New Dental Assisting Program filling one area skills gap

 

Germanna Community College’s new Dental Assisting Program is helping to fill in some of the holes that make up our area’s skills gap.

The state of Virginia began requiring training for the job in 2010 on two levels. Since then, qualified dental assistants have been hard to come by.

“We’re putting trained people out there in the workforce,” said Misty Mesimer, GCC’s Dental Assisting Program Director and Dental Hygiene Program Local Coordinator.

 Dental Assistant I requires a certificate.  GCC’s certificate program prepares students to take the national dental assisting exam in one year. After passing that exam,  students are eligible to pursue a Dental Assistant II degree.

 Dental Assistant II requires an associate’s degree. Germanna and Northern Virginia Community College jointly offer an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Dental Hygiene through a distance learning partnership. Students may complete general education courses at Germanna.

Dental assistants with a degree may earn $17 to $21 an hour, Mesimer said.

 In one 14-day period, students and faculty at GCC’s Dental Assisting clinic provided $14,206.00 worth of dental services (exams, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, and extractions) to the community. 

 Germanna’s Dental Hygiene Program provided in kind dental hygiene services to adults with development disabilities amounting to $29,346 for all of the 2012 calendar year.