Technical Standards

Dental assisting students must be able to perform essential functions. The following statements identify the technical standards appropriate to the profession of Dental Assisting and students enrolled in the Dental Assisting Program.

The student needs use of both hands and sufficient finger dexterity to manipulate dental instruments, materials, dental handpieces, and operate dental equipment.
The student must have the ability to discern changes in surface textures without causing trauma to dental tissues, and to control pressure exerted by dental handpieces on dental tissue to prevent injury to those tissues.
The student must possess the ability to gather, classify, and interpret information about data, people, or things, and be able to carry out appropriate actions in relation to the data received and apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
The student must have the ability to differentiate various shades of colors in a limited environment and space in the oral cavity, and distinguish shades of grey and identify the working ends of various dental instruments and other dental implements at a two foot distance.
The student must have the ability to perceive sound through telephone, hear commands through an operator's face mask, and discern blood pressure sounds through a stethoscope.
The student must have the ability to read and comprehend the English language and comprehend complex information from scientific and/or technical journals, papers, textbooks, communicate the same type of complex information through speech and in writing using proper format, punctuation, spelling, grammar, and using all parts of speech.
The student must the ability to communicate technical information at a level appropriate for patient understanding and speak clearly and with the correct pronunciation of dental and medical terms.
The student must the ability to determine percentages, convert fractions, ratios and proportions as well as basic subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division and understand and interpret the implications and meanings of the numerical values.