How to Become a Dental Assistant in Montana

Who can apply

• Montana does not license dental assistants. The supervising dentist is responsible for making sure assistants are qualified.
• A dental auxiliary may work under direct supervision if trained in a CODA-accredited dental assisting program or instructed and trained by a licensed dentist.
• To take x-rays you must have graduated from a CODA-accredited dental assisting, dental hygiene or dentistry program, be certified in dental radiology through military experience, or pass a Board-approved radiology written exam.
• Assistants who hold DANB's Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification may work under general supervision for some tasks.

Step by step

1. Get hired by a Montana-licensed dentist, who trains you or confirms your CODA-accredited training.
2. Before taking x-rays, qualify through a CODA-accredited program, military radiology certification, or a Board-approved radiology written exam.
3. Keep proof of your radiology qualification at work; it must be available to the public or the Board on request.
4. Optional: earn DANB's CDA certification to work under general supervision for certain tasks.

Training and exam

Training: No state-approved course is required for basic assisting; a dental auxiliary may be trained by a licensed dentist or in a CODA-accredited dental assisting program. Taking x-rays requires one of: graduation from a CODA-accredited dental assisting, hygiene or dentistry program; dental radiology certification from military experience; or passing a Board-approved radiology written exam.

Exam: No exam is required for basic assisting. If you did not graduate from a CODA-accredited program and do not have military radiology certification, you must pass a Board-approved radiology written exam before taking x-rays. Neither the rule nor the Board's dental assistant page names the approved exam, so ask the Board which exam qualifies.

What it costs in Montana

Fixed amounts are set by the state. Items marked “your quote” are priced by private sellers, so enter what you’re quoted.

Good to know in Montana

Tasks under direct supervision: Under a dentist's direct supervision, an auxiliary may take x-rays (if qualified), monitor and adjust nitrous oxide the dentist prescribed, take impressions for study or working casts, remove sutures, apply topical anesthetic and fluoride, place and remove rubber dams and matrices, polish amalgams, place temporary restorations with hand instruments, place sealants, and do coronal polishing and sodium bicarbonate air polishing. All intraoral procedures by auxiliaries need direct supervision unless you are a CDA.

Certified Dental Assistants: Since 2019, a dental auxiliary with DANB's CDA certification may work under general supervision. A CDA may expose x-rays and place sealants (within 30 days after an in-person exam) under general supervision, but still needs direct supervision for nitrous oxide, silver diamine fluoride, rubber dams, matrices, polishing amalgams and topical anesthetic.

Never allowed: No auxiliary, including a CDA, may give or dispense any drug without the supervising dentist's prior authorization, give injections or local anesthetic, place or carve permanent restorations, take final impressions for crowns, bridges or dentures, cement fixed prostheses (except provisionals), bond activating orthodontic appliances, place sulcular medicinal or therapeutic materials, do periodontal probing, or do metal-based air polishing.

Sources

• Montana Board of Dentistry - Dental Assistant
• Mont. Admin. r. 24.138.406 - Functions for Dental Auxiliaries and Auxiliaries Who Hold Dental Assistant Certification (Cornell LII)
• MCA 37-4-408 - Auxiliary personnel: employment, duties, and limitations