Dental Assistants and Dental Laboratory Assistants
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Job description
These individuals contribute to the provision of dental care by assisting the Dentist during dental examinations and treatments. They work in:
- Dental offices
- Community health centres
- Dental clinics
- Educational institutions
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Equipment, machinery, tools
- Biological agents
- Radiation
Main tasks
- Prepare clients for dental examinations by the dentist.
- Disinfect and set up the treatment room.
- Prepare dental equipment needed for various treatments.
- Order dental and office supplies.
- Assist the Dentist when taking X-rays.
- Polish the coronal part of the teeth and apply fluoride and sealant.
- Assist the Dentist when taking impressions.
- Fabricate crowns and temporary restorations.
- Educate customers about dental hygiene.
Dental Laboratory Assistants:
- Prepare plaster models and moulds from dental impressions.
- Prepare occlusal wax and impression trays.
- Cast gold or metal alloys for bridges and denture bases.
- Dab plastics into moulds to form full or partial dentures.
- Cast wax on prosthesis plates to form the contour of artificial gums.
- Finalize the metal frame of dental prostheses.
Hourly wage
The hourly wage is calculated by averaging wages from 2022 to 2024.- Minimum
- $21.00
- Median
- $24.25
- Maximum
- $29.11
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Les 2 champs de sélection ci-dessous vous permettent de comparer 2 régions. Les données des régions seront automatiquement mises à jour à la sélection. Par défaut, la province de Québec est sélectionnée pour la première région.
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Job prospects
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Good
All of Québec
Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available
Total jobs for 2023
All of Québec
7,000
All of Québec
na
Gender distribution
All of Québec
Not available.
- 94.7% Female
- 5.3% Male
Not available.
- 94.7% Female
- 5.3% Male
Job types
All of Québec
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Not available.
- Full time
- Part time
Yearly wage on 2020
All of Québec
$32,000
All of Québec
Other characteristics
All of Québec
- None
All of Québec
- None
Sectors of activity
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 621, 622, 62384% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 452% of jobs
-
NAICS 612% of jobs
-
NAICS 3392% of jobs
-
NAICS 911% of jobs
-
Others9% of jobs
All of Québec
Not available.
-
NAICS 621, 622, 62384% of jobs
-
NAICS 44, 452% of jobs
-
NAICS 612% of jobs
-
NAICS 3392% of jobs
-
NAICS 911% of jobs
-
Others9% of jobs
Training and requirements
Formation
Most training programs are offered in French only.
Secondary
DVS in assistance dentaire
Code : 5144
Placement rate: 82.3%
9.6% of graduates pursue further studies
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Time management
- Active listening
- Coordination
- Oral expression
- Information processing
- Mathematics
- Learning strategies
- Reading comprehension
- Service oriented
- Critical thought
- Active learning
- Result evaluation
- Social perception
Abilities
- Oral comprehension
- Verbal skills
- Speech recognition
- Near vision
- Written comprehension
- Speech clarity
- Written expression
- Deductive reasoning
- Inductive reasoning
- Hand-arm stability
- Digital dexterity
- Information organization
- Awareness of issues
- Selective attention
- Classification
- Manual dexterity
- Control accuracy
Knowledge and attributes
- Autonomy
- Sense of responsibility
- Spoken and written bilingualism (French and English)
- Knowledge of customer and personalized services
- Capacity to work in a team
- Sense of initiative
- Attention to detail
- Vitality
- Respect standards and regulations
- Sense of observation
- Knowledge of medicine or dentistry
Interests
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
- Artistic
- People with this profile prefer to express their emotions and thoughts through various art forms. They like to use their imagination.
- Investigative
- People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
Official name of the NOC 33100
Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
Job titles
- Dental assistant
- Dental clinical assistant
- Preventive dental assistant
- Intra-oral dental assistant
- Chair-side assistant - dental
- Dental aide
- Dental laboratory assistant
- Certified dental assistant
- Certified intra-oral dental assistant
- Licensed dental assistant
- Orthodontic band maker
- Occlusion rim former - dentures
- Denture trimmer-polisher
- Denture framework finisher
- Denture finisher
- Ceramic denture mechanic
- Denture wax pattern former
- Denture packer
- Denture setter
- Plaster moulder - dentures
- Denture bench moulder
- Ceramic denture caster
Skill type
Health
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Last update: January 29, 2026
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