By Nancy Edwards
Move over, dental hygienists—dental assistants are in demand, have a variety of career options to choose from and are moving up in the pay scale.
An additional benefit? A newly upgraded and fully accredited training facility through the Indiana State Department of Health is located just a few minutes away.
Dental Office Training by Lynn, located at 9780 Lantern Rd., Suite. 210, offers more than 250 hours of instructional and hands-on experience for those interested in a career as a dental assistant, combined with observation and practice in top dental offices throughout the state.
Lynn Uptgraft, licensed dental hygienist and founder of the dental training center, explained that while a career as a dental hygienist used to be a “big fad; the market was flooded” with competition, and now the pay scale for these positions has gone down.
“Dental assistants are on their way up,” she said. “They’re almost making what (dental hygienists) make.”
Uptgraft stated that assistants typically start between $12 and $15 an hour. Job duties include sterilizing and maintaining equipment, working in the office’s lab and placing fillings and restorations for patients. Those who look predictability in a job may choose to assist with root canals at an endodontist’s office, while others may prefer a more sociable, fast-paced job at an orthodontist’s office.
Uptgraft made the decision to open her own dental training school after the dental office where she worked at the time began hiring office temps. Although the temporary workers had formal, expensive school training, some “did not know what a mouth mirror was,” Uptgraft said.
Dental Office Training by Lynn began and continued for nearly eight years in a one-room suite. In October 2014, Uptgraft and Denise McDonald, clinical director and expanded functions dental assistant, opened the new suite, which houses separate rooms for labs, where students can practice their skills, a classroom for lecture, a separate area for software training and a “patient” room with chairs designed like a real dental office.
Students also have real-life training and observation at various dental offices, which helps them feel more secure in their field and understand what type of office structure they prefer when they are ready for their first job.
“We are really hands-on,” Uptgraft said. “Before (the students’) first job, they’re prepared and were confident in what they are doing.
