Dental Assisting
Graduates of the Wallace State Community College Dental Assistant program will be prepared to perform the numerous duties required to work in dental offices, hospitals, and clinics.
Dental Assisting
Wallace State’s programs boast a top-notch reputation with outstanding licensure and job placement rates, small class sizes and an award-winning faculty. Choose Wallace State’s Dental Assisting certificate or degree for a career in a highly-rewarding, high-demand field at a fraction of the cost of attending a university. And if you do choose to continue your education, you’ll be two years ahead on an advanced degree, with employment potential and cost savings to boot.
Discover your story in Dental Assisting at Wallace State!
Graduates of the Wallace State Community College Dental Assistant program will be prepared to perform the numerous duties required to work in dental offices, hospitals, and clinics.
About the Program
A dental assistant helps with the direct care of patients under the supervision of
a dentist.
Dental assistants perform a variety of patient care, office, and laboratory duties.
They work chairside as dentists examine and treat patients. They make patients as
comfortable as possible in the dental chair, prepare them for treatment, and obtain
their dental records. Assistants hand instruments and materials to dentists and keep
patients’ mouths dry and clear by using suction or other devices. Assistants also
sterilize and disinfect instruments and equipment, prepare trays of instruments for
dental procedures, and instruct patients on post-operative and general oral health
care.
Some dental assistants prepare materials for impressions and restorations, take dental
x-rays, and process x-ray film as directed by a dentist. They also may remove sutures,
apply topical anesthetics to gums or cavity-preventive agents to teeth, remove excess
cement used in the filling process, and place rubber dams on the teeth to isolate
them for individual treatment.
Those with laboratory duties make casts of the teeth and mouth from impressions, clean
and polish removable appliances, and make temporary crowns. Dental assistants with
office duties schedule and confirm appointments, receive patients, keep treatment
records, send bills, receive payments, and order dental supplies and materials. Upon
successful completion of the Wallace State program, graduates will be prepared to
function as Dental Assistants in dental offices, hospitals and clinics.
Program Overview
Dental Assisting
- Dr. Sharon Alley
- 256.352.8025
- sharon.alley@wallacestate.edu
Degrees/Awards Offered
AAS, C
Availability
- Day
Dental Assisting
Curriculum: Program of Study
Pathway Maps: Associate in Applied Science, Certificate
Career Outlook
View Gainful Employment Information
Schedule & Catalog
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