Course Summary

Unlock your potential and start a rewarding career in dentistry as a Dental Assistant. This qualification is suitable for individuals looking to gain the skills and knowledge to confidently assist dental practitioners during a variety of dental procedures. You will support quality and professionalism in the dental sector, and develop a strong understanding of Infection Control and Workplace Health and Safety policies and procedures. In your role, you will assist with administration practice, dental radiography and sterilise dental equipment and devices.

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements

Sound language, literacy and numeracy skills

With adherence to Infection Control guidelines and in line with the current edition of The Australian Immunisation Handbook, it is a requirement that all students have surface immunity to Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). Evidence must be provided in the form of a Vaccination Record with reported date of the 3 doses or age appropriate doses and a serology result indicating blood titre level result with an antibody level of 10IU/L or greater. We recommend contacting your GP to arrange a referral for a blood test/screening.

Work placement requirements:

Vocational placement is an important and vital factor in successfully completing this qualification. You must be working or volunteering in a dental practice in order to satisfy the assessment requirements for each of the units of competency within this qualification.

You are required to be working or volunteering in a dental facility for a minimum of 12 hours per week in order to gain the skills and knowledge as outlined in each of the units of competency.

For unit HLTDEN001 - Prepare for and assist during oral health care procedures, you are required to perform 300 hours of dental assisting work and have this recorded in your student logbook.

• performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a minimum period of 50 hours of dental assisting work in a simulated environment using scenarios based on general and specialised dentistry including endodontics and oral surgery.
• performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a minimum period of 250 hours of dental assisting work in a dental clinic workplace.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

The COVID-19 vaccination is mandatory to be eligible to attend a WIL placement for this course. Students will be required to provide evidence of having completed a COVID-19 vaccination schedule by the closing date prior to a WIL placement. The vaccine received must be a vaccine approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia.

Vocational Placement and Work Integrated Learning

Students must complete a Vocational Placement and/or Work Integrated Learning as part of this qualification.

Additional information

To satisfy the assessment requirements in each of the units of competency the student is required to work or volunteer in a Dental facility prior to enrolment into the qualification. It is the responsibility of the student to secure the work/volunteer placement opportunity. The student should be on vocational placement for 12 hours per week to learn the skills and knowledge required to perform the tasks. 

For HLTDEN001 the student is required to maintain a logbook  to record 300 hours of dental assisting work performed in the workplace 

For HLTOHC003 and HLTOHC004 the student is required to maintain a log book for the simulated and workplace task performed as outlined in the Logbook template. 

Course Details

Admission Codes

Student Outcomes, Career Opportunities and Occupations

Graduates will be eligible to apply for positions as a dental assistant within a variety of settings. This includes, private general dental practice, private specialist practice including (orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, special needs and paediatric dentistry), as well as public school dental clinics, adult dental clinics, community health centres, prisons, indigenous dental services and residential care facilities.  Certificate IV is a natural progression from Certificate III and both contain many of the same units. Certificate IV also contains a radiography specialisation which is particularly useful to students in this field.