Dental Assistant Practice Test
Dental Patient Management & Administration Practice Questions
Patient Management & Administration makes up 4 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Dental practice test. Here are 10 of the 16 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the DANB GC, RHS (March 2025) and ICE (March 2025) outlines. Expanded functions vary by state.
1. A patient who uses a wheelchair arrives for a cleaning and may prefer to stay seated. Before any transfer, the assistant should:
- A.Reschedule the visit at a hospital clinic
- B.Ask how the patient prefers to be moved
- C.Lift the patient into the chair quickly
- D.Speak only to the caregiver about it
Answer: B. Patients who use wheelchairs know their own needs, so the assistant asks before transferring, and some patients are treated in the wheelchair. Talking only to the caregiver ignores the patient.
2. An adult patient says, "I've been terrified of the dentist since I was a child." The best first response from the assistant is to:
- A.Start quickly so the visit ends sooner
- B.Avoid discussing the fear to prevent worry
- C.Tell the patient there is nothing to fear
- D.Listen and explain each step beforehand
Answer: D. Acknowledging the fear and explaining what will happen gives an anxious patient a sense of control. Dismissing the fear or rushing increases anxiety.
3. A patient with a hearing impairment who reads lips is being seated for treatment. To communicate effectively, the assistant should:
- A.Face the patient and speak clearly
- B.Use long explanations during the procedure
- C.Speak loudly from behind the chair
- D.Talk only to the patient's companion
Answer: A. Lip readers need to see the speaker's face, so the assistant faces the patient, lowers the mask or uses a clear one before treatment, and speaks at a normal pace. Shouting from behind the chair hides the lips.
4. Before a surgical extraction, who is responsible for explaining the risks, benefits and alternatives so the patient can give informed consent?
- A.The business assistant at the front desk
- B.The patient's dental insurance carrier
- C.The dentist performing the procedure
- D.The dental assistant seating the patient
Answer: C. Informed consent is the treating dentist's legal duty because the dentist must explain the procedure and answer questions. The assistant may witness the signature but does not obtain consent.
5. A patient declines the radiographs the dentist recommends after hearing the reasons. The office should:
- A.Leave the record blank to limit liability
- B.Take the radiographs anyway as standard care
- C.Document the refusal and have it signed
- D.Dismiss the patient from the practice
Answer: C. An informed refusal is documented in the record, ideally with the patient's signature, to protect the patient and the dentist. Treating without consent would be battery.
6. The assistant finds she charted the wrong tooth number in yesterday's handwritten treatment note. The correct way to fix it is to:
- A.Line through it once, initial, date, correct
- B.Cover it with correction fluid and rewrite
- C.Erase the error and rewrite it neatly
- D.Recopy the page and shred the original
Answer: A. The dental record is a legal document, so errors are corrected with a single line that leaves the entry readable, plus initials, date and the correction. Erasing or destroying entries looks like tampering.
7. A former patient asks for her dental records to take to a new dentist and still owes a balance. Under HIPAA, the office should know that:
- A.She may take the original record home
- B.Records go only to dentists, never patients
- C.Copies may be withheld until she pays
- D.She is entitled to copies; originals stay
Answer: D. The dentist owns the original record, but HIPAA gives patients a right to copies, and an unpaid balance is not a reason to deny access. Originals are kept for the retention period the state requires.
8. When teaching the Bass brushing technique, the assistant shows the patient how to place the bristles at the gumline angled:
- A.45 degrees away from the gingiva
- B.45 degrees toward the gingiva
- C.Parallel to the occlusal plane
- D.90 degrees to the tooth surface
Answer: B. The Bass (sulcular) technique places the bristles at 45 degrees toward the gingiva so they enter the sulcus. Daily flossing then cleans the proximal surfaces the brush misses.
9. A patient sips sweetened coffee throughout the workday and asks about caries risk. The most important point to teach is that:
- A.Brushing after every sip is required
- B.Frequent sugar exposure raises the risk
- C.Only the total sugar amount matters
- D.Honey instead of sugar removes the risk
Answer: B. Each sugar exposure starts an acid attack lasting about 20 minutes, so sipping all day keeps enamel demineralizing. Using fluoride toothpaste and limiting how often sugar is taken matter more than total amount.
10. A new complete denture wearer asks how to care for the prosthesis. The assistant should advise the patient to:
- A.Soak it in boiling water each night
- B.Scrub it with whitening toothpaste
- C.Store it dry wrapped in tissue overnight
- D.Brush it daily and keep it moist
Answer: D. Dentures are brushed daily with a denture brush and nonabrasive cleaner and kept moist when out of the mouth so the acrylic does not warp. Hot water and abrasive toothpaste damage the denture.
Practice all 16 patient management & administration questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free Dental training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
Start practicingFree to start. No account needed.