Dental Public Health Office Assistant

Important Job Details / Job Snapshot

Job Title: Dental Public Health Office Assistant
Location: McMinnville, Tennessee
Work Arrangement: Onsite
Employment Type: Contract
Number of Openings: 1
Estimated Start Date: October 26, 2026
Estimated End Date: October 29, 2027
Schedule: Monday–Friday
Working Hours: 7:30 AM–4:00 PM CST
Hours per Day: 7.5
Application Deadline: October 16, 2026
Travel: Regional travel may be required
Driver’s License: Current driver’s license required

Pay Rate: $15

Position Overview:

We are seeking a Dental Public Health Office Assistant to provide clerical, administrative, patient-service, and front-office support within a public-health dental clinic.

The position will support daily clinic operations through patient registration, scheduling, check-in and check-out, reminder and follow-up calls, referral coordination, records management, insurance-related documentation, and other administrative responsibilities.

The ideal candidate will be customer-focused, self-motivated, team-oriented, detail-oriented, and comfortable working with patients, dental staff, electronic records, and multiple computer systems.

Required Education

• High School Diploma or equivalent.

Required Experience

• Minimum 2 years of full-time experience in:

  • Customer service delivery; and/or

  • Clerical/office work.

College coursework from an accredited institution may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, up to a maximum of two years.

Required Skills / Qualifications

• Strong customer-service skills.

• Experience performing clerical or office-support duties.

• Ability to schedule and manage appointments.

• Ability to accurately collect and update patient demographic information.

• Ability to review documentation for completeness and eligibility purposes.

• Strong data-entry skills.

• Ability to work with multiple computer software systems.

• Strong attention to detail.

• Strong organizational skills.

• Ability to maintain accurate patient and administrative records.

• Ability to communicate professionally with patients and staff.

• Ability to perform follow-up and reminder calls.

• Ability to coordinate referrals.

• Ability to scan and index records into electronic systems.

• Ability to work effectively in a clinical or office team environment.

• Ability to maintain a positive, professional, and cooperative work environment.

• Current driver’s license.

• Ability and willingness to travel throughout the assigned region as needed.

• Ability to successfully complete required background verification.

Preferred Skills / Qualifications

The following qualifications are specifically preferred:

• Active Tennessee Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) license.

• Dental front-office experience.

• Knowledge of dental terminology.

• Understanding of dental scheduling.

• Familiarity with dental insurance coding.

• Experience with dental or healthcare electronic records.

• Experience supporting dental-clinic operations.

• Experience with dental referrals.

• Experience with insurance authorization processes.

An active Tennessee RDA license is particularly valuable because the individual may assist chairside during emergencies or staffing shortages.

Key Responsibilities

Patient Scheduling & Registration

• Schedule and manage patient appointments.

• Inform patients of visit requirements.

• Collect and update patient demographic information.

• Complete patient-registration activities.

• Assist with patient check-in and check-out.

• Conduct appointment reminder and follow-up calls.

Eligibility & Program Support

• Review documentation to determine eligibility for applicable federal and state programs.

• Inform patients of rights and responsibilities related to program participation.

• Maintain accurate documentation related to patient eligibility.

Data Entry & Systems

• Enter information into clinic management information systems.

• Work with multiple software systems to input and retrieve information.

• Maintain accurate patient and administrative records.

• Scan and index records into the electronic dental record.

Insurance & Authorization Support

• Obtain required authorization before releasing medical information.

• Assist with gathering and submitting documentation needed for prior authorization from insurers.

• Support authorization requirements before services are rendered, when applicable.

Clinic Operations

• Compile appropriate forms for requested services.

• Help maintain efficient clinic workflow.

• Coordinate patient referrals.

• Support dental staff with administrative and front-office duties.

Cash Handling

• Process the cash drawer.

• Balance cash and related transactions to support accurate financial accountability.

Work Environment

This is a full-time onsite position in McMinnville, Tennessee.

The regular schedule is:

Monday–Friday, 7:30 AM–4:00 PM CST

The position supports public-health dental-clinic operations and may require travel throughout the assigned region.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an experienced medical or dental front-office professional with strong customer-service, scheduling, patient-registration, documentation, and administrative skills.

A particularly strong candidate will have experience in a dental office or healthcare clinic, understand dental terminology and insurance processes, and be comfortable working with electronic patient records and multiple computer systems.

An active Tennessee RDA license would make a candidate especially competitive because the position may provide chairside assistance during emergencies or staffing shortages.

The ideal candidate should be reliable, detail-oriented, professional with patients, comfortable handling confidential information, and able to manage multiple responsibilities in a busy clinical environment.