Dental Assisting

The Dental Assisting (DA) program at Columbia Basin College will prepare graduates for work in dental offices, practices, and clinics as a vital member of the professional dental team. Dental Assistants are frontline healthcare professionals who provide chair-side care to patients while assisting dentists and dental hygienists in general dentistry and specialty dentistry settings. As trusted professionals, they help ensure patient safety and quality of care while performing valuable skills such as:

  • assisting dentists in all phases of patient treatment,
  • sterilizing instruments and preparing equipment for procedures,
  • providing nutritional counseling and patient education,
  • preparing dental insurance documents,
  • exposing and mounting dental radiographs,
  • fabricating oral trays and mouth guards,
  • placing sealants and provisional restorations,
  • assisting with sedation and local anesthesia,
  • applying fluoride,
  • performing coronal polishing, and
  • assisting in the management of dental offices.

    Students must apply to the Dental Assisting program and meet specific entrance criteria, including vaccinations, a national background check, and BLS CPR certification requirements.

    Upon completion of the CBC Dental Assisting One-Year Certificate program, students may continue their studies and earn an Associate of Applied Science in Dental Assisting degree.

Application Process

The next opportunity to apply to the Dental Assisting program will be in August 2025. The start date of the next program is Winter quarter 2026.

When the application process is completed, all applicants are emailed a letter regarding their status about a week or two after the last day to submit an application. Completed applications with required documents are asked to be submitted via email in PDF format to healthsciencesFREECOLUMBIA_BASIN.

Students interested in the Dental Assisting program are encouraged to begin prerequisite coursework now and check back regularly for the formal application.

One-Year Certificate in Dental Assisting

College transcripts of applicants into the Dental Assisting program will be reviewed for the following courses:

  • HSCI 147 Medical Terminology (5 credits)
  • PSYC& 100 General Psychology (5 credits)
  • ENGL& 101, or 102 or 235 (5 credits)
  • CMST& 101, or 210, or 220 or CMST 260 (5 credits)

    Dental Assisting applications need to include a current copy the applicants American Heart Association BLS Provider CPR card or certificate.

AAS degree in Dental Assisting

Additional coursework is required for students that wish to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Dental Assisting degree. Applicant must complete the courses required for the one year certificate plus the courses noted below:

  • BIOL& 241 Anatomy & Physiology I w/ lab 
  • BIOL& 242 Anatomy & Physiology II w/ lab 
  • BIOL& 260 Microbiology w/ lab 
  • MATH& 146 Intro to Statistics

Washington State Credentialing

Entry into the field in Washington State requires registration through the Department of Health. Upon program completion students must complete an application and background check at:
WA State Department of Health

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National Background Search and Drug Screen

As part of the admission requirements for Health Science programs, applicants must successfully pass a criminal background check and drug screen prior to working with patients in clinical areas. The background check and drug screen are paid by the student and administered through a third party company, CastleBranch. In addition to the background check required by CBC, each clinical facility reserves the right to conduct its own criminal background check prior to allowing a student to enter its health care facilities for clinical participation.

Certain criminal convictions, pending charges, or negative actions may automatically disqualify a person from having unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, juveniles and children. Clinical facilities reserve the right to accept or decline a student’s placement in its facility. 

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Program Learning Outcomes

Program learning outcomes are the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students will achieve before they graduate. The outcomes below were developed by the faculty in the Dental Assistant Program with input from accrediting bodies, advisory committees, employers, etc. This collaboration ensures that the outcomes are relevant for careers that this degree leads to.

Students who graduate with a One-Year Certificate or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Dental Assisting will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a working knowledge of dental terminology and the dental sciences.

2. Provide for the needs of dental patients in compliance with industry safety and quality standards.

3. Employ appropriate ethical, professional and respectful values while providing care to diverse populations in the dental setting.

4. Function as an effective, efficient, and professional member of the dental team.

5. Perform a variety of chairside clinical supportive treatments.

6. Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing with the dental team members and patients.

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Students walking around CBC's Pasco campus