What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called certified dental assistant, CDA, certified registered dental assistant and dental office assistant.
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Dental Assistant
Dental assistant performing clinical duties under a dentist's direction, including patient preparation, instrument sterilization, and treatment assistance, while also managing administrative tasks such as scheduling and record maintenance
Where you worked
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
becomes
On your resume
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Then it asks for one more thing
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
The line
Prepared several patients each day for dental procedures and ensured instruments were sterilized and ready for use
Add how many patients you prepared each day
Pick one that fits
Adding it to the line…
The line
Assisted the dentist during medical emergencies, providing critical support and maintaining patient safety
Show what improved for patients during emergencies
Pick one that fits
Adding it to the line…
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist. Clinical duties may include equipment preparation and sterilization, preparing patients for treatment, assisting the dentist during treatment, and providing patients with instructions for oral healthcare procedures. May perform administrative duties such as scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.
What it pays
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
| 25th percentile | $44,340 |
|---|---|
| Median | $48,070 |
| 75th percentile | $58,090 |
| State | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| AK | $47,480 | $57,710 | $61,370 |
| AL | $36,190 | $39,080 | $47,100 |
| AR | $36,790 | $42,830 | $46,730 |
| AZ | $46,050 | $49,000 | $57,880 |
| CA | $46,270 | $50,110 | $60,670 |
| CO | $45,520 | $48,340 | $58,340 |
| CT | $48,360 | $56,850 | $59,650 |
| DC | $58,590 | $60,580 | $74,220 |
| DE | $43,480 | $47,600 | $55,650 |
| FL | $45,120 | $47,620 | $54,690 |
| GA | $40,270 | $46,840 | $48,960 |
| HI | $37,580 | $44,720 | $48,120 |
| IA | $45,990 | $48,430 | $57,620 |
| ID | $39,800 | $45,880 | $57,690 |
| IL | $40,390 | $48,610 | $56,860 |
| IN | $45,860 | $48,670 | $57,720 |
| KY | $42,400 | $47,730 | $56,760 |
| LA | $36,590 | $44,090 | $46,630 |
| MA | $48,600 | $57,980 | $60,720 |
| MD | $41,600 | $48,620 | $58,820 |
| ME | $49,250 | $60,070 | $61,510 |
| MI | $45,390 | $48,820 | $56,940 |
| MN | $59,940 | $65,270 | $74,410 |
| MO | $38,990 | $45,970 | $50,150 |
| MS | $36,240 | $39,160 | $47,450 |
| MT | $43,820 | $46,680 | $49,920 |
| NC | $47,680 | $50,380 | $57,720 |
| ND | $47,150 | $57,770 | $60,270 |
| NE | $43,590 | $46,660 | $49,370 |
| NH | $49,260 | $59,530 | $61,160 |
| NJ | $45,970 | $49,390 | $61,290 |
| NM | $38,300 | $44,400 | $47,160 |
| NV | $37,760 | $47,110 | $48,450 |
| NY | $44,730 | $48,110 | $58,630 |
| OH | $42,660 | $47,970 | $59,520 |
| OK | $37,210 | $45,740 | $47,990 |
| OR | $56,600 | $59,490 | $63,520 |
| PA | $45,620 | $47,930 | $56,840 |
| PR | $27,620 | $35,910 | $46,850 |
| RI | $48,070 | $50,150 | $59,170 |
| SC | $43,000 | $47,320 | $50,780 |
| SD | $47,060 | $47,900 | $57,890 |
| TN | $44,440 | $46,720 | $59,270 |
| TX | $37,360 | $45,430 | $48,280 |
| UT | $36,400 | $37,760 | $45,770 |
| VA | $39,160 | $46,670 | $53,040 |
| VT | $47,350 | $52,760 | $60,420 |
| WA | $48,780 | $58,090 | $62,340 |
| WI | $45,560 | $47,520 | $55,630 |
| WV | $36,360 | $37,960 | $45,180 |
| WY | $36,460 | $44,990 | $48,490 |
Other names
certified dental assistant, CDA, certified registered dental assistant, dental office assistant, expanded dental assistant, expanded duties dental assistant, EDDA, expanded duty dental assistant, expanded function dental assistant, EFDA, expanded functions dental assistant, general practical dental assistant.
oral surgery assistant, ortho assistant, orthodontic assistant, orthodontic dental assistant, orthodontist assistant, pediatric dental assistant, registered dental assistant, RDA, surgical dental assistant, dental aide, dental nurse, dental specialist, dentist attendant.
If you served
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
What you can already claim
Below are the tasks a Dental Assistant job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
You can already claim 4 of the 9 tasks this job is made of.
What you have not done yet. Assisting practitioners, Interviewing patients, Preparing medical instruments
Your resume, already started
Dental Assistant
Nothing here was invented. Every line is something you chose above, and it comes with you when you start.
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Nearby work
Near this job. If one of these fits better, its page is the same as this one.
This page is about the occupation Dental Assistants. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.