Dental Assistant
 The objective of the Dental Assistant Program is to train students to acquire satisfactory skills and demonstrate competence in a variety of dental office procedures and laboratory techniques. The procedures and lab techniques include: preliminary examination procedure, assisting chairside using fourhanded dentistry, charting, appointment scheduling, keeping patients records and sterilizing instruments. Under direct supervision of a dentist the qualified assistant may perform expanded functions such as intraoral procedures in restorative dentistry and oral surgery. The assistant qualified in radiology may also take and expose radiographs.
Upon satisfactory completion of the training, students will be qualified to assume entry-level positions as a dental assistant in dental offices and clinics performing the lab techniques and office procedures described above.
The Dental Assistant Program consists of 750 hours of classroom, clinical, and lab instruction, and a 160 hour externship program. Students are evaluated in all areas of professional development including applicable spelling, terminology, theory, and performance skills.
Graduates of this program will receive a certificate upon completion and are eligible to sit for the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) certification examination and the State of N.J. Dental Radiologic Technology exam. The students have also completed Expanded Functions training and have been given the Law & Jurisprudence Exam from the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry, which will give the students the credential of Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) after DANB certification.
Career Opportunities
Dental Assistants can be found in private and group dental practices, mobile dental units, insurance companies, hospitals, nursing homes, dental school clinics, and public and private health facilities. Some specialties are: oral surgery, endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, periodontics, pedodontics as well as general practices.
Program Length
The daytime program is 34 weeks. The evening program is 46 weeks. Holidays and summer breaks will lengthen the completion time.
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