Dental Assistant Training

The field of dental assisting is continually expanding with new educational opportunities, expanded duties and employment outside the dental office. Earning an average annual salary of $39,000, dental assistants now work in dental offices, physicians' offices, educational services, hospitals and the armed forces.

Education

• Dental assistants are no longer limited to on-the-job training. They can enroll in programs at trade and technical schools and degree programs at community and junior colleges, or receive training while a member of the armed services.

Anatomy, Physiology and Nutrition

• Dental assisting programs teach the anatomy of the head and mouth and the functioning of the teeth and surrounding tissues in states of health and disease. They also teach nutrition in relation to dental health.

Patient Management and Assisting

• The dental assistant learns to greet and seat patients, the names and use of all instruments and the proper technique for handing them to the dentist. They also learn the chemical components of all dental materials used and how to mix them and, depending upon the program and individual state laws, they are trained to take X-rays, remove sutures, make temporary crowns, apply topical anesthetics and other state specific hands-on procedures.

Laboratory Procedures and Sterilization

• Dental assistants learn how to pour models and make casts from impressions, how to clean and polish crowns, bridges and dentures, and how to disinfect, log and package cases for transport to a prosthetics laboratory. All dental assistants are trained in OSHA requirements for sterilization of treatment rooms and instruments, and in the steps necessary to ensure environmental safety at work.

Business Office

• Training includes greeting and registering patients, telephone procedures, recording treatment on patient records, filing, scheduling and confirming appointments, receiving payments, billing, submitting insurance claims and ordering supplies and materials.