Mission Statement and Goals

The Program's Mission:

The Dental Assisting Program integrates well into the educational philosophy, mission and vision of Cerritos College. The program promotes both students’ clinical and academic excellence to prepare them to become competent dental professionals. The program collaborates with faculty, administration, and the advisory committee to produce successful and proficient dental assistants to meet the needs of the dentist, patient, and the community it serves.

The Program's Goals:

A. To provide a high caliber curriculum that adheres to the current dental healthcare standards and business office management procedures in the dental field.

B. To develop a sense of sense of responsibility in graduates to practice within the laws and regulations of California and the ethical principles of the American Dental Practice Act and Dental Assisting Code of Ethics.

C. To create a faculty focus on student success through effective teaching practice in both didactic and clinical activities and to provide learning opportunities incorporating modern equipment based on professional trends, oral and written research project, self and pear clinical evaluation and various community projects.

D. To prepare the student for employment as a safe, competent, and regulation-compliant dental health care professional.

E. To graduate individuals with the academic knowledge and skills to qualify for and successfully pass both the National Board and State Board examinations.

F. To lay the foundation and allow graduates to continue to plan, attain, and evaluate their educational and career goals regardless of age, gender, cultural and socio-economic status or ethnicity.

G. To develop effective written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills for the benefit of patients, colleagues, and other members of the health care team.

H. To provide broad-based education that lays the groundwork for advancement into a variety of dental assisting careers.

I. To provide students the opportunities to develop competencies in the use of safety techniques, exposing, developing and mounting radiographs.

J. To build in graduates a commitment to lifelong learning, a dedication to fulfillment of personal and professional potential, a sense of dignity, value and self worth.

K. To provide students with the following certificates after satisfactory completion of relative course work:

  1. California State Radiation License
  2. Coronal Polish Certificate
  3. Pit and Fissure Sealant Certificate
  4. Infection Control Certificate
  5. Dental Practice Act Certificate