The Santa Cruz County Office of Education (Santa Cruz COE), in partnership with nonprofit Dientes Community Dental Care, is proud to announce the launch of the Dental Assisting Apprenticeship Program. The program, which welcomed its first cohort of students on Monday, August 12, 2024, is designed to bridge the gap between education, training, and employment to provide a seamless pathway into the dental industry.
Supported by a $1.02 million grant from the California Apprenticeship Initiative and funding from Santa Cruz Workforce Development Board and Sutter Health, the apprenticeship is an innovative model that combines paid, on-the-job training with tuition-free classroom instruction — enabling participants to earn while they learn.
“The launch of the Dental Assisting Apprenticeship Program marks an important milestone for career-technical education in our community,” said Dr. Faris Sabbah, Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools. “We see significant promise in the apprenticeship model to eliminate barriers between education, training, and employment. This apprenticeship not only addresses a critical workforce gap, it paves the way to rewarding careers in the dental industry — and we are so grateful to Dientes for partnering with the COE to make this kind of program possible.”
Dental Assistants are among the high-demand jobs in Santa Cruz County, with over 600 annual job openings in the county and its immediate neighbors. The apprenticeship model directly addresses this workforce gap by providing a pipeline of qualified dental assistants who are ready to enter the workforce immediately upon completion of the program.
Dientes is the largest provider of high-quality, comprehensive dental care for the underserved community in Santa Cruz County, with four clinics serving 16,000 patients. Dientes offers apprentices real-world experience in a growing healthcare field, ensuring they are well-prepared to meet the demands of the dental industry.
“We are thrilled to participate in this State-funded project to grow our local dental assisting workforce partnership with the COE, which is made possible with support from both Santa Cruz Workforce Development Board and Sutter Health,” commented Laura Marcus, Dientes CEO. “This innovative program is important for two reasons: It increases the number of dental assistants graduating each year, providing an important pipeline for more front-line workers for us and other dental providers. And, it creates an opportunity for underserved young people to learn professional skills and pursue an exciting healthcare career — one that has many available living wage job openings in our community.”
The program spans 12 months, beginning with a 5-week intensive classroom instruction period which began Monday. The initial cohort of eight apprentices will then begin their paid on-the-job training, working 32 hours per week in local dental offices. Apprentices will continue to engage in weekly classes that provide the theoretical foundation needed for success in the dental field, and earn industry-recognized certifications, including Dental Radiation Safety, Infection Control, the Dental Practice Act, and CPR.
Apprentices will earn $18.45 per hour for their on-the-job training, with periodic increases tied to their training progress. Upon successfully completing the program and mastering all required competencies, they have the opportunity to be hired at a journey-level wage of at least $22 per hour with their training organization.
Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort are expected to open February 2025, with more information and a student interest form available at dental.santacruzcoe.org.