HIGHRegulatoryTier 1
Washington Opens Dental Assisting Careers to 16- and 17-Year-Olds
SourceDecisions in DentistryTier 1Clinical & Visual
By Kristen Pratt Machado
Originally at decisionsindentistry.com
Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.
Why it matters for dental
Washington practice owners and DSOs now have a legal pathway to hire 16- and 17-year-olds as registered dental assistants, expanding the labor pool and potentially lowering wage costs for high-turnover DA positions.
Key points
- Eligibility requires completion of an approved dental-assisting program, state registration, and direct supervision by a licensed dentist.
- Effective immediately; practices can begin recruiting qualified minors for front-desk, sterilization, and chairside support roles.
- Impacts staffing strategies for single-site offices and multi-location DSOs that struggle to fill DA vacancies amid rising demand.
- Associates and specialists gain an earlier talent pipeline for training future EFDA or hygiene candidates within the same practice.
Who should care
OwnerDSOStaff
Read the original on Decisions in Dentistry
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