, management skills, and knowledge of dental clinic operations. Employers prefer applicants who have an associate or bachelor’s degree but may accept applicants with a high school diploma who have two or more years of experience in health care administration or dental clinic operations. You need an understanding of budgeting and billing and regulations governing dental clinic operations in your state. Since you are responsible for interacting with patients when issues arise, you need communication and troubleshooting abilities.