Orthodontics Dental Assisting Vs. General Dentistry
A dental assistant does more than just help dentists. One field of dental assisting, called Orthodontics Dental Assisting (ODA), focuses on helping orthodontists. Persons seeking to enter into this field should know that it has differences and similarities to the field of dentistry, in particular general dentistry.
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Responsibilities
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Those working in general dentistry have similar and different responsibilities than those who work in ODA. General dentists and ODAs provide services that relate to keeping the health of a person's mouth, gums and teeth. But general dentists help their patients create a plan to keep their mouth, gums and/or teeth healthy and those who work in ODA don't do that. Instead ODAs help orthodontists while they are working to fix a patient's gums and teeth.
Education
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Those working in general dentistry must go through a different educational process than those who work in ODA. General dentists go through about four years of undergraduate education and then have to attend and complete at least another four years of education at one accredited school for dentists. When they receive a degree called a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), they must then pass a national board exam and a state or regional board exam. Workers in ODA like all dental assistants go through an academic program that usually takes less than a year. If they complete their program, they may but do not have to take and pass a national dental assisting board exam. Some states impose their own licensing requirements that may include taking their own licensing exams.
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Training
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Those working in general dentistry have virtually no training other than that which they receive in their school for dentists but ODAs receive extensive training after their formal schooling. Once dentists graduate, they have the option of specializing in their profession but since general dentists do not specialize, they immediately go into the practice of dentistry. Those in ODA train on the job by having another dental assistant walk them through the process.
Specialization
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General dentists refuse to specialize in any particular branch of dentistry but dental assistants sometimes do specialize in their field. Dental assistants assisting orthodontists are specialists in the dental assisting field because the work they do is generally not taught in dental assisting programs. Such programs teach only about dentistry and little to nothing about orthodontists.
The American Dental Association
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The American Dental Association assists general dentists and dental assistants by promoting the interests of the dental profession. It possesses hundreds of thousands of members of the dental profession who pool their resources to lobby political officials to protect the dentistry and they also provide information and assistance on how to become a dental assistant.
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