Rachel Seitz

Dental Assistant Certifications and Careers

We’re very excited to be starting partnerships with dental assistant programs at several schools. So, we’d like to give you a quick introduction to this industry — what it entails, what its future holds, and how you can join this fast-growing field!

What does a dental assistant do?

Dental assistants perform a wide variety of roles, including:

Processing x-rays
Applying sealants and other applications
Topical anesthetic training
Proper usage of different dental instruments
Miscellaneous Administrative tasks (billing, patient records, appointments, etc.)
Preparing patients for procedures and treatments
Training in proper oral hygiene

What’s the job outlook for dental assistants?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the anticipated growth of the dental assistant field is “much faster than average.” Between 2018 and 2028, jobs are expected to increase by 11%, with an employment increase of 38,700 during that time period!

How can you get a dental assistant certification?

While some states don’t require formal education to become a dental assistant, other states require potential dental assistants to pass an exam and receive certification.

Many schools offer certification programs to get trained as a dental assistant. And these programs are comparatively short — most programs can be completed in nine to eleven months. Some schools even offer accelerated training, part-time education programs, or remote training, making it easy to fit these programs into your schedule!

There are several places where you can find details about individual dental assistant programs:

Climb Credit

At Climb, we assess every program before partnering with it for financing. So, we have a robust database of schools in which where you can view details of Climb-approved dental assistant programs — and even compare multiple certification programs side-by-side to find the one that fits your schedule, location, and budget the best!

Find and compare dental assistant programs

DentalAssistantEDU.org

This site allows you to browse dental assistant programs by location, as well as offering career and outlook information!

Visit DentalAssistantEDU.org

NursingProcess.org

NursingProcess.org not only provides a list of dental assistant programs by state, but also provides a ranking of the top five programs. Here, you can also see a breakdown of dental assistant training costs, requirements, and future outcomes.

Visit NursingProcess.org

Learn How to Become

Here, visitors to this site can find information on dental assistant careers, both as an overall outlook and on a state-by-state basis. They list out step-by-step the path to becoming a dental assistant and have a search function for prospective students to find schools.

Visit Learn How to Become