Dental Assisting/Assistant

Types of Degrees Dental Assisting/Assistant Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many dental assisting/assistant graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	10,986
Basic Certificate	4,711
Associate Degree	1,524
Bachelor’s Degree	2

What Dental Assisting/Assistant Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, dental assisting majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Dental Assisting Majors

Dental Assisting majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Dental Assisting Majors

When studying dental assisting, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.

Abilities for Dental Assisting Majors

As a dental assisting major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Dental Assisting/Assistant Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with dental assisting:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Dental Assistants	19.5%	$38,660
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Assisting/Assistant?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of dental assisting majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	1
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

How Much Do Dental Assisting/Assistant Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Dental Assisting majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $39,770 to $122,320 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Dental Assisting/Assistant

Some careers associated with dental assisting require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for dental assisting careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	6.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	40.9%
Some College Courses	5.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	5.7%
Master’s Degree	13.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	3.6%
Doctoral Degree	9.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	7.0%

Online Dental Assisting/Assistant Programs

In 2020-2021, 631 schools offered a dental assisting program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	493	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	5	0
Associate’s Degree	133	1
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Dental Assisting/Assistant Worth It?

The median salary for a dental assisting grad is $39,770 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Majors Related to Dental Assisting/Assistant

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to dental assisting.

Major	Number of Grads
Dental Hygiene/Hygienist	8,807
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician	287
Other Dental Services & Allied Professions	82

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.