Sanford-Brown Institute

Dental Assisting with Expanded Functions

Sanford-Brown Institute-Ft's Dental Assisting with Expanded Functions program at Sanford-Brown Institute-Ft. Lauderdale (SBI) helps students learn to assist in a variety of dental office situations. The training of the students consists of courses in dental anatomy, pathology and terminology, dental instruments and materials, x-rays and radiography, chairside assisting techniques, and dental laboratory and office administration procedures. The fundamentals of the course of study include lectures, laboratory work, and clinical experiences. The student's final externship will consist of a supervised clinical, during which the student will be required to complete competencies, logs and evaluations. Graduates of the program who have made class attendance and externship study a priority, completed their homework assignments, and applied the skills they have learned, should find entry-level employment as dental assistants readily available.

SBI's Dental Assisting program does not have accreditation from the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the ADA. We encourage graduates of the Expanded Functions program to take the certification exam that the DNBA (Dental Assisting National Board) offers. Graduates are not required to take this certification examination, but doing so may increase the number of employment opportunities available to them. Graduates are able to take the exam post-graduation after they have accrued a minimum of 3500 work hours as a dental assistant. The examination registration and certification requirements are not controlled by SBI, but by outside agencies and are subject to change without notice. Because of this, SBI cannot guarantee graduates will be eligible to take certification exams at any given time, regardless of said student meeting requirements on enrollment.

STATE LICENSURE AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Individual states control their own state licensure and registration regulations, and any such requirements are subject to change without prior notice. While Florida is a state that does not mandate the licensing of dental assistants, there are other states that do have that requirement. Since SBI has no control over any licensure and/or registration requirements, there is no guarantee that graduates will be eligible to work as dental assistants in Florida or other states, even though they may have been eligible upon enrollment.