DAS 101 Essentials of Dental Assisting I

5 credits

The lab portion of this course will take the basic dental assistanting principles and theories learned in lecture and apply them in simulated and live patient experiences. The focus will be on how to deliver safe and effective patient care in the dental clinical setting, which will include four-handed dentistry, infection control, and instrumentation. Students will apply patient management techniques and will provide pre and post operative instructions as prescribed by a dentist as well as oral hygiene education related to dental procedures.

Prerequisites: ENGL 99 , MATH 98 , and CMST 280  

Corequisites: DAS 102  and DAS 103  

Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• Apply concepts of working in a team as dental assistant.
• Describe and demonstrate proper sterilization process and infection control procedures that are compliant with OSHA, WISHA and the CDC rules and regulations.
• Demonstrate understanding of legal records and how to maintain HIPAA compliance.  
• Implement concepts of 4-handed dentistry principles.
• Identify proper record keeping as a measure of risk management and as part of complete patient healthcare delivery.
• Identify medical conditions that may cause a medical emergency or complications during dental care. 
• Demonstrate competency in taking patient’s vital signs.  
• Demonstrate understanding of preliminary examination and accurately document patient medical conditions.  
• Identify techniques of patient management and apply them in different scenarios. 
• Demonstrate operatory set-up and patient positioning.
• Implement different dental charting techniques to notate conditions of the teeth and mucosa.
• Identify basic oral and dental anatomy.
• Demonstrate proper care of dental equipment and management.
• Manage infection and hazard control protocol consistent with published professional guidelines.