does a community college certificate mean you are a certified dental assistant?
Not necessarily. In New York, there is an important distinction between a community-college certificate of completion and being a New York State Registered Dental Assistant (RDA).
In New York
A person is a Registered Dental Assistant only after meeting the state's education and examination requirements and obtaining the NYS credential. NYSED specifically says that only someone who has met the requirements and been issued the credential may use the title “Registered Dental Assistant.”
A community-college program can qualify you—but the particular program must be NYS-registered/licensure-qualifying (or otherwise meet NYSED's requirements).
For the standard educational pathway, NYSED requires a one-year program with at least 24 semester hours and 200 hours of clinical experience.
And education alone isn't enough: the applicant also has to satisfy the required examination pathway.
So there are really 3 different things
CredentialWhat it meansCertificate of CompletionYou completed a dental-assisting courseCDA — Certified Dental AssistantYou passed the DANB's CDA examination and hold that national credentialNYS Registered Dental Assistant (RDA)You meet NYS education/exam requirements and are licensed/registered by NYS
The terminology is particularly important for NYC schools advertising “Dental Assistant Certification.” A school could give students a certificate that sounds like certification, while the program may not make them eligible for NYS RDA licensure.
If you're asking because you're considering what credential NYSMDA should advertise/offer, I would be very careful with the wording. “Dental Assistant Certificate” and “New York State Registered Dental Assistant” are not interchangeable.
