Wouldn’t it be great if money grew on trees? Dollar bills would litter your sidewalks and yards, and no one would be wanting for money. Unfortunately, dollars bills don’t grow on trees, even though we rely on them so many ways. Although money is necessary, and while salary is an important aspect in the job search, there are several other factors to keep in mind.

When looking for any job in healthcare, the key factors to keep in mind are:

• Healthcare salary
• Job availability
• Job tasks and environment

If you’re contemplating a dental assisting job, you need to factor in the dental assistant salary, job availability, and tasks/environment.

Salary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the mean annual salary for dental assistants as of May 2011 was $34, 740. In comparison, that salary is higher than the expected healthcare salary for a clinical medical assistant, but lower than the salary for a dentist.

Job Availability
When you look at the availability of jobs for a dental assistant, you will realize there is an incredibly heavy demand in this industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports several factors for this increase in need: population growth, retention of natural teeth by older generations, and more responsibility for dental assistants, which all contribute to the 36 percent increase in employment opportunities between 2008 and 2018. This is good news, because it essentially indicates that dental assistants will find jobs more easily than other occupations

Job Tasks and Environment
This is another important factor to consider when looking for a job in healthcare. You need to decide if the tasks fit well with your interests and the environment is comfortable for you. If you love working with people as well as performing administrative tasks, dental assisting may be the job for you. Additionally, if you enjoy being in a clinical environment, you will definitely want to add dental assisting to your list of possible healthcare careers.

While those three factors are not the only aspects you should look at when deciding on a career, it’s important to realize that a healthcare salary is only one piece to the puzzle of discovering your next career.