Leveraging the power of dental assistants

Above: Dana Arnold (far left) with Thunder Bay Community Health Service’s dental assistants.

All practices strive for productivity, but for public health clinics, productivity means that patients have greater access to care. Thunder Bay Community Health Service, Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Atlanta, Michigan, provides invaluable healthcare for residents in an area where options are limited.

“Our mission statement is ‘caring for the people of our communities,’ and I truly believe that’s what we’re here to do. We take care of them, whether it’s their mental health, oral health, physical health, or optical health,” says Dana Arnold, the organization’s dental operations manager. “We are 45 minutes away from the nearest city that has a Walmart, so we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere. To offer services to a community that has trouble with transportation and that has financial difficulties, I think we provide so much.”

To best serve their northern Michigan community, Thunder Bay Community Health Service invests in its dental assistants through credentialing. Dental assistants in this clinic work to the full extent of their scope of practice, and dentists are also trained to delegate and collaborate. This approach has led to increased productivity and higher job satisfaction among their dental assistants.

“It frees up the dentist so we can schedule more patients,” says Arnold. “It also improves the career longevity of the dental assistant when they know we’re invested in them, and they’re more apt to invest in us.”

Creating a framework for credentialing

Cost and time management can create obstacles to earning advanced credentials, so Arnold and her team developed a framework for their dental assistants. With support from the Michigan Primary Care Association and funding from their Health Center Career Training Program, Thunder Bay Community Health Service covers the expenses for education and exams. The clinic also provides study time during work hours for dental assistants.

“Our goal was to not have them go home and do homework. Everybody’s got a family life outside of work, and they deserve that break,” says Arnold. “I think it’s something our assistants really appreciate — they get an education that doesn’t cost them anything, and it doesn’t cost them time away from their families, which is really important.”

When encouraging dental assistants to obtain credentials, Arnold noted the importance of spacing out their exams. “When we had several dental assistants scheduled for study time away from the clinic, it was hard to cover the dentist with an assistant. So now I just do one dental assistant at a time to make scheduling a little easier,” she says.

As a result of Thunder Bay Community Health Service’s investment, five dental assistants are now Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) and four are state Registered Dental Assistants (RDAs). Several other dental assistants in the clinic are currently preparing for their CDA or RDA exams.

According to DANB’s Dental Assistants Salary and Satisfaction Survey report, CDAs are more likely to have high job satisfaction and accept additional responsibilities in the dental practice. “Their ability to talk with patients is different. You can see they’re more invested after they take the exam,” says Arnold.

The clinic has also seen higher productivity as dental assistants take on expanded functions, allowing doctors to see more patients. “In Michigan, if you have a dental assistant with the dentist and they have a nitrous patient, the dentist can’t leave the room. So they’re stuck for 45 minutes or so,” says Arnold. “If I schedule that patient with an RDA, they can monitor them once the nitrous has been administered so the dentist can move on to something else.”

Collaborating with dentists

Involving the clinic’s dentists has been critical to Thunder Bay Community Health Service’s efforts to educate and empower dental assistants. Arnold credits trust and open communication to their success.

“The dentists must have complete faith and trust in these dental assistants, especially the RDAs we use for other functions. If they don’t trust the assistants, then they continue to do work that they could be delegating,” says Arnold. “It really helps to have open communication between the doctors and staff — talking about what works, what doesn’t work, and when we’ve had a rough day. Having a good relationship is crucial.”

The clinic offers a unique internship program for dentists in partnership with the University of Michigan, where interns work two two-week rotations in Atlanta and then spend a month on campus in Ann Arbor. During their time at Thunder Bay Community Health Service, these new dentists learn how to effectively delegate and work alongside dental assistants.

“The interns do not get experience working with a dental assistant at school. So, when they come to our organization, they get the chance to see how much an assistant can contribute to making the visit smoother and easier for the dentist,” says Arnold.

Making a community impact

Working for an FQHC positively impacts the community, but it also benefits the people who work there. Staff benefit from high job satisfaction and stability in an area with limited career opportunities. For Thunder Bay Community Health Service, the community also plays a role in employee retention.

“If you look at the employees across our organization, you are going to find a lot of longevity — people that have been here 10 or even 20 years,” Arnold says. “I have watched people bring in their babies who have now gone off to college. I’ve followed them all the way through their healthcare journey, which is kind of nice. I see patients walk in and I know who they are.”

Finding an employer that gives back to the community and invests in its employees is crucial, and it sets Thunder Bay Community Health Service apart for dental assistants who want to fully utilize their skills and knowledge.

“You go to school and learn these things, and you want to be able to put them to use. We want our staff to feel fulfilled and engaged,” says Arnold.