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The Dental Assistant major is designed to provide the student with the technical knowledge, manual skills, clinical experiences, communication skills, and positive attitudes toward work required to make the graduate a valuable member of the dental health care profession.
The dental assistant may assist the dentist at chairside, perform expanded functions and dental laboratory procedures, provide personal oral care instruction, or function as a dental receptionist/ dental office manager. The program prepares the student to function in both general and specialty dental practices.
Clinical experience is obtained in the technically current dental clinic. The clinic has twelve operatories equipped for four-handed dentistry, a recirculation/sterilization room, a darkroom for processing x-rays, and a complete dental laboratory. Patients come to the dental clinic for tooth polishing, fluoride treatments, dental x-rays, pit and fissure sealants, and personal oral care instruction. A dentist is on staff to aid in the direct instruction and supervision of students, along with dentists from the community who give guest presentations. In the final semester of the program, students will further their clinical experience through three assigned internships in different dental offices in southeastern Minnesota.
Updated: February 24, 2012 2:42 PM
