How much does Dental Assistant get paid in the Bay Area/California & is it a good career choice….?
My best friend went to school for dental assisting. She was very excited about it, but now that she has a job in the field she really hates it. Oftentimes, DA is a transition job – for ex., students waiting to get into a dental hygiene program may take classes for DA and find a job in a dentist’s office just to be working in the field while they wait. The pay is not great – $11-15/hour. This is because you don’t *need* a certificate to work as a DA, you can be trained on the job. The exception to this is those DAs working in an orthodontic office – they do more independent, hands-on work, and make more money. But you have to make sure your program will give you ortho experience, b/c they often do not train on the job. And I have to correct Big Al… “..the dental hygienist that works in her office makes twice as much money and has an easier job.” -Dental hygienists have a much more specific skill-set than d. assistants, a much larger knowledge-base, and more responsibility. If DA was s
