Dental assistants are found mainly in private practices, however there are also employment opportunities found in hospitals, long term care facilities, correctional facilities, regional health units, colleges and universities, and the Royal Canadian Dental Corps.
In 2021, the Canadian National Occupational Classification defined the duties of dental assistants to include: preparing patients for dental examination and assisting the dentists during examinations and dental treatments, sterilizing and maintaining instruments and equipment, preparing dental instruments, fillings compounds and various dental materials as well as taking and developing x-rays. Dental assistants may also polish teeth and clinical crowns, apply fluoride and sealant,take preliminary impressions for diagnostic casts and educate patients concerning oral hygiene.
Dental assistants who have successfully passed the NDAEB (National Dental Assisting Examining Board) exam are qualified to perform intra-oral duties such as removing sutures, taking and recording vital signs, applying desensitizing agents, topical anaesthetic, anticariogenic agents and coronal whitening, fabricating, placing, and removing temporary crowns and restorations, and applying and removing rubber dams, pulp vitality testing as well as periodontal screening and recording.
It is also common for dental assistants to perform clerical duties such as preparing invoices, processing payments, scheduling patient appointments, recording dental procedures performed and ordering dental and office supplies.
In most jurisdictions, dental assistants require completion of an eight-month to one-year college or other program in dental assistance. Registration with a regulatory body is required in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan.