Have you been working as a dental assistant for many years now? Are you just starting out in your career and are planning for the future? Being a dental assistant is the first step on a multitude of different career paths. If you’re interested in a change and are looking to share your knowledge and experience with the next generation of dental assistants, you may consider becoming a dental assisting instructor! Read on to learn more about this potential opportunity and discover if it’s right for you.
What’s The Job Description for a Dental Assisting Instructor?
Just like with any other position, the specifics of your job description will depend on where you are applying to be an instructor. You may be interested teaching at a community college, a vocational-technical school, or a dental assisting training program. At its core, a dental assisting instructor works with students to teach them everything they’ll need to know for an entry-level position in dental assisting. As you may expect, having a class of your own is a big responsibility! You’ll prepare curriculum, perform classroom lectures, demonstrate dental techniques, and provide hands-on experience. All along the way, you’ll need to evaluate their performance, give them personalized guidance, and answer their questions about what to expect in their new career.
The Skills Every Dental Instructor Needs
The most important skill you need in order to succeed as a dental assisting instructor is enthusiasm for helping others learn and achieve their career goals. Alongside your passion, this will include practical skills like planning, organization, speaking, and instructing. It’s also important that you can motivate and connect with your students to help them succeed. Naturally, you’ll need to know the field of dental assisting inside and out in order to teach and answer questions. Lastly, it’s a good idea to be familiar with using online learning software.
Training & Salary of a Dental Assisting Instructor
Naturally, you’ll need to have plenty of experience as a dental assistant before you can become an instructor. The specific requirements will once again depend on your employer. You’ll typically always need a high school diploma or GED, but an associate degree or higher is preferred. Other credentials, such as holding a DANB’s Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification are often required as well. Your pay level will typically vary based on your level of education and what school or training program you are an instructor at. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, dental assisting instructors often earn $20-$30 an hour.
Becoming a dental assistant opens the door to a variety of different career paths. Whether you’re looking to become an expanded function dental assistant, office business team administrator, dental hygienist, dentist, or dental assisting instructor, make sure you have the skills you need to succeed by contacting NE Dental Academy.
About the Practice
At NE Dental Academy, we are passionate about helping people find meaningful and fulfilling careers in the world of dental assisting. Our dental assisting training program covers everything you need to thrive in your new position, and our instructors will teach you about all the additional career paths you may be interested in pursuing next. If you’d like to learn more or if you have any questions, feel free to contact us online or at (508) 425-6644.