Dental assistants help dentists examine and treat patients, and perform some administrative tasks.
NOC Code: 3411
Dental assistants help dentists examine and treat patients, and perform some administrative tasks. You may work for a dentist's office, or with a government or educational institution. You may also be called a certified dental assistant, certified intra-oral dental assistant, registered dental assistant, dental clinical assistant or preventative dental assistant.
Generally, dental assistants:
Source: Government of Canada
This job requires: High School
This job requires 0 - 2 years of work experience.
Source: HRSDC
As a dental assistant, you need to:
Source: Ontario Skills Passport
You need to communicate in person and in writing with patients and co-workers. You also need to take notes, check patient charts and other forms for accuracy, and follow written product directions. You need to use dental terminology.
While there are job opportunities in the field because the population in Canada is aging and needs dental care, the growth in opportunities also depends on the economy.
Licensing is not mandatory, but is required to perform intra-oral duties in Ontario.
The work prospects for this job are: FAIR
The average hourly wage for this job is: C$19/hour.
These links will give you a list of related educational programs or where you can search for them. There may be other schools that have similar programs, such as private career colleges. You may be able to get advanced standing.
Although the field of dentistry does not specifically have bridging programs, there are several programs for internationally educated professionals which you can prepare for the National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB) examinations.
Here is a list of some language training programs, such as Enhanced Language Training (ELT) and Occupation Specific Language Training (OSLT).
Many college programs and bridging programs in this field include co-operative (co-op) work experience.
The data in this profile is provided for informational purposes only. Some of the information may have changed since this profile was written. Please check the source for the most up-to-date information.