What is the highest paying dental assisting job?

The highest annual pay for a Dental Assistant in the U.S as of May 2018 was $54,800 while the median and lowest pay was $38,660 and $26,940 respectively. Some of the highest paying and popular Skills for Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) include:

Leadership — Dental assistants with team leadership skills earn an average hourly pay of $17.85.
Radiology — The average hourly pay for a certified dental assistant with radiology skills is $17.42.
Patient Education — The average hourly pay for a dental aide with patient education skills is $18.45.
Order Inventory — The average hourly pay for a certified dental assistant with order inventory skills is $17.63.
Scheduling — A dental Assistant with Scheduling skills earns an average hourly pay of $18.54.
Oral Surgery — A certified dental assistant with oral surgery skills earns around $18.24 per hour.
Pediatrics — The average hourly wage for a dental assistant (certified) with Pediatrics skills is $18.27.
Orthodontics — Finally, a certified dental assistant with Orthodontics skills earns an average hourly wage of $18.18.

Factors that affect dental assistant salaries

Your earning potential as a DA is influenced by various factors. Specializing in a field such as pediatrics or oral surgery improves the potential for dental aides’ salaries. Likewise, assistants with an understanding of digital software have an advantage over others, since they don’t require extra training on that field.

Also, the state of residence can greatly influence how much assistants earn. You can check out the income data for all dental aides across the country on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.

Earning a DANB certification is another way assistants can improve their bottom line. DANB CDA certificants earn about $2 more per hour compared to dental assistants who are not DANB certified.

Dental aides who are bilingual are also likely to make more than the non-bilinguals. There is a high demand for bilingual assistants, and dental offices are willing to pay more as they are so valuable, especially in this era of globalization.

lastly, nothing supersedes on-the-job experience. Veterans in this field have more salary negotiation power compared to the less experienced ones.