Well, if you came here looking for one straight answer as to what your salary might be, then think twice. What a person makes is a function of many things. The factors influencing dental assistant salaries is as varied as anyone could ever imagine. The elements that impact what you can expect to earn include regional differences, the degree in which you have gained training and formal education in the dental field, the type of dental clinic you might be working at, and the level of experience you have achieved. There are other factors as well, but let’s not belabor the point. What is clear is that while we can fine tune what the average dental assistant makes to some degree, there will still be relatively wide variances. Let us explore by way of example. We are going to get acquainted with the dental assistant salary of Alice from Webster.
Touring Dental Assistant Salaries
Alice had always been fascinated with working with her hands, whether is was with arts and crafts or just helping out. This is what drew here to the the dental profession. She has been working as a dental assistant in Webster, Texas for 6 1/2 years. Her training was the old fashioned method in which she walked into the Dental office, pleaded her case and was accepted in an in house training program. She started making $8.50/hour as the beginning of her training. Now bear in mind that trainees and newly hired graduates from Dental Assistant Schools, earning considerably more these days, but Alice was quite satisfied back then to get her foot in the door. This was six years ago and Alice had essentially no experience, but that was soon to change. After she completed the 6 month training program, she was promoted to a full fledged practicing dental assistant making 10.00/hour. As she acquired more experience over the years, here salary grew. After 3 years in the job, she was earning $15.50/hour. A year later after she took and passed the DANB certification exam, and here salary was raised to 17.25/hour.
While here performance was excellent, the continued growth in her salary was not solely based on merit. In compensation circles, there is a term known as “equity market adjustments”. So after a few years, as the dental practice grew and new hires were brought in…..new dental assistants that were fetching $11 – 14.00/hourly rate due to market supply/demand forces…..it become evident that Alice, with all of her experience was somewhat underpaid. This was corrected over the years. Kudos to the people running the dental practice for staying abreast of compensation practices. Currently as a well experienced dental assistant, Alice is making $21.85/hour and continues to be a pillar of reliability.
Now, not everyone will have the same story as Alice. But a well experienced dental assistant with all of the requisite training and certification can command an attractive staring salary particularly if they are working at a successful dental practice. So when you review dental assistant salaries, bear in mind that there is a story behind every person and many factors influence what a person can earn in the profession.