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Dental Assistant
The Dental Assistant program is designed to prepare students to become a professional member of the dental health care team and provide dental care to patients under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist. Students will have the opportunity to learn administrative dental office procedures, electronic health records, dental anatomy and physiology, terminology, dental materials, preventive oral care, two-handed and four-handed chairside assisting, radiography, sterilization, instrumentation, pharmacology, dental specialties, and laboratory procedures. Dental Assistants are employed in a variety of dental practice settings including solo and group practices, specialty practices, hospital dental practices, dental schools, and public health clinics. An externship component will allow students to assimilate the knowledge acquired in the program into clinical practice. Program curriculum includes the opportunity to challenge two components of a national certification exam.
NOTE: The Michigan Department of Community Health, Bureau of Health Professions and the Board of Dentistry, are responsible for the licensing of individuals who want to practice dentistry, dental hygiene and advanced levels of dental assisting. Students attending a course in dental assisting that is offered by a licensed proprietary school that is not accredited by the American Dental Association are not eligible for licensure by the State of Michigan. Dorsey Schools is classified as a licensed proprietary school and is not accredited by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation. Graduates of this program are not eligible for licensure as a Registered Dental Assistant. However, graduates of this program may challenge a certification exam offered by the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. after completing 3,500 hours of dental work experience. Dorsey’s Dental Assistant program includes the opportunity to sit for the Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) and the Infection Control (ICE) certification exams, which are two components of the Dental Assisting national Board (“DANB”) Certified Dental Assistant (“CDA”) exam. Graduates of this program may complete the third exam component necessary for DANB’s CDA credential, which is challenged after completing “a minimum of 3,500 hours work experience as a dental assistant, accrued over a period of at least two years (24 months, if employed full-time) to a maximum of four years (48 months, if employed part-time) which employment must be verified by a licensed dentist.”
