Dental assisting?

I would like to be a dental assistant in the state of Indiana. But I dont have the money to attend schooling. Does any one know if dentist will hire you and give you on the job training? Or do you have any suggestions about getting grants or free schooling. Someone please help.

Dental assisting?
you can get grants to help pay for the schooling but it wont pay for all of it
Reply:You need to be certified before you can be hired. You could really hurt someone by not knowing what you are doing. And, there is the issue of liability. That dentist would be in a would of hurt.





Look into which school(s) you would like to attend. Then talk to a counselor their and their financial aid department. They should be able to give you alternative resources in addition to any of the services they provide.





Good luck!
Reply:some dentist will pay for you to get your assisting certification and x-ray certification, i dont know the laws on dental assisting in Indiana but where i'm from you can still do alot without your certification.
Reply:Most states allow on the job training but you do need to be certified to take x rays and do many of the other components of the job. My advice would be to find a dentist who will give you training on the job (if allowed in your state) and see if he will pay for the certifications you need or maybe he will take a small amount out of your pay check each week towards the classes/testing. You can also contact DANB (dental assistants national board) at www.danb.org they can tell you everything you need to know. Hope this helps, good luck dental assisting is a great job.
Reply:melebop is correct. I don't know of any state that REQUIRES any certification to be a dental assistant, although I also don't know of any that allow you to take x-rays WITHOUT an x-ray license. (Check with your own state board for local regulations, though.) An x-ray license would be helpful, but courses to obtain that are relatively inexpensive at VoTech schools. I'd suggest that you delay this, though, until you have a year or so on the job.





Personally, I am not impressed with the "CDA" as much as I am with the PERSON I would be hiring. Having a CDA means that the candidate has made a solid career commitment and speaks the language, but without any on the job experience, the CDA doesn't know a heck of a lot that can't be trained within a couple of weeks.





I hire based on what can NOT be taught, like personality, maturity, good values, good taste and a good work ethic. THEN we start teaching the technical bits that will make you a good dental assistant.