Dental Assistant (DA)

University of Minnesota School of Dentistry; Pinehurst, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 36,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

ALLISON & ASSOCIATES in Pinehurst, NC seeks a full-time Dental Assistant to support clinical operations and patient flow. The role includes chairside assistance, instrument processing, and ensuring smooth daily schedules.

Entry-level graduates are welcomed; training will cover six-handed dentistry, radiography certification in NC, and Dentrix workflows. Compensation aligns with market norms and opportunities for growth.

Qualifications

• Graduate of a dental assisting program; entry-level welcome.
• Organized, dependable, and able to handle a busy schedule.
• Willingness to grow and learn with supervision.

Responsibilities

• Keep the schedule moving and ensure every provider has what it needs.
• Sterilize and process instruments, log monitoring, maintain infection-control records.
• Set up operatories, stock supplies, and manage inventory levels.

Skills

Dental assisting

Education

Dental assisting program

Job description

ALLISON & ASSOCIATES

Shannon Allison, DDS, PA • Full-Scope Digital Dentistry

15 Aviemore Drive • Pinehurst, NC 28374 • www.pinehurstdentist.com

NOW HIRING

Full-Time Dental Assistant

Clinical Support & Patient Flow • Entry-Level Welcome • Pinehurst, NC

Be the reason the day runs on time.

About Our Practice

Allison & Associates is a privately owned, full-scope dental practice in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Founded in 1976 and owned by Dr. Shannon Allison since 2003, we are a three-doctor practice with five hygienists, five assistants, and a full administrative team. Our average staff tenure is approximately fifteen years - people come here and they stay.

Our doctors practice implantology, dental sleep medicine, LANAP laser periodontal therapy, oral conscious sedation, endodontics, and comprehensive restorative dentistry. You will be exposed to the full scope of dentistry, not a narrow slice of it.

The Role

We are seeking one full-time Dental Assistant in a clinical support capacity. This is an entry-level position and we welcome recent graduates of dental assisting programs. Chairside assisting is a regular, scheduled part of the job - but the anchor of the position is keeping our clinical day running on schedule and making sure every provider and every operatory has what it needs before they need it.

With three doctors and five hygienists working simultaneously, our schedule only holds together when someone owns the flow. That person is you. What we require is reliability, organization, a level head when the day gets busy, genuine warmth with patients, and the willingness to grow - we will teach the rest.

How the week splits: Monday through Thursday you are primarily in a support and flow capacity, with chairside assisting as the day demands. Fridays you are chairside consistently. Beyond that, you cover chairside whenever one of our tenured assistants is out - in practice, several days most months. During the week you also serve as second assistant in six-handed dentistry on our implant, surgical, sedation, and complex restorative cases. That is deliberate: it is how you build real chairside skill under supervision, beside an experienced assistant, well before you are ever the only assistant in the room. We train you to full chairside competence early because we need you genuinely able to step in, not merely able to hand instruments.

This role will evolve. We expect the chairside share of this position to grow as you do. That progression is tied to our semiannual performance review in April/May and October/November, which is also when compensation is revisited - so as the role expands, your review is the mechanism for the pay to follow it. We would rather say that plainly up front than have you discover it.

Schedule

Monday through Thursday, 7:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (7.75 hours). Friday, 7:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (4.75 hours). We do not stop for a formal lunch; staff are welcome to bring food and eat in the staff area during breaks. Occasional patient emergencies may extend the day, and that time is paid. We work hard to keep these rare - personal time matters here.

Daily huddle

7:45 - 7:55 a.m., attendance required.

What You Will Do

Your day is organized around keeping the schedule moving. In rough order of how much of your time each takes:

Keeping the schedule on time

• Monitoring the day's schedule and anticipating what each provider needs next, before they ask
• Turning over operatories quickly between patients so no provider waits on a room
• Greeting, seating, and preparing patients; updating medical histories and getting them comfortable
• Floating between doctors and hygienists to relieve pressure wherever the day is running behind
• Communicating with the front desk about running times, delays, and emergency add-ons

Sterilization and instrument processing

• Full instrument cycle - transport, ultrasonic, packaging, autoclave, and return to circulation
• Running and logging sterilizer biological and chemical monitoring; maintaining OSHA and infection control records
• Keeping enough processed instrument setups in rotation that the schedule never waits on sterilization

Operatory readiness and inventory

• Setting up trays and tubs for each scheduled procedure ahead of time
• Stocking operatories and supply areas; tracking par levels and flagging what needs ordering
• Routine equipment care - evacuation line maintenance, handpiece care, chair and unit upkeep
• Opening and closing the clinical areas at the start and end of each day

Chairside assisting - six-handed support, Fridays, and coverage

• Second-assisting in six-handed dentistry throughout the week - implant placement and restoration, surgical cases, sedation appointments, and complex restorative work
• Four-handed chairside assisting every Friday, and on the several days each month when a tenured assistant is out
• Full chairside training from the start - restorative, surgical, and hygiene-support procedures - so you can step in with confidence rather than improvise
• Digital radiographs and intraoral photography (SIDEXIS / Axeos), once your NC radiography certification is in place
• Clinical charting and documentation in Dentrix
• Supporting our in-house digital lab - preparing and finishing SprintRay 3D-printed appliances and models, and assisting with CEREC and milling workflows
• Supporting setup and turnover for implant, LANAP laser, sedation, and dental sleep appliance cases

Your duties are not limited to this list. We are constantly evolving and growing our practice, and we expect each team member to grow with it. For an assistant who wants to build toward full chairside and DA II expanded functions, this is an unusually direct path - you will learn how the entire clinical operation fits together before you specialize in one seat within it.

What We Are Looking For

• Graduate of a dental assisting program, or equivalent clinical experience - new graduates welcome
• Organized and genuinely unflappable - you can hold several things in your head at once on a busy morning
• Dependability and punctuality above all else - our schedule runs on time and our team depends on one another
• Someone who notices what needs doing and does it without being asked
• North Carolina radiography certification, or eligibility to obtain it promptly
• Current BLS / CPR certification, or willingness to certify before start
• DA II status or a path toward it is a plus, not a requirement
• Willingness to learn by watching closely - much of your early chairside training happens as second assistant on complex cases
• Comfort with technology and genuine curiosity about how a practice runs
• Professional, warm, and steady with patients

Compensation

Starting salary

$3,000 per month - approximately $22.63 per hour, an annual salary of $36,000, exclusive of benefits. This is above entry level for clinical staff in our area. Salary is paid on the first of the month and no later than the fifth, and is commensurate with experience, certification, and years of service. We intend for you to grow in this position and to master the clinical assisting role.

Please note: our office closes approximately six weeks per year and those paid closures are built into this figure. Compare the hourly rate rather than the annual - $36,000 here is a materially higher effective hourly wage than the same annual number at a practice open fifty-two weeks.

Quarterly bonus

Full-time staff are eligible for quarterly bonuses of $400 to $1,100, based on teamwork and the practice meeting its collection goal for the quarter.

Raises and reviews

Performance reviews are conducted semiannually in April/May and October/November using a 25-category, 100-point evaluation. Wage increases are considered based on those review scores, along with experience and years of service.

Benefits

Paid time off and office closures.

The office closes approximately six weeks per year - one and a half to two weeks at Christmas, one week each in March or April, July, and October, plus major holidays. Full-time employees also accrue 3 hours of personal time per month (approximately 4.5 personal days per year) for time off outside of scheduled closures. Personal time requests require one month's advance notice, do not carry over,