Mission
The mission of the Austin Community College Dental Assisting program is to advance the mission of the college by creating an environment that respects the individual, encourages learning, and promotes the success of the person. It is the expectation that this environment exists to meet the needs of the community and the profession of dentistry by providing a quality entry-level dental assisting program.

Philosophy
The activities of the Dental Assisting program reflect our mission. All individuals deserve to be treated with respect in all our interactions, whether in the classroom, among peers, or assisting a client in the dental assisting clinic. Respect for the individual creates a trust between students, faculty, and staff that will be felt far beyond the classroom walls.

The Dental Assisting program is committed to the value of lifelong learning by cultivating an environment that encourages the advancement of knowledge for all of the program's stakeholders: students, faculty, staff, members of the dental community, and the public served by the program. The needs of all stakeholders will be tempered with the understanding that the program exists for the students. All resources will be managed for the purpose of developing caring dental assisting professionals that will prove to be valuable assets to society.

Goals

The goals of the Dental Assisting Program are to:

1. Produce competent entry-level dental assisting professionals
2. Demonstrate good stewardship of all resources
3. Develop faculty and staff to be leaders within the college
4. Serve as a resource for the public, and dental communities

Competency Statements

Dental Assisting graduates will competently:

• communicate a commitment to ethical, legal, and professional behaviors including embracing research and life long learning.
• support and assist the functions of the dental team and the business of dentistry.
• implement an organized system of exposure control for the purposes of protecting themselves and others from infectious and unsafe agents.
• implement an organized review of the physical surroundings to ensure a safe environment for themselves and others.
• collect, assess, document, and communicate dental patients’ medical, dental, familial, and social histories to include predisposing and etiologic risk factors, and initiating referrals.
• provide the information necessary for a dental client/guardian to make an informed decision and obtain an informed consent for dental procedures.
• collect, assess, document, and communicate dental patients’ existing orofacial conditions to include extraoral and intraoral cancer screenings, obtaining dental radiographs,, and existing intraoral hard and soft tissue conditions
• evaluate and assist the dental provider in the dental care plans.
• recognize and manage medical emergencies in the client care environment.
• promote the values of oral and general health to the public.
• assess, plan, implement, evaluate, and value community oral health services.
• serve diverse patient populations without discrimination.