The first FULL week of March is Dental Assistant Appreciation Week!
We put this post together to show Dental Assistants how much we love them AND to tell Dentists, Hygienists, Dental Office Manager, and Front Office Staff how they can make their assistants feel extra special this week!
Let us start with…
WHY dental assistants deserve more than just 1 week of appreciation.
#1 They are the heart of the dental practice
Seriously, Dental assistants keep the blood pumping in the dental offices. They flip the rooms, order supplies, make sure patients are where they need to be, make sure the treatment coordinators get the routing slip, track down the dentist whenever they go missing, and so much more. On top of that, patients and team members love them. They work so hard and keep a smile on everyone’s face.
#2 We need them now more than ever
With the spotlight on health, infection control, and essential workers, dental assistants are needed now more than ever. Out of everyone in the office, Dental Assistants are most likely the ones doing all the heavy lifting to keep the office complaint with OSHA, CDC, and ADA guidelines. It is a hard and challenging job, so make sure to thank your assistant daily for all their hard work.
#3 There aren’t enough assistants to go around
Even before COVID, there was a shortage of Dental Assistants. After COVID, yikes. So if you are an office that is lucky enough to have a dental assistant or two, make sure to give them all the love and thanks you can.
If you struggle to find a dental assistant, post your job on DirectDental. We will get it on all the major job boards to increase the number of applicants.
Ways to show Appreciation for your Dental Assistant.
Now that we know why we should appreciate our dental assistants, here are some fun ways to show your appreciation.
- Do their most hated task for them – Ask your assistant(s) what they hate to do the most. Then do that task for them the entire week of March 1st. They are going to feel so refreshed after a week off from a dreaded task.
- Feed them – Buy them lunch, or throw a fun office party to celebrate them!
- Have your patients tell them how amazing they are – send out an email to all your patients announcing that it is Dental Assistant Appreciation week. In the email include pictures of your Dental Assistants and something special about them. Finish off the email saying “Has any of our assistants made your visit to our office special? If so, we would love to hear about it! For the month of March, please leave us a Yelp, Google or Facebook review about how our dental assistant made your day special. On March 31st, we will have a drawing of all those that left reviews and the winner will get a “Name prize.”
- Gifts and/ gift cards – Showering your beloved assistant with their favorite goodies is a great way to show your appreciation. I love the idea of having someone come to the office to detail their car or have someone go to their house to give it a nice deep clean!
- Social Media posts – Tell everyone who follows your practice how special your assistants are.
- A free (paid) day off of work – Give them a free paid day off in the month of March. A guilt free Wednesday off sounds like heaven! Make sure to get a temp on DirectDental, so the rest of your office staff isn’t stressed.
- New Scrubs.
- Update stuff in the office – replace the mouse or keyboard they keep complaining about. Or get a new microwave or coffee machine, if that has been causing them angst.
- A shopping trip – take them to the mall and give them a $100 gift card and let them shop for an hour.
- Dealers choice – ask them what they want to do for Dental Assistant Appreciation Week.
We are so excited to celebrate our dental assistants! And we hope this post helps you make this Dental Assistant Appreciation Week extra special!
Smiles,
Holli Perez
DirectDental
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