Dental Receptionist Resume: Examples, Job Description & Tips

Everyone knows dental care is not the cheapest thing out there.

So, receptionists in dentist’s offices make a hell of a buck, too, right?

Not always, but sometimes, yes.

Those practices are, however, always heavily bombarded with average dental receptionist resumes. Hundreds of them.

And today, you’ll learn how to go way above average and beat them all.

This guide will show you:

• A dental receptionist resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a dental receptionist resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a dental receptionist resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a dental receptionist to get any job you want.

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Want to lead the charge from the front desk in another field? Read these:

• Receptionist Resume Examples
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• Front Desk Receptionist Resume Examples
• Medical Receptionist Resume Examples
• Legal Assistant Resume Examples
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• Office Assistant Resume Examples
• Office Administrator Resume Examples
• Best Resume Examples for Every Job & Industry 

Dental Receptionist Resume Example

Now, take a look at how we recommend writing a dental receptionist resume:

1. Present Your Dental Receptionist with the Right Format

Dental receptionists greet and instruct patients in dental practices. Aside from handling documentation and administrative work, they also perform data entry and other tasks. A dental receptionist resume should therefore be versatile, as it has to show all of that and more.

But let’s be real for a moment—

Receptionists don’t need formal, specialized education. Working front desk in a hotel won’t differ significantly from working in a dental clinic.

Which means, you are up against an exponential number of candidates gunning for that same job.

To get ahead of them, your resume format needs to spark a glow in the recruiter’s eyes right from the get-go.

The first step is to figure out the proper resume layout. The reverse-chronological resume presents the most recent and relevant experience first, which generally works best.

The font of your resume also needs a professional look, so give that a quick check-up just in case. Arial or Calibri in 11–12 points will be your best bet. 

Make sure you also use proper resume margins and that you structure your resume with clearly distinguishable sections.

Read more: What Should My Resume Look Like?

2. Write a Dental Receptionist Resume Objective or Resume Summary

People are afraid of coming in for dental procedures.

If you can’t keep the greeting area clean and tidy, what kind of message does that send about the practice?

Not a good one.

Likewise, your resume should also be quickly scannable, and let the recruiter know what kind of professionalism you bring to the table.

We call that a resume profile, and it’s a 3–4 sentence statement at the top.

A resume summarypresents your career in a nutshell. Write one if you’ve got experience as a (dental) receptionist.

Resume objectives work best for entry-level candidates and focus on what you’ve learned from other jobs and how you’d use it to succeed in this position.

Read more: How to Write a Resume Introduction: 5+ Examples

3. Describe Your Dental Receptionist Work Experience the Right Way

You can describe your experience simply, like writing “Answered phones” and “Filed documents.”

But it doesn’t mean you should.

Bland dental receptionist job descriptions like that will bore the recruiter faster than a drill bores into a patch of tooth decay.

What you should do instead is make your dental receptionist work experience section look and feel more dynamic, like so:

• Follow the reverse chronological order when talking past jobs. Add your job title and the name of the company, plus your dates worked.
• In a few bullet points, describe your biggest achievements in each role.
• Whenever possible, use action words and numbers to add more meaning and strength to your work.
• Avoid including irrelevant experience on your resume just to bulk it out—the best length for a resume is one page, anyway.
• Tailor your resume every time you apply. That’s how you get callbacks and interview invitations.

Read more: How to Write a Resume with No Experience

4. Optimize the Education Section on Your Dental Receptionist Resume

Do you need an education to perform well at your job? Not necessarily.

Does your resume need to have an education section? Absolutely.

Even if, as is often the case, your academic experience boils down to a high school diploma, your employer still needs to know that.

Set aside enough room to talk about your:

• Highest obtained degree
• School name and location
• Year of graduation

If you have more than 5 years of work experience, you can just leave it at that and move on to the next section. If you’re short on experience, though, you can list more information detailing what you learned and excelled at in school.

Consider adding:

• Relevant coursework
• School achievements
• Completed school internships
• Extracurricular activities
• Your GPA, if it was 3.5+

Still studying? Quit college? Read more: How to Put Unfinished College on a Resume

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5. Present a Tailored Skills Section

Any dental receptionist needs to have a wide set of skills to do their job well. All that multitasking is required for the company to run well.

You’re good enough that patients coming in for a filling might as well come to you directly to fill them in on all the details.

For now, let’s tackle your skills section one thing at a time. First, an example:

Dental Receptionist Resume Skills

• Customer Service Skills
• Time Management
• Answering Clients’ Questions
• Administrative Skills
• Updating Patient Information
• Good Memory
• Managing Cancellations
• Keeping Documentation
• Preparing Billing Statements
• Organizational Skills
• Friendly Attitude
• Oral and Verbal Communication
• Data Entry
• Scheduling
• Math Skills
• MS Office
• Taking Payments
• In- and Outbound Calls
• Basic Computer Skills
• Understanding of Dental Procedures
• Multitasking Skills
• Placing Orders
• Patient Confidentiality
• Monitoring Office Supplies

Recall that tailoring the resume yields the best results.

We also have to do that here to not look phony:

• Create a spreadsheet of all of your skills.
• The job ad will most likely have a requirements section. Search it to find out what skills exactly they need you to have.
• Those resume keywords will likely get your resume past the ATS (software used by companies to scan incoming job applications), and are in general the best fit for the position at this particular company.

Read more: 99+ Key Skills for Any Resume

6. Add Bonus Sections to Your Resume for Dental Receptionist Jobs

What good is a receptionist that is dreary and drab?

In the eyes of the recruiter filtering out dud resumes, probably not much.

Lighting up a place with an actual personality can do wonders for your chances and is a positive way to combat patients’ anxiety, which has been identified as one of five crucial factors that stress out doctors, too.

So, let some of that personality shine through by adding an extra resume section or two to get an advantage over others and secure the spot for yourself.

Relevant certifications and licenses are always worth listing on your resume. Consider writing about any extra training, volunteer work, or professional awards to boost your score. Hobbies and interests,passion projects, or foreign language skills can definitely help, too.

Read more: 50+ Resume Tips to Help You Get Hired

7. Write a Dental Receptionist Cover Letter

Should you add a cover letter to your application?

Most recruiters won’t be interested in you if you don’t, so yes, absolutely. 

It doesn’t have to take too much time, either. A simple cover letter template like this one below will definitely do the job: 

• Format the cover letter with the proper ruleset in mind.
• Pick a good cover letter font—ideally the same one as on your resume—and keep it at 11 or 12 points.
• Don’t go over the recommended length of a cover letter: 3–4 paragraphs, all on one page.
• Start your cover letter with a catchy introduction. Present impressive skills, and show why you applied.
• In the middle section, elaborate on your accomplishments and explain why you want to work at this particular dental clinic.
• Ending your cover letter properly means giving them a call to action and an exciting promise.

Read more: What Should a Cover Letter Say

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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Thanks for reading. Got any extra questions or advice regarding writing a dental receptionist resume? The comments section is always open!

See our other guides:

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