These are the ATS keywords, credentials, and software terms that recur across current dental assistant job descriptions — organized so you can scan for what your resume is missing. Placement matters as much as presence: an ATS keyword buried in a skills list ranks lower than the same term used in context inside an experience bullet.

Title variants

  • Dental Nurse
  • Dental Assistant
  • Qualified Dental Nurse
  • Senior Dental Nurse
  • Lead Dental Nurse
  • Trainee Dental Nurse
  • Orthodontic Dental Nurse
  • Sedation Dental Nurse
  • Implant Dental Nurse
  • Oral Health Educator
  • Practice Manager (senior roles)
  • Expanded Function Dental Assistant
  • Registered Dental Assistant

Registration

  • GDC
  • GDC registration
  • GDC number
  • NEBDN
  • National Certificate in Dental Nursing
  • NCDN
  • Level 3 Diploma
  • CDA
  • DANB
  • certified dental assistant
  • registered dental assistant
  • RDA

NEBDN certificates

  • Certificate in Oral Health Education
  • OHE
  • Certificate in Dental Sedation Nursing
  • Certificate in Dental Radiography
  • IRMER
  • IRMER operator
  • Certificate in Orthodontic Dental Nursing
  • Certificate in Implant Nursing
  • Certificate in Special Care Dental Nursing

Decontamination and compliance

  • HTM 01-05
  • decontamination
  • sterilisation
  • autoclave
  • Class B autoclave
  • Bowie-Dick test
  • washer-disinfector
  • COSHH
  • CQC
  • Care Quality Commission
  • IPC lead
  • infection prevention and control
  • cross-infection
  • clinical waste management
  • PPE

Clinical procedures

  • four-handed dentistry
  • chairside assistance
  • instrument passing
  • aspiration
  • suction
  • composite mixing
  • impression materials
  • alginate
  • polyvinyl siloxane
  • GIC
  • dental cement
  • rubber dam
  • local anaesthesia preparation
  • syringe loading
  • medical emergency
  • AED

Radiography

  • IRMER
  • periapical
  • bitewing
  • OPG
  • RVG
  • digital sensor
  • X-ray
  • radiography
  • paralleling technique
  • bisecting angle
  • radiation protection
  • dose optimisation
  • ALARP
  • FGDP selection criteria

Sedation

  • conscious sedation
  • inhalation sedation
  • IV sedation
  • nitrous oxide
  • midazolam
  • IACSD
  • Level 1
  • Level 2
  • pulse oximetry
  • SpO2
  • NIBP
  • capnography
  • flumazenil
  • recovery protocol
  • sedation monitoring

Long-tail phrases

  • dental assistant resume
  • dental nurse cv
  • dental nurse cv uk
  • dental assistant resume examples
  • dental nurse resume
  • how to write a dental nurse cv
  • dental assistant resume 2026
  • dental assistant skills for resume
  • dental nurse resume template
  • GDC registered dental nurse
  • NEBDN dental nurse cv

Pasting these terms into your resume verbatim without matching context can read as keyword stuffing to a human reviewer, even if it passes the ATS. The full Dental Assistant resume guide shows where each category belongs and how to work it into real experience bullets.