33100 Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants

What this occupation covers

Dental assistants assist dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists during the examination and treatment of patients and perform clerical functions. Dental laboratory assistants assist dental technologists and technicians in preparing and fabricating dentures and other dental devices. Dental assistants work in dentists' offices, community health centres, clinics and in educational institutions. Dental laboratory assistants are employed in dental laboratories.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 17 main duties for this code.

• Prepare patients for dental examination and assist the dentist during examinations and dental treatments
• Sterilize and maintain instruments and equipment
• Prepare dental instruments, fillings compound and various dental materials
• Take and develop X-rays
• Polish teeth and clinical crowns and apply fluoride and sealant
• Take preliminary impressions for diagnostic casts
• Educate patients concerning oral hygiene
• Perform clerical duties such as prepare invoices, process payments, schedule patient appointments, record dental procedures performed and order dental and office supplies
• May perform intra-oral duties such as remove sutures, take and record vital signs, apply desensitizing agents, topical anaesthetic, anticariogenic agents and coronal whitening, fabricate, place, and remove temporary crowns and restorations, and apply and remove rubber dams
• May also perform pulp vitality testing as well as periodontal screening and recording.
• Prepare plaster models and moulds from dental impressions
• Prepare wax bite-blocks and impression trays
• Cast gold or metal alloys for bridges and denture bases
• Pack plastic material in moulds to form full or partial dentures
• Mould wax over denture set-up to form full contours of artificial gums
• Make orthodontic bands from gold, silver, stainless steel or other metals
• Finish metal framework of dentures and polish and buff dentures to obtain natural finish.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 17 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 32111 Dental hygienists and dental therapists
• 32112 Dental technologists and technicians

Excluded from this code

• Dental hygienists and dental therapists (See 32111 Dental hygienists and dental therapists)
• Dental technologists and technicians (See 32112 Dental technologists and technicians)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

ceramic denture caster · ceramic denture mechanic · ceramic denture moulder · certified dental assistant · certified intra-oral dental assistant · chair-side assistant - dental · dental aide · dental assistant · dental clinical assistant · dental laboratory assistant · dental laboratory bench worker · dental laboratory technician assistant · dental technician assistant · denture bench moulder · denture finisher · denture framework finisher · denture packer · denture setter · denture trimmer-polisher · denture wax pattern former · intra-oral dental assistant · licensed dental assistant · occlusion rim former - dentures · orthodontic band maker

Employment requirements

• Dental assistants require completion of an eight-month to one-year college or other program in dental assistance or completion of secondary school with on-the-job training
• Registration with a regulatory body is required in all provinces except Quebec and Ontario.
• Certification by the National Dental Assisting Examination Board is required to perform intra-oral duties in all provinces except in Quebec, where intra-oral duties are not performed by dental assistants.
• Dental laboratory assistants usually require secondary school and up to two years of on-the-job training.