Dental

DENTAL

A dental degree prepares a student for different kinds of dentistry careers, aside from the usual dentistry role. Students who want to land a dentistry-related job as soon as possible may take advantage of the relatively short length of time needed to complete a dental assistant degree.

Dental Degree Description

The associate’s degree in dental assisting that is available through various dental colleges allows the student to gain the skills that are required for providing assistance in a dental office. They often learn how to use dental equipment and billing software. Candidates for a dental assistant degree need to have at least a high school diploma. If not, they should have at least successfully passed the General Education Development (GED) exam. Some of the topics that need to be studied to become a dental assistant are clinical dentistry, dental office administration, coronal polish, dental sealants, and dental radiology.

A dental degree can also lead to the role of a dental hygienist. Unlike the dental assistant, a dental hygienist focuses on providing advice and services for preventative dental care, and a two-year or four-year course in dental hygiene is required. Those who want to obtain a dental hygiene degree from various dental colleges need to show good grades in chemistry, biology and other science-related courses. They will also have to complete classes in the methodology for dental hygiene; nutrition; oral radiology; clinical dental hygiene; biochemistry, oral pathology, dental ethics, and microbiology.

Dental Careers

Careers resulting from a dental degree include that of a dental hygienist, dental assistant and patient advocate. A dental assistant degree prepares the student for various activities, including interaction with patients; the taking of dental x-rays and their development; sterilization and preparation of the instruments; dental office management; teaching of oral hygiene techniques; and the modeling of teeth using casts.

Meanwhile, dental colleges can also prepare a student to become a dental hygienist. This particular role has some duties that overlap with those of a dental assistant. However, the hygienist has a more rigid training because of additional duties, such as the removal of stains, calculus and plaque; the charging to the dental conditions of a particular patient; the administration of local anesthesia; the removal of sutures and dressings; and the application of fluorides and other chemicals for preventing tooth decay. Finally, another possible role is patient advocacy where the patient advocate provides assistance to patients in dealing with health maintenance organizations.