The 2019-2020 Dental Assisting Program Graduates. (Photo: Submitted)
The 2019-2020 Dental Assisting Program Graduates. (Photo: Submitted)

Dental Assisting Program graduates exceed national average in NDAEB exams

All 2019-2020 Dental Assisting Program graduates pass the NDAEB exam and exceed the national average.

In 2018, the USask College of Dentistry started a Dental Assisting Program in the college. This program was established to help provide a solution to the chronic shortage of certified dental assistants that Saskatchewan has seen in the past couple of years. In its first year, while the program waited for accreditation, the college partnered with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary, AB. The program has since received accreditation and is now delivered exclusively by the College of Dentistry.

On October 3, 2020, the first cohort of the College of Dentistry Dental Assisting Program wrote the National Dental Assisting Examining Board (NDAEB) exams, a requirement for licensure in the profession.  The college is pleased to announce that all graduates passed the exam, with an overall average of 77.3%, substantially exceeding the national average of 70.3%.

While still in its early years, these national board results show that the program is well on its way to becoming one of the top programs in the country. 

“Our Dental Assisting program provides a unique learning opportunity for students as they not only get to work side-by-side with DMD students in the clinic, they also get to work with faculty dentists and specialists in the college, in addition to our outstanding dental assisting faculty” said Kellie Glass, Assistant Dean, Dental Assisting Program. “I am extremely proud of all of our graduates and looking forward to what the future holds for this up-and-coming program."