Dental Assistant Career Training and Schools

If you're interested in getting into a high demand career in healthcare and want to be able to start working quickly rather than having to spend years in school first then training as a dental assistant might be just what the doctor ordered. Dental Assistants are vital members of the dental health care team who provide a wide variety of services that dentists rely on and need in order for their dental practice to function smoothly. Demand for dental assistants is excellent and is expected to grow faster than average over the next decade.

What do Dental Assistants Do?

Dental assistants perform a variety of patient care, office, and laboratory duties. They work chairside as dentists examine and treat patients. They make patients as comfortable as possible in the dental chair, prepare them for treatment, and obtain their dental records. Assistants hand instruments and materials to dentists and keep patients’ mouths dry and clear by using suction or other devices. Assistants also sterilize and disinfect instruments and equipment, prepare trays of instruments for dental procedures, and instruct patients on postoperative and general oral health care..

Some dental assistants prepare materials for impressions and restorations, take dental x rays, and process x-ray film as directed by a dentist. They also may remove sutures, apply topical anesthetics to gums or cavity-preventive agents to teeth, remove excess cement used in the filling process, and place rubber dams on the teeth to isolate them for individual treatment.

Those with laboratory duties make casts of the teeth and mouth from impressions, clean and polish removable appliances, and make temporary crowns. Dental assistants with office duties schedule and confirm appointments, receive patients, keep treatment records, send bills, receive payments, and order dental supplies and materials.

Dental assistants have many responsibilities, so dentists look for an assistant that is well educated, reliable, friendly, mature, and can communicate well with patients. Many times a patient may feel nervous about certain procedures so the assistant’s duty would be to help them feel comfortable and ease any concerns they may have.

Education Requirement for Dental Assistants

It used to be very common for dental assistants to be trained on the job rather than have any formal education, and while some dental offices still do that, an increasing number of dental practices prefer to hire dental assistants who have completed formal training through community and junior colleges, trade schools, technical institutes, or the Armed Forces.

Although the majority of academic dental assisting programs take nine to eleven months to complete, some schools offer accelerated training, part-time education programs or training via distance education.

Typical Earnings of a Dental Assistant

"The median expected salary for an entry level Dental Assistant with an associate degree and no experience is $35,107." (source: salary.com, June, 2006)

(Wages vary widely depending upon experience, education, ability, type of employer, and geographical location. Licensed Registered Dental Assistants and Registered Dental Assistants in Extended Functions may expect to receive higher wages)

Learn more about becoming a Dental Assistant by requesting free information from online schools or campus based schools near you!