Career Opportunities and Work Life

Skills You'll Need

Salary Ranges

The Classroom Experience

Certificate & Degree Options

An education in Dental Assisting will prepare you for a career as a Registered Dental Assistant (RDA). As a registered dental assistant, you will work as part of a dental health team with dentists and other professionals to assist in diagnostic, operative, surgical, and preventative procedures.

Job Duties
Some of the specific tasks you perform as a dental assistant are applying fluoride, cleaning and polishing removable appliances, exposing dental x-rays, instructing patients on oral hygiene, recording treatment information in patient records, assisting with surgical and restoration procedures, sterilizing dental instruments, and pouring, trimming and polishing study casts.

In July 2003, the state of Michigan enhanced the profession of dental assisting by expanding the allowable duties. Under the direct and general supervision of a licensed dentist, a RDA may now also:

• Place, condense, and carve amalgam restorations.
• Take final impressions for indirect restorations.
• Perform pulp vitality testing.
• Place and remove matrices and wedges.
• Apply cavity liners and bases.
• Place and pack nonpinephrine retractions cords.
• Take an impression for orthodontic appliances, mouth guards, bite splints, and bleaching trays.
• Dry endondontic canals with absorbent points.
• Etch and place adhesives prior to placement of orthodontic brackets.

Work Settings
As a dental assistant, you can expect to work in private dental practices and dental clinics, at public health agencies and in hospitals. These positions can be full- or part-time depending on your employer. You will most likely work a standard Monday through Friday work week during normal daytime business hours since most private practices are not open on weekends, evenings or holidays. However, some practices do offer limited evening and weekend hours to accommodate increasingly busy patient schedules.

Job Outlook
According to the Department of Labor, there is a very high demand for dental assistants. Nationally it is estimated that there will be a 42 percent increase in dental assisting job opportunities by 2012. In Michigan, job opportunities are expected to grow by 27 percent during the same time. Job prospects are expected to remain very good due to population growth and greater retention of natural teeth.