President's Message
2025 ODAA Presidents Message
Happy New Year Oregon and Washington Dental Assistants!
Here we are going into 2025 with new and exciting career growth opportunities for the profession of dental assisting in Oregon. YAY! The Local Anesthesia Functions Certificate and new Oregon Board of Dentistry, Dental Practice Act, Division 42 Rule has been approved and is official:
Local Anesthesia Functions of Dental Assistants
(1) The Board shall issue a Local Anesthesia Functions Certificate (LAFC) to a dental assistant who holds an Oregon EFDA Certificate, and has successfully completed a Board approved curriculum from a program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association or other course of instruction approved by the Board.
(2) A dental assistant may administer local anesthetic agents and local anesthetic reversal agents under the indirect supervision of a licensed dentist. Local anesthetic reversal agents shall not be used on children less than 6 years of age or weighing less than 33 pounds.
Adding this function to the long list of skills and duties dental assistants are already able to perform will contribute to and improve access to care for Oregon dental patients. The opportunity to obtain education, training and certification for local anesthesia and restoration placement enhances the growth of the dental assisting profession. In addition, these new approved skills will contribute to the overall efficiency of dental procedures and can increase production. By obtaining this additional training and certification it will also be an incentive for dental assistant wage increases and provide addition career satisfaction. Along with providing quality, safe and efficient dental care this will benefit the recruitment and retention of dental assistants while helping to fill and maintain the shortage. It is an exciting time for sure!
It is important to note that dental practices have the choice of implementing these dental assistant functions. There are many Oregon dentists who will not feel it is necessary for dental assistants in their practice perform these skills. As always it is ultimately the decision and responsibility for licensed dentists to manage their practice how they wish. The opportunity for dental assistants to expand their knowledge and career is a conversation and important decision made by accessing the dental practice needs and the dentists’ philosophy.
ODAA continues to offer free virtual CE courses. Monica Emmons from Dentsply Sirona provided an excellent CE course Tuesday, January 7th at 6pm. For those that attended I am sure you learned new information regarding the “New Spin on Polishing”. It was super interesting and Monica is an amazing presenter. ODAA will have a recording of her course on the new ODAA YouTube channel soon. Monica is providing another course on Tuesday, January 21st at 6pm, “Intra-oral Radiology Tips”. Please join ODAA as this will be a great CE packed full of tips and tricks for that perfect image.
Bonnie Marshall continues to offer the “Pit & Fissure Sealant” and “Denture Reline” courses in a hybrid format for Oregon EFDA’s. Please contact Bonnie for more information and to register for this OBD Certificate approved course. mgrammabuns50@gmail.com
The 2025 Oregon Dental Conference is scheduled for April 3rd through 5th. ODAA will have a courtesy table as we have for many years where you can find ODAA members to connect with, catch up, answer questions and just have conversations regarding dental assisting. DANB and the DALE Foundation will also be present to provide answers to questions you might have regarding education, exams and certification.
ODAA is sponsoring 3 CE courses this year:
Friday morning, April 4th
Presenter: Karen Daw, "The OSHA Lady"
Presentation: Talking Dirty: An Informative and Enlightening Presentation around Infection Control for Employee and Patient Safety
Friday afternoon, April 4th
Presenter: Dr. David L. Carsten, DDS, MAGD, FPFS, FACD, FADI
Presentation: Empathy, Communication, and Leadership: Making Work and Life Better
Saturday morning, April 5th
Presenters: Sarah Stream, Ginny Jorgensen, and Jen Hawley Price
Presentation: RHS/ICE Review, OR-EFDA Review, and Overall explanation of DANB exams, DALE Foundation and products to help study
In addition, be looking for a fun ODAA event being planned for Friday, April 4th.
Early registration is open and ready for you to review what other courses will be available. ODAA looks forward to seeing you attend!
As you can see ODAA is busy with new active board members engaging in new and exciting social media posts on Facebook/Instagram and including a Student Spotlight Program. ODAA has an updated website that is filled with all kinds of Oregon dental assistant information. If you have a dental assistant question this is the place to go ODAA website. If you do not find the answer you are looking for, contact us at odaa@oregondentalassistants.com.
ODAA is excited for 2025 and is looking for dental assistants who want to become involved and more active with the dental assisting profession. If you are interested, have ideas you would like to share, education you would like to see offered and just provide input to how ODAA can support your dental assisting career, please reach out to us. We would love to hear your ideas.
Thank you all for your commitment to the amazing career of dental assisting and the special care you provide for your dental patients. You are awesome!
My Best,
Ginny Jorgensen, ODAA President
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Greetings Everyone,
As the summer begins to fade I hope you have all had an opportunity to enjoy the long days, warm weather and have some fun memories to add to your photo album
The fall is upon us and we are so excited to remind you that ODAA is joining the Oregon Association of Dental Labs (OADL) 2024 Conference on October 18th and 19th. I hope you have these dates on your calendar to attend. Registration will begin the 2nd week of September. We hope you will join us for the conference including a Happy Hour Social Event on Friday, October 18th from 4 to 5pm. This conference provides an opportunity to meet and learn with other dental assistants and lab techs. Members and non-members are encouraged to attend ODAA's first conference with Oregon dental lab techs. It's going to be fun! Please share with all your dental friends!
In addition, dental assistants are invited to attend the Oregon Dental Hygiene Association (ODHA) Conference scheduled for November 1st and 2nd. Several dental assistants are presenting which I think will be of interest to you. Also, there are other courses you will be interested in attending so be looking for the schedule and registration to be available soon. Working together and learning together builds a really strong team so take this opportunity to join your dental hygiene team members. ODAA will have a courtesy table so stop by to say hi and ask about our new dental assistant recruitment program.
The ODAA website and social media pages have a new fresh look including "How to become a Dental Assistant". We are super proud of this campaign to promote the dental assisting profession. Please make sure to visit the page where you will find links to postcards and posters to print and display in your dental offices. We need to get the "word out" on what a wonderful career dental assisting can be.
The dental assistant local anesthetic proposal has moved to a public hearing scheduled via Zoom on 9/24. This meeting is where there will be the opportunity to voice support for dental assistants to add another tier to our education and to provide another skill that supports dental practices and ultimately dental patient care. Check out the Oregon Board of Dentistry website for the Zoom link to be posted soon.
So many exciting happenings! It's a great time to be a dental assistant!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
My best to you.
Ginny Jorgensen, ODAA President
Greetings ODAA Members and Happy Spring!
ODAA wants to THANK YOU for continuing to support the dental assisting profession in Oregon. We look forward to having you become more involved with our activities and events so we would love to hear what you think ODAA can do to better serve you as your professional organization.
Here we are entering into the summer season after a successful 2024 Oregon Dental Conference in April. ODAA had the pleasure of welcoming over 120 dental assisting students, faculty and guests at a luncheon to celebrate the profession of dental assisting.
ODAA also sponsored two guest speakers at ODC on Friday, April 5th; Tija Hunter presented Documentation and the Dental Assistant and Jen Hawley-Price presented Celebrating Dental Superheroes; Dental Assisting and infection Control Coordinators. The speakers provided engaging, interactive presentations that were well-attended and received. Plans for ODC 2025 have already begun so please let us know what type of events, courses, etc. you would like to see ODAA sponsor.
Because dental assisting rules, regulations, exams and certificates are continuously changing and improving, we want you to be informed. Please take a moment to look through the Oregon Board of Dentistry meeting agenda packets that are linked here to see how many changes are involving dental assistants and how those changes may affect your career.
Mark your calendars for October 18th and 19th. ODAA is planning to join the Oregon Association of Dental Labs (OADL) 2024 Conference where there will be some excellent CE courses. This is a perfect opportunity for dental lab techs and assistants to meet, learn and socialize together. OADL has had a very successful conference for many years. Be looking for more information to come.
ODAA is here for YOU and would like to provide answers to questions you may have, provide certificate pathway guidance and to hear what ideas you might have for dental assistants in Oregon. We value your opinion and are always open for discussion and feedback regarding the dental assisting profession. Please reach out to me any time with your questions and/or comments.
My Best,
Ginny Jorgensen, ODAA President
Greetings Oregon Dental Assistants!
It is my pleasure to have been appointed as the Oregon Dental Assistants Association President on September 21, 2023. To all the ODAA current members and future members, I am excited to be a part of the Oregon dental assistant movement that started last winter when Oregon legislative bills were introduced that would have eliminated required education and certificate examinations. These bills were presented as a method to address the dental assistant shortage that all states are experiencing. However, as many of you know, there have been studies and data collected that proves this move would not reverse the shortage issue but would only exacerbate it.
Oregon is a progressive state with many feasible pathways to certificates that allow us to provide needed dental care to our patients. This is the foundation and the building blocks of our profession. It was heard “loud and clear” that Oregon dental assistants and dentists alike did not want the professional standing of a dental assisting to be diminished or reduced to “just a job”.
Coming together we were able to prevent these bills from being passed through legislation in their original form. However, there may be more challenges ahead and we need YOU to be a part of the ODAA alliance so we are better prepared for what we may face in the future.
For example, there is a new exciting proposal for Oregon dental assistants to be first in the nation to provide local anesthetic to dental patients after additional education and training. We want you to be aware of this and many other new opportunities that might enhance your profession as a dental assistant.
In addition to legislative preparation and activity, the ODAA has a wide variety of opportunities to help grow our coalition and come together. With the 2023/24 ODAA board, and some new committees being established, we have plans for change and to acknowledge there are new ways of communicating. Now that “virtual” has become a way of life, it has allowed us to be connected no matter how far from each other that we live. It is an opportunity to connect our dental communities, to help promote dental assisting as a viable career and profession, to support dentistry, and provide safe dental care for all Oregon patients.
Let’s be part of the change together! Join us to become involved in the ODAA mission “to promote the careers of dental professionals which will enable the working individual to provide quality patient care.”
May best to you all for a great fall and winter season. We look forward to hearing from you!
Ginny Jorgensen, ODAA President