Students aim for dental careers through NEISD program

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gonzalez knew at a young age that she wanted to be a dentist.

“I just loved going to the dentist’s office, so I kind of found my calling into that,” the Johnson High School Senior said.

Now, she’s one step closer to that goal, thanks to the Dental Assistant program in the NEISD Medical Professions Academy at The Career and Technical Education Center.

“They are doing exams on one another, looking at their teeth and counting them. They are also looking at their tongue, their gums, and making sure everything looks healthy,” Sonya McAfee, the NEISD Dental Assistant Instructor said. 

McAfee is an Army National Guard Veteran who retired after 20 years of serving her country.

“I started doing dental assisting in the military. When I retired after 20 years, I decided to go and teach,” she said.

She said she loves teaching her students all about Dentistry in her class.

“Basically, they are here to assist the dentist. They have to know all the different types of specialties that a dentist does. For example, if they are doing a filling, they have to know how to set up a tray to help with doing a filling on a patient; if they are doing an extraction, extracting teeth; Orthodontics, which is braces,” McAfee said.  

Students at any high school in NEISD will need to take three prerequisite courses and can apply to be in the program. The program takes Juniors and Seniors.

“Every campus has a bus route; they’ll bus them over here and they’ll pick them up and take them right back to their campus,” she added.

Seniors who complete one year of training and pass their test will graduate as Certified Dental Assistants through a partnership with the U.T. Health Science Center.

The Seniors will be licensed through the State once they have their Diploma.

“By the time they finish school, they can actually work in the field. My students from last year all passed their certification, so I had a 100% passing rate and I expect the same for this year,” McAffee said.

Cassandra said her parents are impressed that a program like this is available to high school students. 

“They think it’s like absolutely incredible that we even get to experience or have programs like these. Every day when I come home, they are like ‘what did you do today?’ and I say ‘I looked in someone’s mouth!’ so they just really think it’s awesome,” she said.

McAfee said she encourages students who have an interest in Dentistry to get involved in the program.

“I think it’s a wonderful program. It’s free too for the school and I know people have actually paid for this type of course, so take advantage of it!”  

Cassandra said she hopes to become a dentist specializing in Pediatrics. She hopes to make being in the chair a little less stressful for her patients.

“I think the main part is just like comforting them and telling them to relax. I know it can be kind of hard seeing sharp objects near them but giving them a blanket or a bunny as a comfort tool, little techniques like that,” she said.

McAfee said she loves seeing her students grow into their passion.

“I just love it, I enjoy giving back to young people and also seeing them going a step further in their education and their life, it’s a beautiful feeling, it really is.”

To learn more about CTEC Medical Professions Academy, click here.

Discover the NEISD way, where our educators provide a unique learning experience to help students find their passion.