Do you need a qualified or registered dental assistant?
Follow these steps to be considered to receive reimbursement (Up to $400 for test prep and $450 for exam per person):
1. TRAIN
Chairside train a dental assistant per North Dakota requirements: 650 hours (QDA) or 3,500 hours (RDA).
Do you want to help recruit high school students?
Follow these steps to be considered to receive reimbursement for dental assistant outreach:
1. REACH OUT
Review our dental assistant outreach grant policy and then contact Mike, our Executive Director, at mike@nddental.org to see if your outreach activities are reimbursable.
2. OUTREACH
Attend an outreach event (job fair, speaking to science class, etc...) to recruit high school students to dental assisting and distribute the following handouts to high school students (hard copies available):
3. APPLY
Complete a Dental Assistant Outreach Reimbursement Application Form with a Form W9.
Bright Futures in Dentistry
North Dakota needs dental assistants. Currently, there is a significant shortage of dental assistants in North Dakota. In 2017, 70% of North Dakota dentists tried to hire a dental assistant and 40% were unsuccessful. Employment of dental assistants is projected to grow 19 percent from 2016 to 2026.
We know dental assistants are vital to a dental practice. They may take patient vitals, clean prosthesis, take impressions, apply medications, and take patient history. To be able to take radiographs, dental assistants need to become qualified. To practice even more expanded functions dental assistants need to become registered.
The North Dakota Dental Foundation is here to help. In partnership with the North Dakota Dental Association and the North Dakota State College of Science, we created a program called Bright Futures in Dentistry.
Ultimately, we're interested in increasing the number of qualified and registered dental assistants in North Dakota. There are two pathways to doing this by either attending a 10 month program or working for a dental practice as a chairside trained assistant and then after 3,500 hours, passing the DANB. Further scope of practice information may be found here: ND Legislative Administrative Rules on Dental Assistants.
This program has increased applications to NDSCS dental assisting program by 55% from 2018 to 2019.
Bright Futures in Dentistry has two primary goals:
- Increase the number of high school students who choose dental assisting as a career.
- Increase the number of registered dental assistants in North Dakota by promoting chairside trained dental assistants to become DANB certified