Dental Support
Types of Degrees Dental Support Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many dental support services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.
| Education Level | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate Certificate | 11,403 |
| Associate Degree | 7,002 |
| Basic Certificate | 4,139 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 2,397 |
| Master’s Degree | 95 |
| Graduate Certificate | 4 |
What Dental Support Majors Need to Know
In an O*NET survey, dental support majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.
Knowledge Areas for Dental Support Majors
This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Skills for Dental Support Majors
When studying dental support, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Abilities for Dental Support Majors
Dental Support majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
What Can You Do With a Dental Support Major?
Below is a list of occupations associated with dental support:
| Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Assistants | 19.5% | $38,660 |
| Dental Hygienists | 19.7% | $74,820 |
| Dental Laboratory Technicians | 14.4% | $40,440 |
| Health Specialties Professors | 25.9% | $97,370 |
Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Support?
Racial-Ethnic Diversity
At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of dental support majors is as follows:
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Asian | 196 |
| Black or African American | 108 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 410 |
| White | 1,491 |
| International Students | 28 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 164 |
Geographic Diversity
Dental Support appeals to people across the globe. About 1.2% of those with this major are international students.
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Dental Support
Some careers associated with dental support require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.
How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to dental support have obtained the following education levels.
| Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| Less than a High School Diploma | 2.5% |
| High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) | 12.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) | 23.9% |
| Some College Courses | 2.5% |
| Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 33.2% |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 10.9% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. | 0.2% |
| Master’s Degree | 6.0% |
| First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. | 1.7% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.2% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 3.2% |
Online Dental Support Programs
The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
| Degree Level | Colleges Offering Programs | Colleges Offering Online Classes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (1-2 years) | 500 | 3 |
| Certificate (2-4 Years) | 14 | 0 |
| Associate’s Degree | 445 | 7 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 1 | 1 |
| Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
| Master’s Degree | 20 | 4 |
| Post-Master’s | 3 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 0 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 0 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
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Majors Related to Dental Support
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to dental support.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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