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Dental assistant duties are pretty much encompassing so you can consider a dental assistant to be the extension of a dental surgeon or dentist. As such, this will make dental assistants vital members of a dental team. And they are, really. Dental assistants will find themselves doing a range of duties but what do dental assistants do exactly? The most basic duties of a dental assistant includes:

* preparing and maintaining dental equipment, instruments, and supplies;
* managing patients in the middle of dental procedures;
* swiftly and smoothly assisting the dentist with required instruments for a procedure;
* preparing dental composites, cements, amalgams, and other materials;
* understanding and utilizing techniques for dental procedure isolation;
* doing dental charts;
* managing, and preventing as much as possible, dental emergencies; and
* controlling and managing inventory.

As for the expanded functions dental assistant, what more exactly dental assistants have to perform generally depend on the team they belong to. Some of the expanded functions that a dental assistant may be exposed to include:

* placing and removing rubber dams, wedges, and matrices;
* applying cavity bases and liners;
* placing, condensing, carving, and contouring amalgam restorations; and
* placing and finishing composite resin restorations.

Expanded dental assistant duties may vary from state to state so there are actually no definite lists detailing the exact expanded dental assistant duties that a dental assistant will have to perform. However, the above mentioned form some of the most common expanded dental assistant duties around.

Ironically, while a there are expanded dental assistant functions, there are also functions in the dental office that will never be a part of dental assistant duties. These include:

* examining and diagnosing dental treatment;
* cutting any soft or hard tissue during procedures;
* performing pulpotomy, pulp capping, and other endotontic procedures;
* performing cementation or the final placement of removable or fixed dental prosthetics;
* administering general anesthesia, local anesthesia, or nitrous oxide analgesia; and
* taking impressions aside from diagnostic casts and models for study.

All dental assistant duties are carried out under the supervision of a dentist, dental surgeon, or dental facility. This means that all diagnostic procedures are the responsibility of the dentist, including prescribing treatment as well as authorizing procedures. Should a dental assistant need to perform any expanded dental assistant duties, the dentist is required to be present in order to supervise the procedure. And before a patient is completely dismissed, the dentist will have to evaluate whether or not the expanded dental assistant duties were accomplished accordingly.