Program Description:

Length

12 Months (1230 Clock Hours) 

Schedule

Classroom (1st, 2nd and 3rd Grading Periods): Monday - Friday  8 am-2 pm 

Clinicals (4th and 5th Grading Periods): Monday - Friday 8 am-3 pm 

(Summer hours ) Monday- Thursday 8 am - 2:45 pm

(Summer hours ) Clinicals Monday- Thursday 8 am - 4:00 pm

This program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Education (CODA) an agency of the American Dental Association (ADA).

Basic Skills Requirement

Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) score of 244 in Reading, and 241 in Math are required prior to graduation (some exemptions apply).  

Exemptions from the Basic Skills test are as follows:

• Graduate of a Florida Public High School from 2007-present with a standard High School Diploma
• Florida based GED 2014-present
• College degree from an accredited institution
• (Official transcripts are needed to verify exemption)

The Dental Assistant Career Pathway requires:

A standard U.S. high school diploma or GED from a school accredited by an approved accrediting association.

Clinical Requirements

• Physical examination/immunizations
• Criminal background checks 
• Random drug screenings

PLEASE NOTE

Students entering all health programs with a clinical study requirement must submit to a criminal background check and random drug screenings at their own expense.

If problems arise with the results of either the criminal background check or the drug screening, students will not be permitted to attend the clinical portion of the program which then results in program non-completion. 

A history of felony convictions or substance abuse may adversely affect your ability to gain employment or take licensing exams in the medical profession. We encourage you to consider your personal history when making appropriate career choices. 

2025-2026 Curriculum Frameworks

Program Description

Students are trained in subject areas such as dental terminology, ethics and jurisprudence, pharmacology and anesthesia, dental anatomy and physiology, dental laboratory procedures and equipment, instruments and materials, dental radiography, aseptic techniques, preventive dentistry, dental chairside assisting and expanded functions, and office management.

Practical on-site clinical experience is one of the program's many strengths. Several thousand patients are treated in the dental clinic yearly. These conditions allow students to experience most every conceivable situation in the school clinic that occurs in the private dental office.

Completers who achieve a "C" or better cumulative GPA and pass all courses will receive an Erwin Technical College Certificate, an Expanded Functions Certificate for Dental Assistants, and a Dental Radiographer Certificate.