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Dental Assisting – Program Highlight

In East Ohio College’s Dental Assisting program, students learn the skills they need to become a successful dental assistant. Some of these skills include four and six-handed dentistry, sterilization and disinfection techniques, processing and exposing radiographic images, dental tray set-ups, proper use of dental terminology, tooth identification, patient education, dental coding and insurance, instrument identification, procedure knowledge and emergency management.

East Ohio Dental Assisting Students

Once a student completes East Ohio’s 18-month course, they are eligible to receive their Ohio Dental Radiology License. This will allow them to take dental X-rays in the state of Ohio. They will also receive their CPR and First Aid Certifications to prepare for any emergency that may occur in an office setting. Upon graduation, students are also able to test for their Nationally Registered Certified Dental Assistant (NRCDA) certification.

Successful dental assistants are dependable and knowledgeable, with good personalities, who are also able to multi-task and understand the dentist’s needs.

Some of the most frequently asked questions I get from my students would be “What is the schedule like?”, “Can I get insurance?”, “What can a dental assistant do?”, “Where can I work?” and “What states can I work in?”.  All of these answers vary greatly depending on place of employment.

East Ohio Dental Assistant Program

One of the best parts of East Ohio’s Dental Assisting program is that students are required to complete an externships when they are almost done with their dental courses. This externship gives the student a chance to actually put the skills they have learned to use with a real patient. Students work with the dentist during patient care, set-up treatment rooms, and perform disinfection and sterilization procedures. East Ohio prepares students with the hands-on training in the classroom, and the externship gives the student the chance to use those skills.

Some career opportunities a dental assisting graduate may have include working as an  oral surgeon, orthodontist, periodontist, endodontist, general dentist, or a pediatric dentist. East Ohio provides the training to be a dental assistant in any of the above specialty areas, and also provides the necessary office training to work as office staff or office management.

A career as a dental assistant can provide a comfortable schedule for anyone with a family or anybody who plans to have one. It can provide steady pay with rewarding outcomes and East Ohio’s dental classes will provide you with the skills to perform more than just one job in the office.