Dental assistants

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About dental assistants

Dental assistants are regulated health professionals who provide high-quality oral care to patients. They may work with dentists, hygienists and dental therapists autonomously and in four-handed dentistry during the examination and treatment of patients. The dental assistant is responsible for ensuring that the process and practice of infection control is conducted to accepted professional standards.Reference1

Dental assistants practise in dental offices and labs (general and specialty), but they may be employed by governments, community health centres, clinics, private care homes and educational institutions. 

CIHI collects high-level, standardized information on more than 30 groups of health care professionals in Canada. This includes information on their supply, distribution, demographics and regulatory environment. To find out more about CIHI’s health workforce data, visit the Health Workforce Database metadata page.

Learn more about dental assistants in our recent release on Health workforce in Canada: Overview.