Dental Office Assistant Diploma Program

Medicine, like other professions, has its own language. Students will learn to work with the specialized terminology of medicine, including the pronunciation and spelling of terms to describe medical circumstances and situations. Students will learn through descriptions, illustrations, and exercises to identify the major anatomical features and systems of the body and the common pathologies, which can adversely affect these systems. This foundational knowledge is essential for a dental office assistant to communicate effectively with the clinical team.

In this course, students embark on a culminating journey to integrate and apply skills acquired throughout their program. The course primarily focuses on resume building, interview techniques, and strategies for successful integration into the dental workforce, ensuring every graduate of this dental office assistant course is ready for the Canadian job market.

Students begin this course with an introduction to ethics and protecting the privacy of dental clients. This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to maintain patient records. Topics will include patient registration, health history forms, records retention, and records transfer. Students will learn symbols and abbreviations used in clinical charts and practice entering existing conditions and recording treatment procedures on a clinical chart, a key duty for any dental administrative assistant.

This course presents complete and accurate coverage of the basic skills needed to perform effectively as a dental office manager and will provide students with the knowledge and skills related to dental reception procedures. Topics will include the daily routines and tasks of an office, telephone, developing client communication skills, and the basic steps in filing. Students will practice appointment management and establish continuing-care systems. This course will also teach students various formatting styles for written communication, inventory systems, and time management. Other topics include becoming familiar with dental specialties and becoming acquainted with types of drugs commonly prescribed in a dental office, preparing the student to be a highly efficient dental office administrator.

Students are introduced to dental software packages commonly used in offices and facilities. The software functions include patient registration, appointment booking, billing, reconciliations, and records management. The course also describes the various reports used in dental office bookkeeping in a computerized system.

This course will teach students how to perform all tasks associated with basic office bookkeeping. Students will learn financial systems used in a dental office including accounts receivable and accounts payable. The course also covers establishing financial arrangements, payrolls basics, petty cash, debit and credit transactions, daily banking, and bank reconciliation. Other topics include marketing the dental practice.

Learning basic communication skills, especially relating to the medical field, will assist students in dealing with all patients. Understanding cultural differences and encouraging diversity can add a new dimension and safer patient healthcare delivery to the medical office, allowing a positive experience for everyone.

This course is designed to navigate the complex landscape of ethical considerations and confidentiality standards in dental practice. Students will explore legal and regulatory frameworks governing patient confidentiality. Through case studies and interactive discussions, students will develop the skills needed to address ethical dilemmas and ensure the protection of patient privacy in a dental office setting.

In the second level of the course, students will learn the medical language, including: Urology—the urinary system; Endocrinology—the endocrine system; Neurology—the nervous system; Otolaryngology—the special senses (ear and eye); Gynecology and Obstetrics—the female reproductive systems; and Genitourinary—the male reproductive system.

Relying heavily on a hands-on practical training approach, students learn by doing skills-based simulations, training, and assessments in Microsoft Excel. The course starts with an overview of spreadsheets and how to use the common features and functions of Microsoft Excel. The course then focuses on the core features of Microsoft Excel where students learn how to enter and format data and use the various functions and formulas to manage and manipulate data. The course continues with more advanced topics such as performing quantitative analysis with logical, lookup, and various mathematical and financial functions. Depicting data visually is an important feature of Excel. Students will learn how to work with charts in Excel to produce a variety of different charts based on data housed in a spreadsheet. Finally, students will learn to handle large volumes of data with datasets and tables.

This course presents the MS Outlook application interface, tools, and features. You will learn about the fundamentals of email application, scheduling, calendars, contact lists, creating, forwarding and managing messages. This course relies heavily on hands-on activities that allow you to learn concepts by practicing them on a regular basis.

This course introduces students to word processing with Microsoft Word. Relying heavily on a practical training approach, students learn by doing skills-based simulations, training and assessments. Learners will focus on the core features of Microsoft Word such as proper document formatting, organization and editing using the tools and features of the ribbon. The course will then continue with more advanced topics such as working with tables, lists, objects, templates, footnotes, endnotes, and mail merges. Students will also explore the collaboration features that allow users to share and collaborate on documents through the use of track changes, sharing and reviewing.

This Introduction to PowerPoint training class is designed for students who are interested in learning the fundamentals needed to create and modify basic presentations using Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Students will explore the PowerPoint environment and create a presentation by formatting text on slides to enhance clarity and add graphical objects to a presentation and modify them. Students will also add tables and charts to a presentation in order to present data in a structured form and then finalize a presentation.

In this program, you will develop a robust technical toolkit designed for the modern dental environment. You will master specialized dental terminology, anatomy, and pathology to communicate accurately with clinical teams, while gaining hands-on proficiency in industry-standard dental software for appointment booking and electronic health records management. The curriculum also builds expert skills in clinical charting, patient privacy compliance, and complex financial systems, including accounts receivable, payroll, and insurance reconciliation. Finally, you will refine essential administrative procedures such as inventory control, professional telephone etiquette, and career-readiness strategies to ensure a smooth transition into the dental workforce.

Graduates of this program are equipped to step into a variety of essential roles within the dental industry, ranging from frontline patient care to high-level practice management. As a Dental Office Receptionist, you will serve as the face of the clinic, managing patient check-ins and first impressions, while a Dental Office Administrator takes a deeper dive into the operational side, handling insurance claims and complex billing cycles. For those interested in team leadership, the role of Clinic Coordinator involves synchronizing the schedules of diverse specialists to optimize patient flow, while a Dental Office Manager oversees the entire business operation, from staff supervision and financial reporting to strategic growth. These pathways provide a clear trajectory from entry-level coordination to senior administrative leadership.

The duration of this program is 54 weeks.

The tuition fee for domestic students is $27,000, and the fee for international students is $29,700. The fee for textbooks is $1,470 for both domestic and international students.

No, this program does not have a practicum.