After completing your dental assistant training and spending some time in the workplace, you may be interested in taking on more responsibility. This can be beneficial to you for job security or if you are looking to increase your annual income.
One of the ways to increase your responsibilities and value as a dental assistant is by earning a permit in sedation. Recent changes in allowable dental assistant functions and requirements are pushing in the direction of a separate licensure requirement for sedation for every state. If you are interested in becoming a dental sedation assistant, here is what you’ll need to be aware of:
Dental Sedation Assistant Job Description
Dental sedation assistants work closely with dentists to help treat and monitor patients who are undergoing some type of anesthesia for a procedure, whether it is through intravenous sedation, oral sedation, or inhalation sedation. Some of the duties you, as a dental sedation assistant, can perform are:
- Monitoring vitals of the patient while he or she is under sedation
- Drawing, measuring, and administering medications and fluids after the dentist has given the patient the first dose of medication
- Removing the patient’s IV after the procedure is completed
When the patient is first sedated and throughout the entire procedure, the dentist must be present and must monitor all of the activity performed by the assistant.
Obtaining Your Permit After Dental Assistant Training
When you decide that you want to become a dental sedation assistant, there are strict guidelines that you must follow in order to obtain your permit. Before you can consider applying for a permit, though, you have to first undergo your dental assistant training. The steps that follow this training will include:
- Working at least a full year as a regular dental assistant
- Taking all health classes required by your particular state dental board, which could include CPR and infection control.
- Your state may require you to take a class that reviews the laws and ethics of dentistry in your state.
- When you have completed all of the classes required by your state, you will then have to take a course in dental sedation. These courses are generally over 100 hours long. You will not be allowed to start dental sedation courses until after you have worked as a regular dental assistant for at least six months.
- After completing all of these courses, you will then have to take a state certified exam.
- You will then have to submit your fingerprints to both the FBI and the Department of Justice. Any arrest records will be investigated and it will be determined whether you are able to apply for a dental sedation assistant permit.
The first three courses on CPR, infection control, and the practice of dentistry must be taken within the first year of your employment as a dental assistant. Once you have completed all of these requirements for this type of dental assistant training, you will be able to apply to be a dental sedation assistant.
To be Registered or Not to be Registered… That is the Question
If you want to obtain a dental sedation assistant permit, you are not required to be a registered dental assistant, but there are several advantages to becoming one. Not only will the requirements for certification and re-certification help you prepare more thoroughly to become a dental sedation assistant, but you will also be able to perform more job duties than an uncertified dental assistant. Your ability to do more within the dental office will increase your job security and allow for higher paying salaries. Here are some of the duties you will be able to carry out:
- Use computer-aided design system and x-ray to capture images of a patient’s teeth
- Prepare the patient’s teeth for the bonding material
- Apply the bonding material
- Adjust a patient’s braces, bands, and archwires
- Remove any excess cement around a patient’s braces
The requirement to become a dental sedation assistant will vary from state to state because each state has its own dental board. After completing your dental assistant training, contact your state board to see what the specific requirements are for you to obtain your permit to become a dental sedation assistant.
Dental Assistant Career Training: Dental Sedation Assistant is a post from: Dental Assistant Training Class
