Answered by Libertarian
Just think of the work dental assistants do--they manipulate tools, clean teeth etc. How will you learn that in a distance ed course? Certain types of jobs can be learned by distance ed, others not. Since normal Dental Assistants are not certified by state authorities, it used to be a "learn-on-the-job" training, you do not have to worry about your certificate being accepted by other states. The key issue is, will a dentist in any state accept it after you graduate? Ask a few dentists to give you a honest answer before you sign. Concerning the school's honesty, I feel worried when they advertise Nurse Aide--in New York State, you can take the Nurse Aide exam only if you went to a licensed school that has an OBRA number--so their certificate would be literally worthless, since you would not be able to take the exam afterwards. Yet I get their flyers in the mail. Or take GED--they can only prep you for the GED exam, they can't issue the certificate. You can buy a prep book with test CD yourself. If you live in NYS, you'd be better off checking first with the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision at www.nysed.gov/bpss if the school is legit.