Dental Assistant Background Checks: A Complete Guide [2025]

If you own or operate a dental practice, it’s important to ensure that your dental assistants are reputable, qualified, and trustworthy.

Did you know that a California dental assistant was arrested and charged with molesting a child in the dental office where he worked?

Failing to perform background checks on your dental assistants could expose your business to significant liability and threaten the safety of your employees and patients.

This guide outlines everything you need to know about dental assistant background checks and how to conduct them.

What is a Dental Assistant Background Check?

Dental assistant background checks are thorough searches of an applicant’s qualifications, criminal history, education history, and other information.

This type of background check also reveals if an individual has any disqualifying criminal convictions, a history of drug abuse, or has been sanctioned or excluded from employment in the industry by regulatory bodies.

Why are Background Checks Important for Dental Assistants?

Dental assistants often work for busy dental practices and perform clinical and administrative tasks.

A large part of the job of a dental assistant involves significant patient contact.

They might also have access to anesthetic drugs stored in the dental practice, patient records, and confidential information.

Performing dental assistant background checks on every applicant you consider can provide the following benefits for your dental practice:

• Reduce liability risks
• Ensure patient safety
• Protect confidential information
• Maintain the delivery of quality care
• Protect the practice’s reputation

Conducting thorough background checks on prospective dental assistants is essential for maintaining the safety of your employees and patients while minimizing your risks of liability.

What Does a Dental Assistant Background Check Consist of?

What you might include in your dental assistant background checks will vary based on the needs of your practice.

Most employers ask for the following types of searches:

• Social Security number (SSN) trace/identity verification
• Criminal records search
• National sex offender registry search
• Employment verification
• Education verification
• Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) check
• General Service Administration (GSA) System of Awards Management (SAM) check
• Pre-employment drug test

Here’s the type of information you might see on these searches.

SSN Trace

An SSN trace returns the following information about the Social Security number provided by an applicant:

• Date issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA)
• State of issuance
• Date of birth associated with the number
• Names associated with the SSN (including maiden names/aliases)
• Whether the number is valid
• Associated addresses

An SSN trace isn’t a standalone search but is instead a starting point consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) use to identify additional areas to search.

Criminal History

A criminal history check will reveal if an applicant has any pending criminal cases or convictions. It will show the following information:

• Criminal case number
• Charge type
• Date of offense
• Whether the offense was a misdemeanor or felony
• Disposition of the charge (if available)
• Date of the charge’s disposition (if available)
• Sentence (if available)

Sealed, pardoned, or expunged convictions won’t be reported.

National Sex Offender Registry Search

Since dental assistants have significant direct contact with patients, many dental practices conduct sex offender registry searches.

For registered individuals, the sex offender registry search reveals the following information:

• Names and aliases the applicant uses or has used
• Distinguishing features, including tattoos and scars
• The registered address
• State where the individual was convicted and required to register

If the offense is reportable, you will also see all of the conviction information listed above.

Employment Verification

Most dental clinics verify the employment reported by dental assistant applicants to determine their trustworthiness and experience.

Employment verification reports the following types of information about an applicant’s work history:

• Names and contact information of each former employer
• Dates of employment
• Job titles/positions

Education Verification

Education verification shows the following types of information about an applicant’s education:

• Names and addresses of every school attended
• Dates of attendance
• Any diplomas or degrees earned

OIG Check

The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) maintains a regularly updated list of excluded individuals and entities (LEIE) barred from working for any employer that contracts with federal healthcare programs, including Medicare or Medicaid.

For this reason, many dental practices perform OIG checks to ensure they avoid hiring excluded individuals from working as dental assistants.

If a dental clinic hires an excluded individual, it could face substantial financial penalties and risk losing its ability to continue contracting with Medicaid and Medicare.

SAM Check

A second type of sanctions check that dental clinics might perform on dental assistants is a System of Awards Management (SAM) check.

This is a database showing if an applicant has been suspended or debarred from engaging in federal contracts, including those involving healthcare.

Pre-Employment Drug Screen

Conducting pre-employment drug screens on prospective dental assistants is important because of the access they might have to drugs commonly used in dental medicine.

Pre-employment drug tests typically screen for an individual’s recent use of the following illicit substances:

• Amphetamines, including methamphetamines
• THC (marijuana)
• Cocaine
• Phencyclidine (PCP)
• Opiates/opioids (heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.)

Tests can be ordered for additional drugs.

How to Conduct a Background Check on a Dental Assistant

The two methods of conducting dental assistant background checks include performing them yourself or hiring a reliable third-party background screening provider like iprospectcheck.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each approach.

Do-it-Yourself Checks

Dental practices that decide to complete background checks themselves might perform searches online, send requests to state agencies, ask for information from former employers, and check an applicant’s reported education.

Pros

• Minimal costs other than fees charged by agencies for information

Cons

• High labor costs expended to conduct the searches
• Could take several weeks to complete
• Might receive incomplete or inaccurate information
• Could reveal information that can’t be used to make employment decisions

Working With iprospectcheck

The best option is to work with a reputable provider like iprospectcheck.

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• Fast turnaround times
• Frees HR staff to do other tasks
• Receive accurate, current, and complete information
• Reports that comply with the FCRA and all other laws

Cons

• Fees, but they’re affordable

Relevant Laws for Dental Assistant Background Checks

Federal Laws

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by former President Bill Clinton.

This law protects patient privacy for their confidential health information and provides standards for ensuring the portability of health insurance.

While there is no specific regulation under HIPAA that expressly requires healthcare organizations, including dental practices, to conduct background checks on applicants that will have access to protected patient information, 45 CFR 164.308 does provide some rules for managing information access.

Organizations must have policies and procedures in place for how individuals will be authorized to access protected digital health information.

Employees who are authorized must only have access to the degree appropriate for their responsibilities and roles.

Many organizations have interpreted this to include ensuring applicants who will need access are trustworthy and do not have convictions that disqualify them from employment.

For this reason, most dental clinics perform background checks on their applicants to check their criminal records and look for exclusions and debarments.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects the privacy of consumers in the information that CRAs gather, retain, and report to creditors and employers.

This law also applies to what employers should do when they learn negative information about applicants on employment background checks conducted by third parties.

Employers that want to deny employment based on a background check report must go through the adverse action process before making a final decision not to hire the applicants.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes workplace discrimination based on the protected characteristics of applicants and employees unlawful.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulates employers under this law.

The EEOC has issued employer guidance about employment background checks that reveal an applicant’s arrests or convictions.

Before deciding to turn an applicant down based on a criminal record, the employer should assess the information as it relates to the duties the applicant would have to perform if hired.

Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act applies to federal contractors and federal agencies.

This law is important for dental practices that have federal contracts with Medicare.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, federal contractors are not allowed to ask about criminal history information until after a conditional employment offer has been made.

This law also prohibits federal agencies from extending contracts to contractors that fail to comply with it.

State Laws

The state laws that are relevant to you might differ from the laws in other states.

However, it’s important to know a couple of common types of laws that have been enacted in multiple states.

Ban-the-Box Laws

A growing number of state and local governments have enacted ban-the-box laws.

These laws vary, but they control when an employer can ask an applicant about their criminal history information or perform criminal background checks.

Check with your legal counsel to learn whether your practice is covered by a ban-the-box law.

Expungement Laws

Many states have expungement laws that allow individuals to petition the court for an expungement of their criminal records after a specified period has passed.

Some expungement laws only allow individuals to expunge minor misdemeanor offenses or arrests, while others are much more expansive and allow for the expungement of certain felonies.

In some states, individuals don’t have to petition the court for expungement and instead can have convictions automatically expunged based on how much time has passed.

In states with expungement laws, expunged records won’t be reported. If you live in a state with an expungement law, you also can’t ask about an expunged record or use information about one to make a hiring decision.

What red flags on a background check will disqualify an applicant?

Applicants for dental assistant jobs might be denied employment for any number of reasons.

Common red flags on background checks that might result in a denial of employment include:

1.Lying About Employment

Some applicants are dishonest about their former jobs and employment dates.

Employers that complete employment verification can see instances of dishonesty and will likely turn down an applicant who has lied.

2. Dishonesty About Education

Education is another common area in which applicants might be dishonest when applying for jobs.

Dental practices that complete education verification can spot discrepancies in what the applicant reported and might decide to turn them down.

3. Appearing on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities

If a dental assistant applicant appears on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities, they will likely be denied employment.

Hiring an excluded individual could expose a dental practice to substantial liability and fines.

4. Failing a Pre-Employment Drug Screen

Dental practices that condition offers of employment on passing pre-employment drug screens will likely withdraw the job offer if an applicant returns a positive result.

iprospectcheck: Your Reliable Provider of Dental Assistant Background Checks

Including dental assistant background checks as part of your hiring process can help you make better hiring decisions.

At iprospectcheck, we conduct dental assistant background checks for dentists’ offices and clinics in every state and U.S. territory.

Contact us today to learn more about our background check services or to receive a free quote: (888) 509-1979

DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.