ORTHODONTIC ASSISTANT COURSE 

Great News for Dental Assistants! 

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California Dental Educators is proud to offer a Dental Board of California-approved Orthodontic Assistant Course (OA144). Under the new regulations, dental assistants no longer need six months of work experience to enroll in the course or one year of experience to apply for the OAP Exam with the dental board!

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Take the next step in your dental career and earn your Orthodontic Assistant Permit Certificate today!

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Course Overview

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Prerequisites:

• 8-hour Infection Control Course (Board-approved)

• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification

• Chairside Experience

• Work in an Orthodontic Office

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Our OA course includes:

• 24 hours of didactic (lecture) instruction – completed conveniently from home

• 28 hours of lab and preclinical training – held at our Rocklin facility

• 32 hours of clinical practice – completed in your orthodontic office

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Didactic Portion – Home Study (24 Hours)

• Begins upon registration

• Includes 7 modules with written exams

• You must print and complete the exams before the first day of lab

• Bring your completed exams to class; your instructor will review them with you

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Lab & Preclinical Portion – In Office (28 Hours)

​Schedule:

• Friday | 5:00 PM–9:00 PM

• Saturday | 9:00 AM–6:00 PM

• Sunday | 9:00 AM–6:00 PM

• Monday | 5:00 PM–9:00 PM

• Tuesday | 5:00 PM–9:00 PM

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This portion includes practice on manikins as well as live

patient preclinical practice with/on qualified classmates.

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This course requires at least two students registered in order to be held. If we do not have another student enrolled, the class will be moved to next month’s OAP class on October 28-24. I will let you know if this class is being held by August 28th when registration closes for this class. 

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If you If you do not qualify to be a patient, you will need to bring

one patient for the preclinical practice in these sessions:

• Friday of class | 7:00–9:00 PM

• Sunday of class | 2:00–6:00 PM

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Your patient must complete:

• A Health History Form

• A Consent for Treatment Form

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Before and After You Register

• Read the FAQ page. Access this in the toolbar at the top of the page.

• Choose the course date you want and register for class.

• You’ll receive the course materials via email to begin your home study portion.

• If you have any questions, we’re just a phone call or email away—we’re here to help!

• Upon successful completion, we’ll email your certificate for immediate proof and also send the original certificate by mail.

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Clinical Portion – Orthodontic Office (32 Hours)

You are required to complete 32 clinical hours at an orthodontic office under the supervision of a licensed dentist within 21 days after completing the lab/preclinical portion.

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Required Documentation:
To verify your clinical hours, you must have your supervising doctor sign:

• The Dental Office Affiliation Agreement

• The Clinical Patient Grade Sheets

• The Clinical Hours Verification Form

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Permitted Procedures During Orthodontic Assistant Clinical Hours of Course

Under appropriate supervision, you may perform the following:

• Take facebow transfers and bite registrations

• Perform orthodontic measurements

• Examine orthodontic appliances

• Place and remove orthodontic separators

• Remove ligature ties and archwires

• Use a light-curing device to cure materials

• Examine and seat removable appliances (post-adjustment by dentist); provide care instructions

• Isolate, etch, and prepare teeth for bonded attachments, brackets, aligner buttons, and orthodontic appliances

• Size, fit, and cement orthodontic bands

• Remove bands, brackets, and attachments; clean excess cement using hand instruments

  • Note: Any residual material must be removed by a supervising dentist or an RDAEF (licensed after Jan 1, 2010)

• Place and ligate archwires

• Use an ultrasonic scaler to remove excess supragingival cement (Included in our course)

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Upon Completion

After successfully completing all coursework and returning your completed clinical documentation, you'll receive your Orthodontic Assistant Certificate from California Dental Educators. You’ll then be eligible to apply for the California State Board Orthodontic Assistant Permit Exam.

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​​​​NOTE: You can only do OAP procedures when enrolled in a board approved OAP course during the 84 hours.

Students must be employed in an orthodontic office to complete the clinical portion of the course.

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