Dental Assistant to Dentist: Can You Make the Transition?
Dental Assistant to Dentist: Can You Make the Transition?
A dental assistant who develops a passion for dentistry may eventually ask a much bigger career question:
Can I go from being a dental assistant to becoming a dentist?
The answer is yes. However, becoming a dentist requires completing the same core educational and licensing requirements applicable to other aspiring dentists.
Dental assisting can provide professional experience, but it isn't a substitute for dental school.
Is Dental Assisting a Pathway to Becoming a Dentist?
It can be part of someone's personal career pathway, but there is no automatic professional progression from dental assistant to dentist.
The occupations require substantially different levels of education.
Dentists generally complete undergraduate preparation followed by a professional dental program leading to a DDS or DMD degree. Graduates must then satisfy applicable licensing requirements.
Dental assisting programs are designed for a different occupation and typically require far less time.
A dental assistant who later decides to become a dentist would therefore need to complete the academic requirements necessary for dental-school admission.
Does Dental Assistant School Count Toward Dental School?
Students should not assume that completing dental assistant education will satisfy dental-school prerequisites.
Dental schools establish their own prerequisite coursework and admissions standards.
The American Dental Education Association provides extensive information for prospective dental students, but applicants should ultimately verify requirements with every school to which they intend to apply.
Courses commonly associated with predental preparation can include biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and physics, although requirements vary by institution.
Why Might a Dental Assistant Want to Become a Dentist?
Working alongside dentists provides an unusual perspective on the profession.
A dental assistant can observe not just individual procedures but the rhythm of an entire dental practice.
That can include patient communication, teamwork, scheduling, infection control, treatment planning and the realities of spending an entire workday in a clinical dental environment.
Some assistants discover that dental assisting is exactly the career they want.
Others decide they want the additional responsibilities associated with becoming a dentist.
Both are legitimate career outcomes.
Do Dental Assistants Still Need to Take the DAT?
Dental assistants applying to dental school are generally subject to the admissions requirements of the schools they are targeting.
Where the Dental Admission Test is required, prior dental-assisting experience doesn't eliminate that requirement.
Applicants should verify current requirements because dental-school admissions policies can change.
Dental Assistant Experience and Your Application
Applicants should also distinguish between having experience and satisfying admissions requirements.
Working in dentistry may provide meaningful experiences to discuss in an application or interview. It can demonstrate that an applicant has spent time in a dental environment and has some understanding of the profession.
But experience cannot compensate automatically for academic deficiencies or missing prerequisites.
Admissions committees evaluate applicants across multiple dimensions.
ASDA for Future Dentists
A dental assistant considering dental school may also want to investigate the American Student Dental Association.
ASDA's predental membership is designed for individuals pursuing dentistry as a career. It can provide another connection to the dental-school community while someone completes the academic steps necessary to apply.
Start With the Career You Want Today
Students shouldn't feel that choosing dental assisting commits them permanently to one career.
Education can continue throughout a lifetime.
A person can begin as a dental assistant and later pursue additional education. Others can build long careers within dental assisting.
For students in New York City who want to begin with dental-assistant education, NYSMDA provides training focused specifically on preparing students for the dental workplace.
