Orange County Dental Careers

  Click Here For 2009 Testimonials

Click here for Pre Dental and Pre Hygiene students 

For live assistance phone 714.253.3204           or email us at dentalhand@gmail.com

                 Welcome to Dental Assisting     

A career in Dental Assisting is an exciting and challenging one. It is a job that is never the same from one day to the next. If you are a people person and enjoy meeting and helping people with their dental health care and making beautiful smiles, then this is the profession for you. This program is for those individuals wanting to enter the dental profession without giving up their present Monday through Friday job.

OCDC is a Clinical Dental Assisting School taught by a practicing Dentist and his assistant in a Dental Office that trains students to be Dental Auxiliaries in ten Saturdays. Our students graduate with California Dental Board  Radiology Certification click.                           

OCDC is in partnership with Saddleback College click 2010 catalog

OCDC is a registered  Academic Institution for the        U.S. Department of Defense click    

In 2009 we began our affiliation with the Huntington Beach  Adult School click 2009 catalog 

Our teaching credentials are issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing click 

Beware of Copy Cat Programs   The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education licenses California private postsecondary educational programs                                                 

If you need to keep your job but are interested in the Dental Profession we will train you quickly and efficiently in clinical dental assisting.  Learning is fun and much quicker when you train in a dental office from day one. This is a Dental Assisting School for motivated students that clinically instructs from day one. Graduate with State Certification in Dental Radiology, the only license needed to work as a Dental Assistant in California (coronal polishing is not required). After 6 months of work experience  one can be be certified as an orthodontic or anesthetic assistant; after 9 months you may sit for the CA R.D.A. exam. 

There are many dental assisting programs to choose from in this area.  If the school will not give you the cost of their program over the phone or in their literature, can you really trust them to provide you with a quality teaching program?  We are proud of the low cost of our program and will not waste your time teaching you subjects that do nothing more than inflate the program to 6 months as other schools do to justify a tuition that can be $18,000! Taking intra oral Digital X-Rays (and integrating these images with practice management systems), conventional X-Rays, Impressions, Model pouring and trimming, Splint fabrication and 4 Handed Dentistry are the primary skills students obtain after completing our program.                                                                  Click Here for Enrollment Forms               O.C.D.C. is a Ten Saturday Dental Assisting Program taught in an actual Dental Office, providing concurrent California certification in Dental Radiology. This permits immediate employment for our graduates before taking their State RDA Exam.                                                                            Program# 20769, issued February 2007 by the B.P.P.V.E./ California Department of Consumer Affairs: Click Here dca.ca.gov

Dental Radiography Certificate Program # X59, issued March 2008 by the  California Dental Board/ California Department of Consumer Affairs: CLICK HERE dbc.ca.gov

This x-ray requirement is mandated by the State of California for anyone operating dental radiographic equipment 

Dental Careers is the oldest and most experienced dental assisting program of it's kind in the country, originally founded in 1987 by my colleague Dr. Richard Erickson. Orange County Dental Careers is a unique 10 week program; our training methods have been tested and proven over a twenty three year period. I personally direct and teach this program along with my assistant of 22 years. For tuition and printable enrollment forms click here.

Dr. Eliades

   Nick Eliades, R.D.A.                 

" Dear Dr. Eliades and Nick, the crown fits perfectly. It looks very natural and lines up evenly with the gum line. But primarily I wanted to to say you are excellent instructors. I listened carefully while you spoke to the student as you cemented my crown. Both of you made sure she understood what you were saying. I also noticed how you positioned her when you were working in my mouth to make sure she viewed what you were doing. Both of you kept repositioning her to make sure she could see every step of the procedure. I was very impressed and I was the patient!"  A.Bloom, Costa Mesa June, 2009     

Use Dental Assisting as a step towards becoming a Hygienist or Dentist. Apply to Hygiene or Dental School with dental work experience, R.D.A. degree and a letter from your employing dentist; grades being equal who do you think would have the upper hand in the very competitive admissions process?

Following your training in this ten week course, you will have the confidence and skills necessary to apply for entry level dental assisting jobs. Along with your diploma and x-ray certification, we will provide a letter of recommendation and a summary of your training experience to those students with a 70% or above grade average for the course. You are trained with the most up to date and modern dental equipment which is integrated with digital technology.

Are you happy in your job? If not then do something about it!!

Fall Session      Starts             October 2nd

Sept. 2009 Graduate:"This class is a portal to modern dentistry. The lectures are always reinforced with clinical practice. I feel competent to enter the dental field."                            EC, Los Angeles, freshman Loma Linda Dental School class of 2014

June 2009 Graduate:" Thank you Dr. Eliades for your program, I love waking up in the morning for my new career."    NM, Irvine

Comments from graduates of our fall 2008 session: " I definitely would recommend the course. It exceeded my expectations. Very fun and informative with lots of hands on."                NS, Tujunga

" Very hands on, great for me. I read on my own time so I think this class was excellent."                  LH, Irvine    View videos of  x-ray training click here

8:30-12:00pm Morning lecture      1:00-5:00pm   "Hands  On Training"            5:00-6:00pm     Intern with the Dentist treating actual clinical patients (voluntary)

Separate Radiation Safety Certification for employees and interns of CA dental offices   Click here

Learn dental  radiology, arguably the most difficult skill for a dental assistant to obtain in a fraction of the time compared to other schools. We achieve this by utilizing digital x-ray technology available in the dental office, our school. Why  not obtain your State Radiology Certificate as you train? This saves our graduates $400 dollars and at least 32 hours.

Email Questions to: dentalhand@yahoo.com

Students master their skills in a fraction of the time compared to other programs. prerequisites go to SERVICES                                                       Enrollment is limited; all lectures, clinical work and examinations are held in one convenient location at the state of the art Dental Office of George Eliades, D.D.S. The office is on Beach Blvd. one block north of the 405 fwy. All instruction is presented by Dr. Eliades and Nick Eliades, R.D.A. This program utilizes modern technology in order to lower the learning curve such as Digital X-Ray imaging (filmless). Because producing x-ray images for patients is a major job requirement for dental assistants, it makes sense to learn it much more quickly with digital technology. Graduating our program with digital radiology skills provides our graduates with an advantage as they search for employment. You simply learn quicker in a dental office. Traditional, old fashioned techniques are not emphasized. Dr. Eliades has a passion for keeping up with modern dentistry and the curriculum at OCDC reflects this. Our primary goal is to teach you skills that are useful and what employers are looking for today. Traditional dental assisting programs are old fashion and boring, they  can not provide this level of training in such a short period of time; they do not have the resources to keep up with the continual changes in Dental technology.  We know what employers are looking for because we are a Working Dental Office! You can be working in a dental office immediately after completing our program!