• Home >
• Programs >
• Career Programs >
• Health >
• Dental Assisting >
• Careers in DA

Careers in Dental Assisting

Career Opportunities

Since many dentists employ two or more dental assistants, employment opportunities in this field are excellent. The types of practice settings available to dental assistants include:

• Private Dental Practices
• Specialty practices:
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • Orthodontics
  • Endodontics
  • Periodontics  
  • Prosthodontics
  • Pediatric dentistry
• Public Health Dentistry, Community Dental  and Veterans Dental Clinics
• Dental school clinics, assisting dental students as they learn to perform dental procedures

Other career opportunities for dental assistants include:

• insurance companies, processing dental insurance claims
• vocational schools, technical institutes, community colleges dental schools and universities, teaching others to be dental assistants (which may require associate or baccalaureate college

Careers in Dental Assisting

Dental assisting is a challenging and rewarding career, demanding versatility, teamwork and a willingness to assume responsibility.   

Base salary: $15.90 per hour or $33,070 salary (source: Bureau of Labor Statistic, 2010)

For More information on salaries in this field visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the American Dental Association