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Job Market
Allied Health Programs: Dental Assisting
Dental assistants held about 267,000 jobs in 2004. Almost all jobs for dental asistants were in offices of dentists. A small number of jobs were in the Federal, State, and local governments or in offices of physicians. About 2 out of 5 dental assistants worked part time, sometimes in more than one dental office.
Job prospects for dental assistants should be excellent. Employment is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014. In fact, dental assistants is expected to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the 2004-14 projection period.
In addition to job openings due to employment growth, numerous job openings will arise out of the need to replace assistants who transfer to other occupations, retire, or leave for other reasons. Many opportunities are for entry-level positions offering on-the-job training.
Population growth and greater retention of natural teeth by middle-aged and older people will fuel demand for dental services. Older dentists, who have been less likely to employ assistants, are leaving the occupation and will be replaced by recent graduates, who are more likely to use one or even two assistants. In addition, as dentists' workloads increase, they are expected to hire more assistants to perform routine tasks, so that they may devote their own time to more complex procedures.
This information was retrieved from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics website.
For all Dental Assisting questions, please e-mail Holly Solaas (850-729-6444) or Mary Thomas.