Want to successfully grow your practice? Invest in your team.

Continuous learning and professional development are key ingredients to a successful dental practice. These opportunities keep your team up to date with the latest technologies and treatment methods, allowing your practice to maintain the highest professional standard. Continuing education also keeps your team feeling fulfilled in their careers, which in turn leads to greater efficiency and higher patient satisfaction. 

Take a closer look at these 4 notable reasons why you should offer continuing education for your dental practice team.

1. Enhancing Professional Competence

Dental assistant continuing education is a powerful way to improve your team’s capabilities. You want to equip them with the skills to confidently handle complex cases and tackle everyday tasks as efficiently as possible.

Dental technology moves at a rapid pace, so ongoing dental assistant training helps keep your team ahead of the curve. New methods, ranging from 3D imaging to digital orthodontic treatment planning, require the right training to handle effectively.

Additionally, regulatory requirements change frequently. You need your team to stay up to date to make sure that they’re implementing the right procedures to keep your practice compliant and respect patient privacy.

Through continuing education, your team can learn the latest best practices on all fronts. You count on your team every day, so having them approach their roles from the best foundation possible benefits everyone.

2. Improving Patient Care and Satisfaction

Dental assistant training and other continuing education opportunities can improve the quality of care your practice provides by ensuring your team is implementing all resources available to them. For instance, specialized training bolsters your team’s diagnostic skills and treatment planning, letting them support a wide range of treatment options.

This type of training also takes a patient-centric approach, enabling your team to approach custom patient solutions more effectively. Personalized treatment plans deliver better outcomes—and happier patients.

Similarly, a knowledgeable team builds stronger relationships with patients, which helps you retain more of them in the long run. Communicating clearly and compassionately with patients is a prime example, as mitigating fears and dental anxiety requires a careful approach and proper knowledge.

Routine training will help keep your team on the same page when it comes to protocols as well. When your team is prepared to implement the best practices for any given situation, your patients will consistently receive the high-quality care you want your practice to be known for.

3. Boosting Team Morale and Career Advancement

Continuing education is a win-win situation for your patients and your practice as a whole. Career development advances your team’s skills and experience. Not to mention your practice will enjoy the advantage of having a solid, reliable team.

Beyond this professional impact, your team can also feel more fulfilled when they see that you are investing in their development. Continuing education boosts morale by providing a meaningful sense of progress and improving long-term career opportunities. This satisfaction can in turn improve your team member retention rate.

Routine training also prepares your team for change on an individual level as well as in the context of the dental field. Your practice will be more resilient and competitive with a highly trained team that can handle a wide range of situations.

This resilience is imperative, especially when adding new treatment options. With the proper training, your team can easily support orthodontic treatment, greatly expanding the potential of your practice.

4. Benefitting Your Practice Financially

Investing in your team also unlocks long-term financial benefits. Opening the door to new treatment options through continuing education opens your practice to new revenue streams. Highly lucrative areas such as orthodontics allow you to make the most of your existing patient base by offering additional treatments that they are likely to need at some point.

Additionally, a well-trained team attracts new patients and encourages existing ones to refer their friends and family. This makes your office the clear choice for those seeking high-quality dental care. 

Expanding your services also makes your practice attractive to a wider range of potential patients who need those treatments. Instead of having to visit both a specialist and a general dentist, they can choose your practice to receive all the care they need under one roof.

Support your practice with CE for dental team development.

The benefits of continuing education to your practice, patients, and team make it a worthwhile investment in many ways. By providing your team with these opportunities, you can support both the operational success and competitive edge of your practice. Consider adding continuing education from the American Orthodontic Society to your annual planning, and take a look at our course catalog to find the right option for your practice today.