This position surprisingly holds an important role in a dentist office. Before we talked about average dental office manager salary in United States, let’s learn more about the job, the responsibilities, and what you need to become one.
The main job and responsibility as a dental office manager is to help the dentist to run the office efficiently. It is practically impossible for a dentist to get all of the paperwork done while maintaining the same level of service excellence in oral care. In reality, some of the dental office manager responsibilities are evaluating dental insurance plans, watching over and organizing the office staffs, making sure the supplies are sufficient, planning events, ensuring a clean office, and dealing with patients and workers.
In order to become a dental office manager, one should at least have a high school diploma or GED. However, that alone won’t be enough. In order to raise your chance to be accepted in this field of work, you should have a working experience, one that highlights your management skills, dealing with customers, office maintenance, and ordering supplies. Moreover, a clear understanding about the dental office environment and the dental business work will also help you to get the job.
Average Salary Dental Office Manager
In short, there are four skills that you should have in order to become a good office manager, which include:
- Leadership skills needed to manage the office staff. You should be able to resolve conflicts between workers, and to make them more motivated and discipline.
- A communication skill is a must-have skill because you are dealing with people, including the staff and the patient.
- Analytical skills are needed so that the office can run smoothly and efficiently. An efficient office means that it is also cost-efficient, which is a good thing.
- Finally yet importantly is the attention to details.
The average dental office manager salary is around $37.45 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of United States. In a year, the average income of dental office manager in United States is around $77,890. Of course, there are places that pay you under or above that average number. Some dental office managers receive as much as $50 an hour, while other receives only $20. It all depends on your skills, experience, and the location.
So the question now is how to increase the salary? The first option is to pick the best location to be a dental office manager. The top paying states for dental office manager are California, Nevada, Washington, District of Columbia and Connecticut.
The second way is to be innovative. You should be able to offer more than the average dental office managers should. For example, you can handle the online marketing aspect of the dentist office, by setting up and managing the Facebook fan page or the official twitter account. You should also be aware of the latest technology in computer or dentistry.
The third way is to take additional and necessary trainings. You can take DANB courses, browse the internet for additional knowledge at dentistry forums, or even attend the AADOM annual conference. There are also online trainings that will eventually raise your value as an employee and hopefully raise your dental office manager salary.
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