Continuing Dental Education (CDE) Courses

All certified and/or registered dental assistants (CDAcertificants and RDAs) in NJ are required to obtain CDE credit hours as part of the renewal process. CDEs are also often referred to as CEUs (continuing education units). Click here to learn more about the requirements to maintain and renew your dental assisting credentials (dental x-ray license, CDA certificate, and RDA license).

In order to receive your CDE credits and a certificate of completion for a home study course you must successfully pass a brief test at the end of the course. Tests are not timed and not designed to be difficult, but simply to assure that you have read through the material. All answers are in the course material provided. If necessary you may be given a second opportunity to retake the test. Upon completion of the course and receipt of your passing test you will be issued a certificate of completion (also called a credit sheet) by DAS. Note: If you are audited by DANB you will need to provide them with your ‘credit sheet’.

In New Jersey, there is no limit on the number of home study courses you can take in renewing your CDAcertification. However there is a limit of 5 home study credits per renewal period for your RDA license. Since you have to renew your RDA every other year and can use the same credits for both your CDA certificate and RDA license renewals you’ll end up having to take 24 CDE credits (for your CDA certificate alone) every two years. Only five of those 24 credits must be taken as live courses to meet the biannual RDA renewal requirements.

These courses may also apply towards your continuing education requirements if you are a dental hygienist or a dental assistant/hygienist from a state other than NJ. Please check with your respective credentialing board in advance as we cannot guarantee which credentialing bodies will and will not accept these courses.

Below is a list of all our CDE courses.

At Dental Assistant Services we offer these courses as home study courses. 

You can purchase all home study courses by mail or prepay by PayPal®.

Infection Control - OMG! and BBP

(With a closer look into MRSA)
$100
  • Author: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 3 hours
  • This course is designed as a review of Infection Control and Blood Borne Pathogens. As per DANB requirements, at least 2 out of 12 continuing education credits per year must be in Infection Control and 1 credit on BBP. This home study course is intended to help fulfill that requirement. You may appreciate that it is a lighter course than most of the courses we run.
  • Note: This course can be applied towards both CDA and RDA credit requirements.
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Infection Control - OMG! and BBP Supplement

$50
  • Author: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 3 hours
  • We have had many requests for additional infection control with Blood Born Pathogens courses to accomplish the DANB credit renewal requirement. DAS now has a supplement. Using the original OMG! – BBP course content with the additional supplemental information and the required test with q uestions from both sections thereby establishing that the individual is still current in their knowledge of the subject.
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OMG AND BBP COURSE #3 WITH A CLOSER LOOK COVID 19

OMG AND BBP COURSE #3 WITH A CLOSER LOOK COVID19

$130
  • AUTHOR: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • FORMAT: Home Study
  • CREDITS: 8 credits
  • This course is designed as a review of infection control and bloodborne pathogens. DANB requires that of the 12 credit renewal 3 must be on Infection control and bloodborne pathogens. This OMG and BBP is course number 3 in our series. The course takes a look into Covid-19, the pandemic, and the resulting changes to the dental field. Because there was so much information to present the credit value meets the DANB requirements but gives you more than the 3 minimum.
  • Note: You can use these credits for CDA and RDA.
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OMG AND BBP COURSE #4 SUPPLEMENT TO COURSE #3

OMG AND BBP COURSE #4 SUPPLEMENT TO COURSE #3

$65
  • AUTHOR: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • FORMAT: Home Study
  • CREDITS: 4 credits
  • This is course 4 in our OMG and BBP series. This course is designed as a supplement to OMG and BBP 3. Using the course # 3 book, which you would have already purchased, and with the additional information presented in this course, you will take the required quiz created from both courses and once again you will accomplish your required 2 credits infection control and 1 credit bloodborne pathogens. Additional information brings your total credit value for this course to 4 credits.
  • Note: You can use these credits for CDA and RDA
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OMG AND BBP COURSE #4 UP-DATE

SUPPLEMENT COURSE #4
$30
  • Author: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 3 Credits
  • This is an up-date to Course 4 in our OMG and BBP series. Uising the OMG & BBP course #4 book which you have already purchased.
  • We are evaluating your knowledge and your follow through of all infection control procedures.
  • A quick at the end will accomplish DNB requirements.
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The Dental Diet

$110
  • Author: Mark Scarola
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 4 hours
  • The Dental Diet: Are the Healthiest Foods for Your Body the Healthiest for Your Teeth?
  • We’ve all heard that fruits and vegetables are good for our bodies. But are those same fruits and vegetables the best choices for your dental health? Are sugary snacks as bad for your teeth as we assume? Is it better to drink tea in the morning than coffee?
  • Whenever you consume foods and drinks you do so orally, which means that they must travel through your mouth and past your teeth. As this course explains, what’s good for the body may not necessarily be good for the teeth. Specific vitamins, supplements, acid levels, and some alternative oral therapies are also discussed.
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Holistic Dentistry: What is it?

$90
  • Author: Mark Scarola
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 3 hours
  • Holistic medicine is gaining in popularity and whether you agree with it or not, you’re likely to run into others touting its benefits. This course is designed to provide an overview of what holistic dentistry is about. It is not written in a way that berates the traditional, western healthcare system, but rather in a way that explains how the two approaches compare. Some of the specific topics covered in the course include nutrition, the fluoridation of public water, amalgam fillings, and root canals.
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Understanding the Apprehensive Patient

$90
  • Author: Mark Scarola
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 3 hours
  • Studies have reported that as many as 80% of adults in the United States are apprehensive about receiving dental treatment, with 5-10% of adults avoiding dental treatment entirely, simply because of fear. This apprehension can cause patients potentially severe levels of both stress and anxiety. It can also lead to patients risking their dental and physical health, not showing up for their scheduled appointments, and more challenging/ longer appointments if and when they do show up.
  • In this course, students are encouraged to develop greater levels of empathy and understanding for their patients and to experience the dental procedure as their patient would. Students are taught simple and specific techniques to help reduce patient anxiety in both children and adults.
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Managing Stress in the Dental Office

$30
  • Author: Mark Scarola
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 1 hour
  • In an ideal world we would all be stress free. Unfortunately, we are subject to daily stress in both our professional and our personal lives. This course discusses personality characteristics and how they relate to our understanding of stress. It expands upon strategies that people regularly employ for dealing with stress. These strategies are then applied to some of the specific stressors found in a dental office. The course ends with a list of over twenty specific stress reducing techniques.
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OSHA Regulations

$110
  • Author: Gail Scarola-Villanueva
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 4 hours
  • This course lists over 50 items and reviews all the requirements necessary to help make your office OSHA complaint. Students will receive a “check list” of requirements and updates that need to be made to your office’s infection control training manual to meet current OSHA standards. You will also need (purchased separately) an updated infection control training manual which will help you meet those requirements. Note: If you currently have a Infection Control Manual you can update it yourself.
  • Note: an Infection Control Manual is required by OSHA.
  • Additionally, the program will cover the current CDC guidelines, as required by the NJ State Board of Dentistry. Copies of the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and the Hazardous Communications Standard are included.
  • This course is an opportunity for an individual to meet the annual training and updating session requirements set by OSHA.  
  • While it provides the annual training and updating requirement set by OSHA, it may also be taken simply for the CDE credits (if for example you are not currently employed at an office). In other words, you’ll meet the OSHA requirement and earn 4 clinical CDE hours even if you’re only after one or the other.
  • This course is not the same as our Infection Control course designed to help people work towards obtaining a CDA certificate, which can also be taken for 20 clinical CDE hours.
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Abuse and Neglect in the Dental Office

$60
  • Author: Mark Scarola
  • Format: Home study
  • Credits: 2 hours
  • This course reviews the concepts of abuse and neglect. It describes and discusses child abuse, elder abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. It reveals signs that you may observe in dental patients who may be in an abusive or neglectful relationship. It then discusses what you should and should not do when faced with a patient who you believe may be in such a relationship.
  • The course further reviews employment issues and background check practices as related to abuse and neglect. Finally, it discusses the issue of reporting possible incidences of abuse or neglect. This includes how to make a report as well as what can and should be reported.
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Question:
 Are these approved courses?

Answer:
DANB approval for CDE courses is no longer done in advance. The Board has decided that while approved CDE courses will still be required, they will no longer pre-approve such courses for those who provide them. Click here for more details, including what you can do to assure you’re taking courses that will be counted in the event that you’re ever audited.

 

Registration & Payment Options:

All home study CDE courses may be purchased in one of two ways as explained below.  

  1. Complete a registration form that you can print out and mail in with a personal check or money order.
  2. Purchase online through PayPal using a credit card or PayPal account. You do not need to already have a PayPal account or register for one in order to buy online. Â