Dental Health
Tallahassee Community College's Dental Health Programs, Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting, are fully accredited by the American Dental Association. The programs are offered on the main TCC campus with some of the clinical experiences also on site in the TCC Dental Clinic. The programs provide excellence in teaching and service to the community. The basic premise reflects a belief that each individual has dignity and worth and the right to higher education for the general welfare of society. The formal process provides students with cognitive and psychomotor skills, and a value system that subscribes to the commitment of providing quality dental health care to patients.
The faculty is dedicated to a philosophy of commitment to provide education that meets the needs of each individual student, not only through varied teaching methodologies, but in approaches to their differing views. Each student is provided with a liberal and professional education which stresses excellence, relevance and purpose, and which promotes self-esteem and continued personal and professional development.
The learning environment is conducive to the discovery of new knowledge, and the value of life long learning. Critical thinking and problem-solving are emphasized throughout the program, with knowledge properly assimilated and applied in the clinical setting, in a format that sustains the belief that each individual is responsible for their own actions and decisions. The faculty serves as role models who exude confidence, enthusiasm and professionalism, in an effort to provide a positive educational experience for the students.
*Some state agencies may require an FDLE/FBI, local background check and/or drug screen before participation at rotation sites.
At this time, the agencies at which our dental assisting and dental hygiene students participate in rotations conduct the background check themselves, and the drug screen occurs at orientation at the respective site. The cost, to date, has been absorbed by the facility. This is subject to change.
If there is a question regarding a criminal offense in the past, please refer to the state statutes regarding licensure, certification, etc., and call the program office at 201-6095 to inform us. A background check may be requested before entering the program, in order to clear with each rotation site that the student may be allowed to participate in the clinical experience, to successfully complete the program. We may also request that the student contact the Board of Dentistry before entering the program for assurance that the student will be allowed to sit for the licensure exam when they have completed the program.
- Immunizations/Screening required by the first day of class
- TB screening yearly - PPD test or chest x-ray
- Tetanus immunization every 10 years
- Hepatitis B (series of 3 injections)
Dental Programs Application Deadlines
Dental Hygiene Application Deadline: May 7, 2012
Dental Assisting Application Deadline: June 15, 2012
Important Change to Florida Statues as of July 1, 2009
Important change to Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2009
IMPORTANT NOTICE : Pursuant to Section 456.0635, Florida Statutes , effective July 1, 2009, health care boards or the department shall refuse to issue a license, certificate or registration and shall refuse to admit a candidate for examination if the applicant has been:
1. Convicted or plead guilty or nolo contendre to a felony violation regardless of adjudication of: chapters 409, 817, or 893, Florida Statutes; or 21 U.S.C. ss. 801-970 or 42 U.S.C. ss 1395-1396, unless the sentence and any probation or pleas ended more than 15 years prior to the application.
2. Terminated for cause from Florida Medicaid Program (unless the applicant has been in good standing for the most recent five years).
3. Terminated for cause by any other State Medicaid Program or the Medicare Program (unless the termination was at least 20 years prior to the date of the application and the applicant has been in good standing with the program for the most recent five years).
Some of the boards, or the department where there is no board, are in the process of updating questions on licensure applications. Please continue to use the application, as it currently appears online until rules are adopted that will allow the department to replace these applications with updated versions.
