Dental Receptionist Resume Example & Writing Guide
- What should your dental receptionist resume include?
- How can you create a professional summary?
- How should you describe your work experience as a dental receptionist?
- Include a fitting dental receptionist resume education and certifications section
- Which key skills are relevant for a dental receptionist resume?
- How to select the most impactful dental receptionist resume template
- Key takeaways for writing a dental receptionist resume
Those who enjoy creating a positive and welcoming environment for dental patients will thrive in a dental receptionist role. A dentist will look for someone with excellent communication and customer service skills and who can make their patients feel welcome during their appointment.
Those who enjoy creating a positive and welcoming environment for dental patients will thrive in a dental receptionist role. A dentist will look for someone with excellent communication and customer service skills and who can make their patients feel welcome during their appointment.
This resume example will show you how to stand out when applying for a dental receptionist role. Here is what we will cover:
What should a dental receptionist resume include?
Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education)
Adding relevant key skills to your resume
Choosing the right resume template for a dental receptionist
What should your dental receptionist resume include?
The goal of your dental receptionist resume should be to display your ability to handle the appointment scheduling needs of patients while providing critical patient care services. Throughout the day, you will need to provide insurance verification services, assist with billing and payment questions, perform front desk duties, and resolve problems.
Your dental receptionist resume should contain the following elements:
The resume header with your contact information
The resume summary
The resume skills section
The career experience section
The education section
How can you create a professional summary?
As a dental receptionist, being friendly and professional should be at the heart of your experience. The professional summary is one of the first places you can show off these skills. Include information about your customer service experience as well as experience with insurance claims.
You can also bring additional attention to your core skills by including an Areas of Expertise bullet point list. With this skills list, you can quickly show that you have experience in some of the key areas a dentist will need help with.
Highly organized and efficient administrative professional with years of experience managing office and accounting functions in addition to providing exceptional customer service and patient management. Expertise greeting and welcoming dental patients both in person and over the phone with proven success accurately processing insurance claims. Strong analytical ability and attention to detail. Leverage excellent interpersonal and communication skills to create warm and welcoming environments while maintaining professionalism and efficiency. Bilingual with fluency in English and Spanish. Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
How should you describe your work experience as a dental receptionist?
In the career experience section, you will need to show a dental office that you are the right choice. Start by looking at the job description. Then, design your career experience section around what the office is looking for in their new dental receptionist.
Work experience should be listed in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job listed first. It should include your title, the dates you were employed, and your responsibilities. Underneath each position, include a short bullet point list that highlights your biggest achievements. Be specific with your achievements and show the results (e.g. Redesigned scheduling system, ensuring accuracy in appointments).
In some jobs, like a dental receptionist, it can be difficult to find specific results. If you are struggling with this, include information related to office management projects you’ve taken on or positive feedback from the managers you’ve worked with.
Dental Receptionist at Children’s Dental Center, Orlando, FL 2014 - Present
Welcome and check-in patients to busy dental office, answer questions, and direct to waiting area.
Manage phone system and respond to high-volume of incoming calls.
Schedule patient appointments.
Receive and compile patient data, including insurance to verify insurance coverage, coordinate patient registration, manage charts, handle payments, and organize patient data.
Prepare patient charts; maintain confidentiality.
Communicate with patients to answer treatment-related questions, triage questions to clinical/dental departments.
Receptionist at ABC Company, Winter Park, FL 2007 - 2014
Greeted visitors / clients at check-in desk and connected with the appropriate party.
Answered, screened, and forwarded incoming phone calls.
Planned and arranged conferences and evening events.
Managed schedule for eight busy meeting rooms across three destinations.
Carried out bookings for hotels, taxis, dispatches, flights and trains for executive travel.
Recognized for outstanding performance with Employee of the Year award.
Effectively organized and orchestrated an office move and relocation of 100 staff.
If possible, include bilingual status
Since dental offices have such a wide variety of patients coming through their doors, being bilingual is quite valuable for a dental receptionist. According to FinancesOnline’s resume statistics, only about 31 percent of applicants include their language status on their resume, so that key factor could help you stand out.
Include a fitting dental receptionist resume education and certifications section
The education and certifications section is one area where you can stand out as a dental receptionist. Here are a few tips to help you design this section in the most impactful way:
Stay relevant. Keep things simple in this section of your resume by listing any degrees you have followed by the college you attended. For this role, there isn’t a need to explain in detail the type of education you received in college.
List any certifications or specific training. Certifications/training should be relevant to the work you will do as a dental receptionist.
Associate of Arts at Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL
Which key skills are relevant for a dental receptionist resume?
When a dental office is searching for a new dental receptionist, they will be looking for a specific set of skills in the applicants they are considering. In most instances, these skills will be listed in the job description. You should include them in your resume.
Many dental offices use an applicant tracking system to search for resumes that mention these skills. To learn more about conquering the ATS, check out our article on resume ATS optimization.
When possible, you should include those keywords throughout your summary and professional experience section as well. A few important skills to consider include:
Patient service
Appointment scheduling
Database administration
Insurance claim processing
Administrative support
Data entry
How to select the most impactful dental receptionist resume template
The goal of any dental receptionist is to show yourself as professional and organized. This is also something you should display on your resume. Keep the information streamlined and concise to make it easy to read. You want a dental office to easily pick out the skills they need for their office.
Summary example
Highly organized and efficient administrative professional with years of experience managing office and accounting functions in addition to providing exceptional customer service and patient management. Expertise greeting and welcoming dental patients both in person and over the phone with proven success accurately processing insurance claims. Strong analytical ability and attention to detail. Leverage excellent interpersonal and communication skills to create warm and welcoming environments while maintaining professionalism and efficiency. Bilingual with fluency in English and Spanish. Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
Employment history example
Dental Receptionist at Children’s Dental Center, Orlando, FL 2014 - Present
Welcome and check-in patients to busy dental office, answer questions, and direct to waiting area.
Manage phone system and respond to high-volume of incoming calls.
Schedule patient appointments.
Receive and compile patient data, including insurance to verify insurance coverage, coordinate patient registration, manage charts, handle payments, and organize patient data.
Prepare patient charts; maintain confidentiality.
Communicate with patients to answer treatment-related questions, triage questions to clinical/dental departments.
Receptionist at ABC Company, Winter Park, FL 2007 - 2014
Greeted visitors / clients at check-in desk and connected with the appropriate party.
Answered, screened, and forwarded incoming phone calls.
Planned and arranged conferences and evening events.
Managed schedule for eight busy meeting rooms across three destinations.
Carried out bookings for hotels, taxis, dispatches, flights and trains for executive travel.
Recognized for outstanding performance with Employee of the Year award.
Effectively organized and orchestrated an office move and relocation of 100 staff.
Education example
Associate of Arts at Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL
Skills example
Database Administration
Administrative Support
Data Entry & Reporting
Customer / Patient Service
Call Screening
Appointment Scheduling
Relationship Management
Insurance Claim Processing
Need inspiration? Take a look at our collection of over 100 resume examples.
Key takeaways for writing a dental receptionist resume
As a dental receptionist, you should have experience in customer service, patient/office management, and insurance billing.
When building your resume, display the experience needed to properly greet and care for a dental patient when they are in the office.
Use keywords that are important to a dental office, such as patient service, insurance claim processing, and relationship management.
