Orthodontic Assistant Job Description Template
Copy it, edit the bracketed parts, and get the state credential line and the pay range right before it goes live.
An orthodontic assistant job description has six moving parts: a summary that says what a shift looks like in your clinic, duties that separate what any assistant does from what your state permits, the exact credential your state requires (or the closest signal to ask for where it has none), a pay range, a schedule, and a closing equal-opportunity line.
Here is a template you can paste, plus the state and pay specifics that decide whether qualified people apply.
At a glance
10th to 90th percentile for dental assistants in offices of dentists, BLS OEWS May 2025 — BLS publishes no orthodontic-only series
Pay range to quote
$17.83–$29.83/hr
California orthodontic assistant permit, Maryland orthodontic EFDA, Missouri orthodontics permit — or DANB COA where the state has none
Credential line
Name your state's credential
of the 4,136 dental assistant listings DentistryHires analyzed on October 6, 2026
Listings that state pay
78.4%
What to include
A summary that describes the room.
One or two lines on the practice: how many chairs, whether you run an open bay with several patients in chairs at once or work one-on-one, the patient mix — kids, teens, adults — and whether you treat with braces, clear aligners or both.
Assistants coming from general practice will want to know how the job differs — say it before they apply.
The assistant-side view of the role is in the orthodontic assistant career guide.
Duties in two groups.
List what any trained assistant does — seating patients, sterilization, records, keeping the schedule moving — separately from the orthodontic-specific tasks your state allows only a credentialed assistant to perform, such as bond prep, bracket positioning and archwire work.
Splitting the two lets candidates screen themselves, and it keeps you from implying you delegate something your state does not permit.
The credential your state actually requires, by its exact name.
This is the line generic templates get wrong — "certified assistant required" means different credentials in different states, and where your state has no orthodontic-specific credential, the national DANB certifications are the signal to ask for instead.
If the role includes x-rays, add your state's radiography credential as its own line.
And if you are really hiring a general chairside assistant rather than an ortho-specific one, start from the dental assistant job description and add the orthodontic duties on top.
Write the duties down before you advertise — and keep the file.
EEOC regulations list a written job description prepared before advertising among the evidence of which functions are essential to a job (29 CFR 1630.2(n)(3)) — one more reason to describe what the person actually does, not a wishlist.
A pay range, not "DOE."
Fourteen states plus DC required a pay range in job postings as of October 6, 2026, per DentistryHires' pay-transparency law list, and 78.4% of the 4,136 dental assistant listings DentistryHires analyzed that day stated a rate or range anyway.
Put the number in the template's pay line and mirror it in the first screen of the posting.
The figures to frame it with are below.
A schedule and the closing line.
State the days and hours, and flag anything specific to your clinic — early mornings, late afternoons, longer records appointments.
Close with your equal-opportunity line; the wording rules for that line and the rest of the ad are covered below.
For the craft that applies to any dental role — structure, phrasing, where to post — see writing a dental job ad; this page is the orthodontic-specific template.
The template
Paste this and replace the bracketed parts.
The credential line and the pay line are the two to get precise before it goes live.
[PRACTICE NAME] — Orthodontic Assistant ([FULL-TIME / PART-TIME], [DAYS] days/week) Pay: $[X]–$[Y] per hour, depending on experience and credentials Schedule: [DAYS AND HOURS — include early, late or weekend coverage if it applies] Location: [CITY, STATE] About the role We are hiring an orthodontic assistant for a [N]-chair practice in [CITY]. You would work [OPEN BAY / ONE-ON-ONE] alongside [DR. NAME / OUR ORTHODONTISTS], seeing mostly [KIDS AND TEENS / ADULTS / ALL AGES] for [BRACES / CLEAR ALIGNERS / BOTH]. What you'd do - Prepare patients and set up for bracket and wire changes - Assist during bonding appointments: [list the prep steps your state lets this hire perform] - Take records: photos and digital scans [add impressions and cephalometric x-rays if your state permits assistants to take them] - Support aligner visits: [attachments, where permitted], scans, and wear-and-care instructions - Sterilize instruments and turn over operatories between patients - Keep the open bay moving: seating, chart notes, supply tracking - [ADD state-permitted expanded duties you actually delegate — e.g. sizing and securing bands, prepositioning and curing brackets, removing bands and brackets, placing and ligating archwires] What we're looking for - [THE EXACT CREDENTIAL YOUR STATE REQUIRES — e.g. a California orthodontic assistant permit, Maryland orthodontic EFDA certification, or a Missouri expanded-functions permit in orthodontics — or your state's registration/radiography requirement if it has no orthodontic-specific credential] - [DANB COA or CDA — a plus where the state does not credential orthodontic assistants] - Radiography credential, if the role includes x-rays [SPECIFY YOUR STATE'S REQUIREMENT] - [YEARS] experience preferred; strong general-practice assistants [WELCOME / NOT CONSIDERED] What we offer - $[X]–$[Y] per hour - [BENEFITS: health coverage, PTO, retirement, paid permit or certification renewals, CE] - [SUPPORT: paid training toward your state's orthodontic credential if you're hired without it] To apply: [HOW TO APPLY] [OPTIONAL: [PRACTICE NAME] is an equal opportunity employer.]
The template above is the structure; what follows changes by state.
The rest of the process is in how to hire an orthodontic assistant.
The credential line, state by state.
The states this page verified credential rules for are California, Maryland, New Jersey, Missouri, Oregon and Connecticut — states beyond those were not checked, so confirm your own state's requirement with your dental board before you post.
California issues an orthodontic assistant permit through the Dental Board of California.
Earning it takes a 2-hour Dental Practice Act course and an 8-hour infection control course (both within two years), a board-approved ultrasonic scaling course (within five years), current BLS, a board-approved orthodontic assistant course, fingerprints and a written exam.
With the permit, under the dentist's direct supervision, the holder may etch and prepare teeth for bonded attachments, aligner buttons and brackets; size, fit and secure bands; preposition and cure brackets after the dentist approves their position; remove bands, brackets and attachments; place and ligate archwires; and remove excess cement from the supragingival surfaces of teeth undergoing orthodontic treatment with an ultrasonic scaler.
California also requires the original or a copy of the current permit to be publicly displayed at the treatment facility, and permit holders complete 25 CE units per biennial renewal period.
Verify a permit in the DCA License Search, which lists Orthodontic Assistant among its credential types.
Maryland requires board certification as an orthodontic expanded function dental assistant (EFDA) before an assistant performs the orthodontic EFDA procedures on the board's list.
The older "dental assistant qualified in orthodontics" status is no longer recognized: assistants recognized before August 31, 2026 may perform orthodontic EFDA duties only until February 28, 2027 unless they become certified orthodontic EFDAs — so ask about the certification, not the old title.
Maryland's board license search covers general and orthodontic EFDAs.
Connecticut does not license dental assistants.
Its expanded function dental assistant category is defined by passing the DANB Certified Dental Assistant or Certified Orthodontic Assistant exam plus completing an EFDA program accredited by CODA, and that DANB certification must be kept current.
Missouri issues expanded functions permits in five categories — restorative I, restorative II, removable prosthodontics, fixed prosthodontics and orthodontics — so check which category a candidate's permit actually covers.
Oregon has DANB certify dental assistants for the Oregon Board of Dentistry in radiologic proficiency and expanded functions, a list that includes the orthodontic-focused EFODA.
New Jersey's verification system lists a Limited Registered Dental Assistant (orthodontics) alongside the standard Registered Dental Assistant — two different registrations, so verify the orthodontic one by name.
Where your state has no orthodontic credential: DANB's Certified Orthodontic Assistant (COA) is the national credential built for assistants who work in an orthodontic practice or with orthodontic patients, and it is made up of two exams.
DANB's CDA — three exams, held by more than 35,000 dental assistants — DANB describes as "recognized or required in many states."
Run any candidate through DANB's Verify Credentials tool, which confirms national certifications, national exam certificates, and DANB-administered state certificates in Arizona and Oregon.
What to quote for pay: BLS publishes no orthodontic-assistant wage series.
It publishes one occupational series, Dental Assistants (SOC 31-9091), and has no separate occupation for orthodontic, EFDA, oral surgery or pediatric assistants — the specialty titles exist in state law and job posts, not in the wage data, so any figure styled as a "BLS orthodontic assistant salary" is not BLS data.
The benchmark that does exist, from BLS OEWS May 2025 for dental assistants working in offices of dentists: a median of $23.08 an hour ($48,000 a year), with the 10th percentile at $17.83 and the 90th at $29.83.
DentistryHires' own listing data for October 6, 2026 put the employer median for posted dental assistant pay at $23.50 an hour (across 1,305 employers and 2,651 listings with hourly pay), with the middle half of listings offering $21.00 to $26.00.
Frame your range on those figures plus your local market, and do not bake in an "orthodontic premium" — we found no published source that splits orthodontic assistant pay from the overall assistant series, so there is no verified figure for one.
Whether you must post a range: fourteen states plus DC required a pay range in job postings as of October 6, 2026, per DentistryHires' law list checked against statute text or state labor departments that day; in those states, 93.8% of dental listings stated pay.
The list changes, so check your state labor department's current rule before posting.
The EEO line and the wording around it.
The tagline itself is optional for a private employer: the old federal ad-tagline requirement applied only to federal contractors, and Executive Order 11246, which set it, was revoked in January 2025.
State law on EEO statements in ads was not covered by that check, so confirm yours before cutting the line.
What applies to every ad is the wording: EEOC regulations say job ads may not contain terms that limit or deter older applicants — "age 25 to 35," "young," "college student," "recent college graduate," "boy" or "girl" — unless a statutory exception applies, and a help-wanted ad violates Title VII if it indicates a preference based on sex, unless sex is a bona fide occupational qualification for the particular job.
After you post
Verify the credential before the first shift, against its issuing body: a California permit in the DCA License Search, a Maryland certification in the board's license search, a Missouri permit's category with the Missouri board, and any DANB credential in DANB's Verify Credentials tool.
One credential does not vouch for another.
In California, put the permit copy up on day one: the current orthodontic assistant permit must be publicly displayed at the treatment facility where the holder works.
Keep the description you posted and the version you interviewed against.
It documents the duties you required and is the reference point for the first performance review.
Ready to post it?
Publish the template as your listing, set the pay range, and edit it any time once it is live.