If you’re looking for a responsibility-driven career that requires strong communication skills, the ability to work with your hands and combinations of other interpersonal and technical abilities, then dental assisting could be your ideal career position. As the person in the dental office who typically spends the most time with the patient from the start of their visit to the end, dental assistants are responsible for comprehensive and varied tasks throughout the office. You can prepare to earn your dental assistant certificate through UWA Online Continuing Education!
UWA Online’s Dental Assisting Program prepares students for entry-level positions in dental assisting—one of the fastest-growing healthcare professions that currently is short staffed. In fact, a career in dental assisting ranks as the fourth fastest-growing occupation in the healthcare technician field, with studies projecting that more than 400,000 assistants will be employed by 2018.
This dental assisting program serves to introduce and familiarize students with both administrative and clinical dental assisting. Topics covered during this certificate program include:
Familiarization with the office environment
- Introduction to the dental office
- History of dentistry and dental assisting
- Legal aspects of dentistry
- Dental administration and communication skills
- Occupational health and safety
Oral anatomy
- Introduction to oral anatomy
- Introduction to tooth structure, including primary and permanent teeth
- The oral cavity and related structures
- Oral health and preventions of dental disease
Using equipment
- Dental hand-pieces and sterilization
- Infection control in dentistry
- Dental equipment, accessories and the treatment room
Dental procedures
- Dental radiology
- Single crown restoration, bridge, implant, partial denture and full denture
- Dental cements and impression materials
- Tooth charting and tooth surfaces
- Assisting in comprehensive dental care
Upon successful completion of this dental assistantship program’s courses, students will be prepared to take included certification exams: The Dental Assisting National Board’s (DANB) Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) exam and the DANB’s Infection Control Exam (ICE).
- The RHS and ICE, along with the DANB’s Anatomy, Morphology and Physiology (AMP) exam are required to earn a National Entry Level Dental Assistant (NELDA) certification.
- The RHS and ICE are required along with the General Chairside (GC) exam to earn a Certified Dental Assistant declaration.
- The RHS and the Orthodontic Assisting (OA) exam are required to become a Certified Orthodontic Assistant (COA).
By taking the RHS and ICE component exams, you will be well on your way to completing any one of these three dental assistant certifications.
Participants of this program will have access to educational mentor Patrice Arevalo, who has a degree in medical assisting from The Career College of Northern Nevada and a degree in dental assisting from the Community College Air Force. Arevalo exists as a resource to participants by answering questions, monitoring program progression and reviewing quiz and test results.
Launch your new career and earn your dental assistant certificate with UWA Online starting today! Registration for this program is open until Dec. 15, 2017. Interested in registering? Click here!
Our non-credit continuing education courses are available to anyone for the purposes of professional development, career training, hobby fulfillment and more. Browse our courses at www.uwa.edu/ce!