Program Description: The Dental Assisting Program is designed by practicing dentists and experienced dental assistants in the setting of a functioning dental practice. The program’s objective is to expose students to a wide range of techniques, materials and dental knowledge, but most importantly, to focus on the skills dentists see as “core essentials” for employability as a dental assistant in the offices of dental specialists including Endodontists, Periodontists, Orthodontists, Prosthodontists, Pediatric Dentists and Oral Surgeons.   Lectures are asynchronous online, 3 hours in length for 7 weeks for a total of 21 lecture hours.  Each lab class period is 4 hours in length and meets Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or 8 hours on Saturdays for 8 weeks for a total of 64 lab hours.  Lectures, laboratory sessions, and clinical shadowing training are followed by two weeks of externship at the end of the program. Patient clinicals are when students work directly with patients during scheduled clinic hours. Classes are taught as shown and the prerequisite for each class is the completion of the previous class. The program is a 10-week program designed to teach all essential skills for an entry level position as a dental assistant. The essential hands-on skills student will learn are taking x-rays, alginate impressions, pouring stone casts, rubber dam placements, bands and wedges, four handed dentistry and fabricating temporary crowns.