A little bit about us
NWASDA is a fully licensed dental assistant school
The job opportunities for trained dental assistants are numerous in today’s marketplace with excellent starting salaries. Our student’s have reported back that they have started from $14 to $17 an hour. While no one can guarantee job placement, the dental profession is currently facing a shortage of trained dental assistants. Following your training at NWASDA you will have the confidence and the skills necessary to apply for these positions. We give you the training to hit the ground running with the best chance at success! We really do strive to have a very professional, but fun and educational training environment and our previous student’s success proves it.
We offer our 10 week course three times a year; spring, fall and winter. Our hours are from 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m., with a half-hour lunch break and two 10-minute breaks. The following subjects are covered in depth from both a didactic and a practical clinical experience. The morning lecture is followed by an afternoon of clinical “hands-on” training in dental procedures, operation of equipment, instrumentation and materials used. Upon graduation you will be a registered Dental Assistant in the state of Arkansas!
Our Dental Assistant course is designed to give the student maximum “hands-on” training and experience in an actual dental office with an additional large classroom using mannequins, each other (for live feedback) and real patients. The teaching is stimulating, fast-paced, and relies heavily on individual participation. There will be an instructor per group of 8 students. This insures personal attention and a worthwhile learning experience. A syllabus containing notes on lecture material as well as an excellent textbook and handouts are provided so as to heighten the classroom experience and eliminate the fatigue of a lot of note taking.
A career of helping people improve their dental health will be rewarding and enormously satisfying for you. No two days will ever be the same and your job will renew itself. It is a career that will always be in demand and in need of capable, trained and caring Dental Assistants. Becoming a Dental Assistant can be the first step on a career path leading to a Dental Hygienist or a Dentist!
Ann Nguyen, RDH/RDA – Director
Ann is an Arkansas native, born in Fort Smith. She moved to Little Rock in 2003. She received her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2005.
Ann has been a registered dental hygienist with Aebersold Family Dentistry since 2006. She strives to serve patients by promoting health and wellness through the provision of dental hygiene care.
For years, Ann has also been a dental assisting instructor and has developed a passion for teaching new assistants everything they need to know to be successful in the dental field. This is why in 2018 she decided to become the director of NWASDA to cater to the needs of students in Northwest Arkansas.
Ann’s interests include traveling, keeping active at the gym and hanging out with her family.
Megan Jackson, RDA – instructor
Local of Fayetteville, AR became a member of our Northwest Arkansas Dental Assisting team in 2020. Megan attended college at Northwest Arkansas Community College, where afterwards she started working for two doctors in general dentistry going on 6 years now! She knew at the age of 12 that she wanted to be in the dental field and found a huge passion for it once assisting. She loves being a dental assistant and helping her patients achieve the smile they want and deserve.
She finds the satisfaction of her patients to be rewarding and would like to share such moments with her future dental assistant students. Going above and beyond she will strive to make each and everyone of them the best assistant they can possibly be. Outside of the dental world, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, baking and spending time with her familly.