November 28, 2001
Class gives reason to smile
NMC dental program provides free X-rays
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Lucky to have a very patient mother, Kim Pinney completed more than an hour of hands-on practice last Wednesday during her Dental Radiography lab.
A first-year student in the Dental Assistant program at Northwestern Michigan College, Pinney and her mom, Pat, came down from East Jordan for a full set of free dental X-rays.
For more than an hour, Kim meticulously positioned film after film in her mother's mouth, under the watchful eye of Sallie Donovan, director of the program. Donovan coached Pinney and the three other students getting lab time that day on how to position the film and X-ray, plus how to develop and mount exposed film.
Hoping to complete the certificate program by spring, Pinney started this fall after being laid off from her job in East Jordan. She did not regret the layoff since she received some money to help with retraining costs.
"This program is what I wanted to do," Pinney said. "There are a lot of openings in dental offices in the Petoskey, Charlevoix and East Jordan area."
Pinney is one of 27 students in the Dental Assistant program, which has been offered at NMC since 1963. The program has been accredited with the American Dental Association since 1974.
Students need at least a high school diploma or a GED certificate to enroll. Classes are grouped to allow completion within one year, which includes a summer semester of practical experience in a dental office.
A dental assistant is sort of a jack-of-all-trades in a dental office. Once they complete a certificate program, a dental assistant can work in all areas of a dental office except dental hygiene. They can help the dentist with procedures, take and develop X-rays, work in the front office and complete other lab work.
Donovan also noted that dental assistant's licenses in Michigan allow them to place sealants on children's teeth and prepare and place temporary fillings.
Besides their versatility, dental assistants are in high demand.
"There's a very high need, we are unable to keep up with the demand and that's been the case for years," said Donovan, who graduated from the program herself and has been its director for 23 years. "We need to make people aware that we exist and that this is a viable career option."
A starting salary approaching $12 per hour led Angie Day of Traverse City to enroll in the program this fall. Fifteen years ago, she worked in dental offices downstate doing much of what a dental assistant does.
After living overseas for years while her husband served in the military, Day settled in Traverse City recently and began looking for work. When she discovered that general office work paid much less, she signed up for the Dental Assistant program to get a certificate and update her skills.
"I think it is a very good career, there's a lot of variety, you are not stuck doing the same thing," Day said. "It is always interesting."
Donovan said another benefit to being a dental assistant is that the positions have flexible hours. Many of her graduates work part time or flex time and do not have to work nights or evenings like other allied health professionals.
"Many of them are non-traditional students, mothers who have children in school," Donovan said.
The program offers free X-rays in their lab to the public each fall, hoping to draw in mouths for them to practice on. Students do not evaluate or diagnose from the X-rays, Donovan noted. Instead, they mail the finished results to the patient's dentist.
The free aspect of the X-rays drew Fran Adams of Alden to the dental assistant lab Wednesday afternoon. Not having health insurance, Adams said her dentist office recommended she come here for her X-rays to save some money.
"Most offices don't do 18 films," Adams said. "I feel really good about this, like I'm getting a good looksie at my teeth."