Explore Dental Aide, our dental assistant program.

Dental Aide – Dental Assistant Program

New for Back-to-School 2025

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the education, skills, and practices required for a successful career in dental assisting. It prepares students to handle equipment, assist during procedures, and prepare treatment rooms—all while maintaining cleanliness and safety according to CDC and OSHA guidelines.

In the Dental Aide course, students will:

Learn dental terminology and anatomy of the head and neck
Develop skills in infection control, patient care, communication, and record management
Explore career opportunities in specialty fields, such as oral surgery, orthodontics, and periodontics

Dental Assistant Program

Apply dental aide skills to a career in the dental industry.

Student-Centered Design

Based on decades of educational research, each course is designed to maximize student learning, motivation, and achievement. This course utilizes pedagogical concepts such as Understanding by Design, Growth Mindset, and Video and Project-based learning.

Interactive Learning

Engage students every step of the way with relevant content, interactives, videos, discussion boards, text-to-speech, language translations, projects, and more. It’s a learning experience students love.

Ready for the Real World

Students become career ready when they go beyond understanding concepts to applying them in real life. Through practical activities, students gain the skills they need for in-demand careers.

Equip students with skills for a dental assistant career.

Course Outline
Module Introduction
Interactive Instructional Design
Formative and Summative Assessments
Accessibility

Dental Assistant Program Outline by Module

Module 1: Becoming a Dental Aide

Module 2: Structures, Functions and Pathologies in Dental Care

Module 3: Microbiology and Disease Prevention

Module 4: Dental Instruments and Equipment

Module 5: The Properties and Uses of Dental Materials

Module 6: Basic Dental Laboratory Procedures

Module 7: Specialty Dental Procedures

Module 8: Dental Business Office Procedures

Provide an overview of the education, skills, and practices required for a successful dental assistant career.

Module Introduction

Module Introduction Video and Description

Each module begins with an introductory video where the instructor sets the stage for topics and learning objectives for the upcoming module. The video is followed by a short description of the module content.
Module Learning Objectives

Each module introduction includes the set of learning objectives for students to review prior to beginning instruction.
Polling Question

Students engage with an interactive poll related to the upcoming module content. After completing the poll, students can see how their peers responded with a percentage breakdown of the results.
Introduce New Vocabulary

The module introduction concludes with an interactive vocabulary matching activity, designed to familiarize students with words and concepts they will learn in the upcoming module.

Interactive Instructional Design

Engaging Lesson Videos

Each lesson begins with an instructional video from an expert educator, designed to grab students’ attention while addressing learning objectives.
Interactive Reading

Each lesson video is followed by an interactive reading where students dive into new material with embedded interactives like hot spots, flip cards, slides, videos, and more!
Integrated Activities

Activities are embedded purposefully between lessons and incorporate a variety of interactive tools for students to practice what they’ve learned.
Project-Based Learning

End-of-module projects provide the opportunity for students to apply what they’ve learned to a real-world situation that they would encounter in the workforce.

Formative and Summative Assessments

Concept Check

Embedded concept checks include a variety of low-stakes activities, including short answer responses, matching, flashcards, and sorting.
Discussion-based Reflections

Thought-provoking discussion prompts invite students to process and share their learning with their peers. Utilize your LMS discussion board or have students work in an individual course journal.
Short Answer Assignments

Short answer assignments are included at the end of each module, providing an opportunity for students to analyze and apply their learning to a real-world situation. Students are supplied with a detailed assignment rubric, with clear expectations.
Module Quizzes

Each module concludes with a quiz, assessing student understanding. Quizzes are auto-scored and the results report back to the teacher’s gradebook in their LMS.
Final Exam

A comprehensive final exam assesses student skills and knowledge at the end of the course. The final exam is auto-scored and the results report back to the teacher’s gradebook in their LMS.

Accessibility

Text-to-Speech

Audio features allow greater accessibility for students. Highlight any text within the course to have it read out loud, including image alt text.
Language Translations

Translate any text within the course, including video transcripts, into 60+ languages. Additionally, many language translations can be read out loud using the text-to-speech feature.
Closed Captioning

All videos within the course include closed captioning with the ability to access video transcripts and translate into 60+ languages.
Alternative Activities

Alternative activities are embedded throughout lessons to meet accessibility standards and provide alternatives to the interactive activities in multiple choice format.

Explore Dental Aide content to promote learning.

Digital Tour

Experience the engaging instructional design and learn about system integrations.

Flexible System Integrations for Your Dental Aide CTE Program

Seamless Integration With Your LMS

CTE has never been more accessible with digital courses that integrate smoothly with your Learning Management System. Course materials are available anytime, anywhere, all in your familiar and convenient LMS.

Additional Dental Aide Resources

Downloadable Instructors’ Guide
Course Syllabus
On-Demand Training

Downloadable Instructors’ Guide

The downloadable Instructors’ Guide includes answer keys for Reflections. Detailed grading rubrics are provided for Short Answer Assignments and Module Projects.

Course Syllabus

The syllabus includes a high-level course overview, module overviews, and module learning objectives.

On-Demand Training

An on-demand, self-paced teacher training course covers the fundamentals of implementing the curriculum.

Frequently asked questions about Dental Aide

What modules are covered in this course?
Module 1: Becoming a Dental Aide

Module 2: Structures, Functions and Pathologies in Dental Care

Module 3: Microbiology and Disease Prevention

Module 4: Dental Instruments and Equipment

Module 5: The Properties and Uses of Dental Materials

Module 6: Basic Dental Laboratory Procedures

Module 7: Specialty Dental Procedures

Module 8: Dental Business Office Procedures

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What grade levels is this text appropriate for?

Grades 9–12
What types of programs is this course designed for?

This program is designed for CTE Health Science pathways or elective offerings.
Is this program available in print or digitally?

Dental Aide is a robust, digital–only course ideal for virtual or blended learning.
What teacher resources are available?

Teacher resources include the course syllabus, instructors’ guide, and digital courseware access. Additionally, an on-demand, self-paced teacher training course covers the fundamentals of implementing the curriculum.
Which Learning Management System (LMS) does this course integrate with?

Digital courseware is delivered by LTI integration with the following Learning Management Systems: Canvas®, Schoology®, Blackboard®, Moodle®, AGILIX® Buzz®, D2L or Focalpoint.
What are the digital license options?

Student digital access to Dental Aide can be purchased for 1 year.
How long does it take to complete the course?

Dental Aide is designed to support a full-credit course and therefore may be used to support a semester- or year-long option. On average, this course requires 80 instructional seat-time hours, equating to roughly 3–4 lessons per week. Teachers can make course customizations if desired to meet specific needs.

Dental Aide – Dental Assistant Program