Front Desk / OR Coordinator — Pediatric Dental Practice

The Children's Tooth Spa | Northern Liberties (Philadelphia) & Chester, PA Job Type: Full-Time, In Person Pay: $20.00 – $23.00 per hour, based on experience Software: Denticon (required or fast-learner equivalent)

Why This Role Exists

Most pediatric dental offices split these responsibilities between two people who never quite talk to each other. The front desk books the appointment. Someone else chases the surgical clearance. And somewhere in the gap between them, a family shows up on the morning of their child's surgery without a completed authorization — or worse, having fed their child breakfast.

We built this role to close that gap.

You are the operational spine of the patient experience: the first voice a family hears when they call, and the person who walks them all the way through to the day their child goes into the operating room. You own the whole arc. Nothing is handed off. Nothing falls through.

This is a high-trust, high-ownership position. If you are the kind of person who catches the missing piece of paperwork three days before anyone else would have noticed it, we want to talk to you.

The Two Sides of the Job

Front Desk Operations

• Greet patients and families with genuine warmth — you set the tone for the entire visit
• Run check-in, check-out, and scheduling with an organized, efficient flow
• Manage high-volume phone calls without letting the person standing in front of you feel invisible
• Perform insurance verification across PPO, private insurance, and Medicaid
• Complete chart prep and eligibility checks before appointments — not the morning of
• Review and explain treatment plans, ledgers, and patient balances clearly and confidently
• Handle sensitive financial and clinical conversations with professionalism
• Communicate cleanly between the clinical and administrative teams

Surgical (OR) Coordination

• Coordinate all hospital and surgery center appointments for our Philadelphia and Malvern surgery centers
• Schedule operating room cases and maintain an efficient, well-utilized surgical calendar
• Serve as the primary point of contact for parents throughout the entire surgical process
• Verify that every medical clearance, authorization, and required document is complete before surgery day
• Complete surgery confirmation calls and make certain families understand pre-operative instructions, including NPO requirements and arrival times
• Ensure PPO and self-pay families have completed financial arrangements prior to surgery
• Own the OR Communication Board: document outstanding items, follow up daily, and make sure no patient falls through the cracks
• Resolve scheduling conflicts with surgery centers, providers, and internal team members promptly
• Follow up on canceled or postponed cases and get those patients rescheduled
• Review upcoming OR schedules, identify problems before they become problems, and escalate to leadership early

What Success Looks Like

By 30 days: You are running the front desk independently, you know our Denticon workflows, and you can verify a PPO or Medicaid patient without asking for help.

By 60 days: You own the OR Communication Board. You know every surgical patient on the upcoming schedule by name and know exactly what is outstanding on each one.

By 90 days: Surgery days run without surprises. Clearances are complete in advance. Families arrive prepared. Leadership finds out about problems from you — early — rather than discovering them on their own.

Requirements

• Minimum 1–2 years in a dental, oral surgery, orthodontic, or healthcare front office setting
• Working knowledge of Denticon, Dentrix, or comparable dental practice management software
• Solid understanding of insurance verification, PPO and Medicaid workflows, dental billing, and patient ledgers
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
• Exceptional attention to detail — in this role, small misses have real consequences for children and families
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel) and comfortable learning new systems quickly
• Professional appearance and demeanor

Strongly Preferred

• Bilingual (English/Spanish) — a significant asset at both locations
• Experience using Denticon specifically
• Prior experience coordinating OR schedules, hospital cases, or specialty dental treatment
• Pediatric dental experience
• Familiarity with insurance breakdowns and EOB interpretation
• Experience managing high call volume alongside in-person patient flow

Who Thrives Here

We are direct about this, because the wrong fit is expensive for everyone.

You will do well here if you:

• Take ownership without needing to be managed into it
• Raise your hand the moment something looks off. We would far rather hear "this clearance hasn't come back and surgery is Thursday" than find out on Thursday. Speaking up early is not seen as a complaint here — it is the job.
• Follow the process as written, and tell us when the process is wrong instead of quietly working around it
• Are solutions-oriented: you bring the problem and a proposed path forward
• Are steady under pressure and kind to families having a hard day
• Are looking for a long-term seat at a growing practice, not a stopover

This role is probably not for you if: you prefer a narrow, predictable task list; you find it uncomfortable to escalate bad news; or you would rather absorb a problem silently than flag it.

Why Children's Tooth Spa

We are a growing pediatric dental practice with two locations and an active surgical program. We take care of kids who are often nervous, and families who are often stretched thin — and we believe that experience is built as much at the front desk and on the phone as it is in the operatory.

Our team values communication, accountability, and continuous growth. Every team member is respected, supported in developing professionally, and trusted to make real decisions. As the practice expands, the people who help build it are the people who grow with it.

Compensation & Benefits

• $20.00 – $23.00 per hour, based on experience and software proficiency
• Full-time, in person
• Benefits and paid time off after 90 days of employment
• Ongoing training and professional development as the practice grows

How to Apply

Apply through Indeed with your résumé. Please include the word "LIGHTHOUSE" at the top of your application so we know you've read the full posting.

Application Questions

• Walk us through exactly how you verified insurance for a PPO patient at your last office — start to finish, including what you checked and where you documented it.
• Tell us about a specific time you caught a missing authorization, clearance, or document before it caused a problem. How did you catch it, and what did you do next?
• Describe a time you noticed something at work that wasn't being done correctly. What did you do about it, and who did you tell?
• Tell us about a time you had to deliver difficult news to a patient or family — a denied claim, a balance they weren't expecting, or a canceled appointment. What did you say?
• How do you manage a ringing phone, a family waiting to check in, and a clinical team member who needs something from you — all at the same time? Give us a real example, not a hypothetical.
• What dental software have you used? How long did it take you to become fully independent on the most recent one?
• Are you fluent in Spanish?

Pay: $20.00 - $23.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $20 - $23