Eight reasons why becoming a certified dental assistant may be right for you.

For many, the idea of a career in healthcare is attractive. But four or more years of study to gain entrance into the field often isn’t appealing, or even practical.

Training to become a certified dental assistant is a great alternative. A relatively short investment of time and energy can lead to a rewarding professional journey in which helping others maintain healthy teeth and gums – not to mention smiles – is top priority.

The College of New Caledonia’s Dental Assistant Certificate program gives students, in less than one year, everything they need to step directly into the profession upon graduation. At CNC, students will find themselves in a supportive learning environment where they consistently have one-on-one contact with their instructors. There’s one instructor to every eight students, invaluable when learning hands-on skills in a clinical setting. And, at those times when students need additional guidance, the availability of their instructors – who have their offices right inside CNC’s dental building – makes extra help easy to obtain.

CNC’s Dental Assistant Certificate program also gives students the benefit of learning in a real-world environment. The college’s dental building comes complete with a cutting-edge training clinic that features 20 fully-equipped dental units and four digital radiology rooms to provide students ample opportunity for practice time.

“Our maximum student intake is 24 so we don’t have a lot of sharing or overlap, where students aren’t getting time in the chair to practice skills,” says CNC instructor and Dental Assisting Program Coordinator Cyndi Lewis. “Our four radiology rooms also allow for lots of practice time with digital radiography. We try to keep our clinic as relevant and as innovative as what a student will see when they get into a dental practice setting. For dental charting and digital radiography, they’ll be using some of the same software that they’ll actually use when they’re working.”

Below, Lewis offers the top eight reasons why becoming a certified dental assistant may be the right choice for you.

1. Ten months to being career-ready

   “With our program, from the theoretical component to the hands-on clinical setting, we follow learning outcomes and national competencies to prepare the students to write a national board exam and they are entering their chosen career field within months of graduating,” Lewis says. “Most of our graduates have job opportunities lined up before they are finished the program.”

2. Competitive starting wage

   “Typically, wages start at $27 per hour and, in a competitive market, can go up to $32 per hour depending on what type of practice setting you are employed in,” Lewis says. “And certainly with any additional training – such as orthodontic modules, prosthodontic modules, anything that you want to take in addition to your dental assisting training post-graduation – your wage will increase. Becoming a dental assistant is a really good investment of your time.”

3. Lots of employment opportunities in the north and in general

   “Not only are there lots of opportunities locally and in the region, there’s a lot of mobility,” Lewis says. “We’ve had students who have written exams to work in other countries, to work in other provinces. There’s mobility with the career and that’s a nice perk. You’re not pigeonholed into one type of setting. You don’t have to be in a large urban setting – you can be in a small town, you can travel and work, which provides a lot of nice opportunities.”

4. Numerous career pathways after graduation

   “In the dental assisting program at CNC, we focus our training for general practice,” Lewis says. “Certainly an individual can stay in general practice, which offers a lot of variety, but often students find through their training here that they’re interested in oral surgery, orthodontics, prosthodontics or promoting oral health as a community dental assistant. We touch on all of those specialties in their training and they can pursue any of those career options post-graduation. The sky’s the limit with what type of additional training you want to do and what kind of setting you want to work in.”

5. Continuous learning opportunities

   “In your certification and licensing each year, you are required to maintain 35 hours of continuing education,” Lewis says. “This is self-initiated, sometimes done in conjunction with your employer. So there is lots of opportunity for lifelong learning – all kinds of different courses that are put on through the dental community, lots of conventions and conferences that people take part in either as individuals or with their dental practice.”

6. Fast-paced and never boring

   “Dental practices typically are fast-paced environments and there’s lots of variety in procedures, in patients, and in supporting patients in their care and dental health goals,” Lewis says. “Your days are scheduled and time goes by really quickly. Your day is not measured in hours as it might be if you were sitting behind a desk, counting down every minute of the day. Your day is measured in the patients that you’ll see and the procedures that you’ll do.”

7. Team-oriented working environments

   “Dental practices are very team-oriented – that’s how they function the most efficiently and so you become a family with your co-workers,” Lewis says. “Often you are training together, you’re doing continuing ed together, you may be traveling together to conferences and different courses. So if that’s something that you’re looking for, more than just ‘I go to work, I do my job and I leave,’ dental assisting is a great career choice.”

8. Ideal for logical, detail-oriented people

   “If you’re an organized, efficient, logical-thinking person, dental assisting is the most rewarding for those types of personalities and the most suited career for those types of personalities,” Lewis says. “If you’re the kind of person who likes to have a plan, know what’s expected of you, and thrives in an organized environment, then dental assisting might be perfect for you.”

   Ultimately, dental assisting is about helping people lead healthier, happier lives, which is the biggest reward of all.

   “You get to know your patients quite well and it’s very satisfying in helping them reach their dental health goals,” Lewis concludes.