Health Careers
Dental Assistant
Professional Activities
Dental assistants help dentists in a variety of tasks. They are often the first professional the patient comes into contact with in the dental clinic. Dental assistants prepare patients for examination and treatment. They are half of “four-handed” dentistry, helping the dentist in arranging and selecting instruments, preparing materials and equipment, taking and processing x-rays, providing instruction to patients, and keeping detailed and accurate records of patient care. Other duties may include applying decay-preventive material to the teeth, making impressions, and providing oral hygiene instructions.
In rural Alaska, dental assistants work wherever dentists practice. All dentists require one or more assistants. Most rural Alaskan dental assistants are employed in salaried positions with the Indian Health Service or regional health corporations. Others work in private practice as employees of dentists.
Educational Requirements
The American Dental Association (ADA) offers an accredited curriculum within dental schools, community colleges, vocational-technical schools, and private institutions. Most training sequences are similar:
- Graduation from high school or a GED. Biology, English, and office skills are often desirable. Good grades make it easier to be accepted into dental assistant training.
- Most dental assisting programs require a college entrance exam (ACT, SCAT, or SAT), and possibly the Nelson-Denny or Dental Assisting Aptitude Test (DAAT).
- Dental assisting training programs are between nine months and two years in length and award either a vocational certificate or community college associate degree.
Academic Programs
Schools in Alaska:
University of Alaska Anchorage
Community and Technical College
Dental Assisting Program (An ADA accredited program)
Allied Health Sciences Building, Room 160
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508-4614
Phone: (907) 786-6929
Fax: (907) 786-6938
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Web site: http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/ctcnew/programs/alliedhealth/dental/da/index.cfm
University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Tanana Valley Campus)
Dental Assisting Program-Allied Health Department
Jenifer Filotei, Program Coordinator
604 Barnette Street
Fairbanks, AK 99701
Phone: (907) 455-2891
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Web site: http://www.tvc.uaf.edu/programs/health/dental.html
The Ilisagvik College also offers a non-certificate Dental Assistant Trainee Program. For more information, contact:
Gloria Lomuscio
Allied Health Program Coordinator
Ilisagvik College
P.O. Box 749
Hut 58, Room 204
Barrow, Alaska 99723
Phone: 907-852-1730
Fax: 907-852-1739
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Website: http://webspace.ilisagvik.cc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80&Itemid=85
Southcentral Foundation has a 16 week on-the-job Dental Assistant Training course in Anchorage. For more information, contact:
Tamara Larson, Recruiter
Southcentral Foundation
4501 Diplomacy Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: (907) 729-5235
Fax: (907) 729-4978
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Contacts
State Contact:
Alaska Dental Society
9170 Jewel Lake Rd. #203
Anchorage, AK 99502-5390
Phone: (907) 563-3003
Fax: (907) 563-3009
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Web site: http://www.akdental.org/
National Contact:
American Dental Association
211 East Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611-2678
Phone: (312) 440-2500
Web site: http://www.ada.org
This page was last updated by Janice Troyer on September 17, 2009
