Career Pathway from Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary (EFDA)
to
Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) Dental Hygiene Program
Once an EFDA has graduated from an EFDA program that is administered by a CODA Accredited Allied Dental Program (Dental Assisting or Dental Hygiene) is seeking entrance into the SCCC Dental Hygiene Program and is licensed in the State of Washington, the EFDA graduate will need to take all of the dental hygiene prerequisites and pass all courses with a grade of 2.5 or higher. At this point the EFDA applicant is given two options on a guaranteed entrance date into the Dental Hygiene Program. All prerequisites must be taken in the last five years counting from the time you took the course, till the day you apply to the EFDA program. (See the worksheet.)
The first option is to set a date in the future to enter the Dental Hygiene Program, thus enabling the applicant to work while taking the prepackaged dental hygiene online courses listed below:
1. Dental Anatomy* (Root portion only since the Coronal portion was taken in our EFDA program. This course is a self-support course.)
2. Oral Biology
3. Human Pathophysiology
4. Pharmacology
5. Oral Pathology
6. Ethics & Jurisprudence.
The two sequential courses of Dental Radiology must be either challenged through advanced standing or the student must enroll in them. Advanced standing is accomplished through testing to make sure that the student has the correct level of knowledge in Dental Radiology to pass the Dental Hygiene National Boards.
These courses would be taken while working as an EFDA and thus reducing the amount of work needed when entering the dental hygiene program by 36 credits from the 122 required credits. Therefore the Dental Hygiene Program would be 86 credits for the EFDA student entering into dental hygiene. That is a reduction of just over 30% of the curriculum. This student would be able to work as an EFDA while attending SCCC’s Dental Hygiene Program. This EFDA student benefits in another way. This student has excellent hand skills and mastery using a mirror. The clinic instruction would be learning to transfer those skills to periodontal debridement.
Courses that are omitted with Option 1 (after taking the online courses listed above) in the Dental Hygiene Program:
1. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials I
2. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials II
3. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials III
4. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials IV
5. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials V
6. Restorative Practice and Dental Materials VI
7. Radiology I (with Advanced Standing)
8. Radiology II (with Advanced Standing).
In the second option, the EFDA student enters the Dental Hygiene Program on the agreed scheduled date of entry with a guaranteed spot without taking the above mentioned courses. Thus, this option would only reduce the dental hygiene curriculum by eliminating the restorative courses. With this option, working outside the program might be significantly diminished.
The program would be reduced by only 19 credits, thus only 15% of the program would be eliminated. This student will also need to take the online Dental Anatomy (root portion course) and apply for advanced standing in the two Dental Radiology course series.
Both these options create an exciting new career pathway from dental assisting to expanded function dental auxiliary into the career of dental hygiene.