Washtenaw Community College

Ann Arbor, Michigan

For more than 30 years, the U–M School of Dentistry and Washtenaw Community College have been involved in a collaborative venture with dental students and dental assisting students from WCC. This typically occurs during the winter term, from early February to mid April, when dental students travel to the dental clinic at WCC.

“Both third–year dental students and dental assisting students gain some of their first experiences using the concepts and skills of four–handed dentistry at our clinic,” says Deidre Green, clinical instructor in the dental assisting program at WCC.

With four treatment rooms, three for clinical procedures and one for radiology, the dental students and dental assisting students gain proficiency in oral exams, prophylaxis, radiography, simple amalgam and composite restorations, sealants, and fluoride treatments.

“The third–year dental students perform all of these procedures and are supervised by a dentist licensed by the Michigan Board of Dentistry,” Green says. “Our dental assisting students assist the D3s in chairside four–handed dentistry. Typically, they see two patients in the morning and two in the afternoon.”