Dental Assistant Training Program

The Dental Assistant program at North-West College offers the knowledge and skills necessary to start a career working in a number of dental and oral health care facilities.

Program graduates often find employment at:

The Dental Assistant program will educate you on the skills you need to work in most dental offices, including scheduling patient appointments, processing and maintaining records, billing insurance, assisting with dental tasks chairside, taking x-rays and dental images, coronal polishing, and more. The program is split into eight class course modules along with a 180-hour clinical externship where students will have the opportunity to put into practice the skills they learn in the classroom in real health care setting.

This is an orientation course for Career Students designed to set them up for success. It includes a review of basic math, language, vocabulary, and writing skills. It also offers students an introduction to core career classes, covers the availability of community resources, along with outlining, summarizing, managing credit, and other life skills.

 This course dives into the professional ethics related to Dental Assisting, along with Patient Psychology, Dental Terminology, Oral Anatomy & Physiology, and Oral Histology. Students are also introduced to the Office Environment, Secretarial Skills, Telephone Techniques, Scheduling Appointments, and Communication Skills. Curriculum delves into Payroll Information, Budgeting, Banking, and Office Management as well. Students will learn how to build rapport with patients and with fellow employees, and discuss courtesy and respect. Lastly, students will have the opportunity to gain an introduction to computers, Word, Excel, a dental office management program, processing insurance claim forms, and creating professional quality résumés.

This course dives into topics such as coronal polishing, applying topical fluoride, educating patients in nutrition, controlling plaque, maintaining oral hygiene, applying non-aerosol and non-caustic topical agents, and applying and removing periodontal dressings.

This course covers the techniques used in dental specialties including, placing orthodontic separators, applying and taking off ligatures and arch wires, understanding how to correctly size orthodontic bands, and looking for any loose bands. Students will also study how to take intra-oral measurements for orthodontic procedures, and discover how to seat adjusted retainers and headgear, including providing the right instructions. Course material will also contain applying and removing post-extraction dressings, how to remove sutures, the right way to check pulp vitality, how to get endodontic cultures, how to dry canals previously opened by the supervising dentist, and how to help administer Nitrous Oxide.

This course covers all things x-ray-related including, x-ray safety techniques, the parts of the x-ray machine, x-ray exposure and processing techniques, how to use BAI and XCP instruments, how to properly evaluate the diagnostic quality of x-rays, how to mount full mouth and bitewing x-rays, the different kinds of dental x-ray films, and how to properly store and take care of exposed x-ray film.

Students will cover how to get impression materials ready, how to fill impression trays and syringes, how to capture impressions for diagnostic and opposing models, how to use Hydrocolloid Conditioner, how to pour tooth and mouth structure models using vibrating machines, techniques for trimming and polishing models, the right way to correctly size stainless steel crowns, along with how to make an acrylic temporary crown.

 In this course, students have the chance to learn about chairside assisting for four-handed dentistry. They will cover how to use and care for the dental unit, operatory equipment, and dental instruments. They will also study how to set up trays for instruments, along with oral pathology. Students receive training in basic OSHA rules and regulations, and discuss the different ways to sterilize and disinfect dental instruments and the dental work area. In addition, the course covers how to place and remove rubber dams, matrices, and bases and liners on sound dentin. They will also go over how to remove extra cement supragingivally, along with getting materials ready for restorative dentistry, amalgam, acrylic, resin, and different cements, and medical office emergencies.

This offers students the chance to take an Internship Workshop, along with a Career Readiness Workshop. It also includes New Student Orientation and CPR Certification.

This internship course gives students the opportunity to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply them in a real life dental setting.

Dental assistants carry out a number of important responsibilities, including everything from taking care of patients and capturing x-rays to maintaining records and assisting with appointment scheduling for patients. The tasks they take on can vary by state and may also depend on the dentist office where they work. Graduates of the Dental Assistant program often find entry-level opportunities in dental offices, clinics, and other oral health care facilities.