Dental Assisting

Department: Health Occupations

In less than four months, you can be prepared for a successful career as a dental assistant! With this program, you'll have everything you need to get a good job to better support your family and improve your financial security - including a externship so you can gain hands-on experience.

This program's comprehensive training was developed by industry professionals with years of experience. Students will be able to take advantage of online education modules along with hands-on clinical experience in patient care and dental office procedures. The entire program qualifies learners to sit for the American Medical Technologists (AMT) RDA exam, prepares them for the NELDA component exams (AMP, ICE, and RHS), and helps them enter the workforce. Tuition will include the DANB NELDA Certification Exams ($400 value) at no additional cost (pathway to CDA). The program will still align with the AMT RDA; however, this will be an out-of-pocket expense for learners.  

The learning objectives for the program include (but are not limited to):

• Dental Ethics
• Principles and Techniques of Instrument Processing and Sterilization
• Preventative and General Dentistry
• Anesthesia and Pain Control
• Endodontics and Orthodontics
• Oral Maxillofacial Surgery
• Financial Management in the Dental Office

This curriculum is owned by Career Step and St. Charles Community College acts as a third-party registration entity for them. Additional information on this program, and Career Step, can be found at https://partner.careerstep.com/stcharles.

Career Step works with local dentists for real-world, hands-on experience. Students will be be required to complete 100 externship hours at one of these partner facilities.

Note: All coursework (online modules and externship) must be completed within 12 months of registration. Since the program is completely self-paced and the online training format allows you the flexibility to study as much or as little as your schedule allows, the time it takes you to complete the course will vary from other learners. The training is designed to be completed in four months of full-time study, but students are allowed 12 months to provide the flexibility to study part-time on a pace and at a schedule that works for you.

Course Requirements

• A high speed or broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP) and active email account are required for utilization of the online course. The choice of provider and expense are the responsibility of the student.
• A personal computer (PC) is required for the program with a Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X operating system. It must also include the following specifications:
  • Hardware: sound card, speakers, USB port. Adobe Flash Player (ver. 10 or higher).
  • Software: Windows Media Player (ver. 10 or higher) or Quicktime Player (ver. 7 or higher), a PDF reader, internet browser with enabled javascript and cookies (Internet Explorer - 7.x/8.x/9.x, Firefox 3.x, or Safari 4.x or greater - Mac only)

Tuition and Schedule

Students can register for and start this program at any time. You will have 12 months from registration to complete the program.

• Section 40: $3,799

Tuition is due at time of registration. Financial aid/assistance cannot be utilized for this course.

Registration

Complete the registration form (can be downloaded by clicking the registration form link) and submit it to the Nursing & Allied Health Office in one of the following ways:

• In-person (1 Academy Place, Dardenne Prairie, MO 63368) - office hours are Monday - Friday from 8:00am - 4:00pm
• Through email (healthoccupations@stchas.edu)
• Through fax (636-922-8478)

This is a non-credit, certificate course. Tuition is due at time of registration and is non-refundable and non-transferable.