Course
Descriptions

Course Code: DA
Course Type: Dental
Clock Hours: 95
Course Description: VMI's basic Dental Assistant program is ninety-five hours long over four weeks, either days, evenings, or weekends.

The Dental Assistant program prepares the students to be members of the dental team, to assist the dentist in all phases of dentistry. The program includes general and some specialty dentistry, chairside procedures, radiography, and laboratory and business office assisting.

An important and integral part of the educational program is the clinical experience; this is done by rotation through several local dental facilities.

The dental assistant takes on significant responsibility as a member of the dental health care team. Assistants greatly increase the efficiency of the dentist in the delivery of quality care and are valuable members of the dental care team. If you have strong communication skills, enjoy working with your hands as well as your mind, and want a career with responsibility, dental assisting is for you. The Dental Assistant Program is founded classroom didactic teaching and consistent patient care. Our learning environment will stimulate the student with new discovery and techniques that contribute to the health of the public as well as growth of the dental assisting profession. The faculty’s responsibilities are to provide comprehensive approaches to the student that include and encourage critical, independent, and professional thinking. Ultimately we are committed to providing educational programs for a culturally diverse student population to optimize each individual’s growth.

Procedures a dental assistant may perform are varied, challenging, interesting, and responsible—whether sitting chairside or in the business office. In smaller practices, the assistant might work with the dentist as well as managing the business aspects of the dental practice such as scheduling, billing and purchasing. In larger practices, the duties could be more specialized. Many assistants are qualified to take X-rays. In the state of Connecticut you must be certified to take X-rays. That is why we prepare each student for the state RHS exam. In most dental offices, the dental assistant is in charge of infection control procedures, which are closely regulated by OSHA (the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration). This is a very complex and important task and is a real challenge for any professional, requiring constant updates to remain current with registrations.

The Dental Assistant works on behalf of the patient as well as the dentist in helping to assure a high level of professional excellence in oral health care and delivery. 

Pre-Requisite: High School Diploma, GED or Valley Medical Entrance Exam