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SFCC Dental Program Is Something To Smile About

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South Florida Community College's dental program students have a 100 percent success rate on passing all their board exams.

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: January 24, 2009

AVON PARK - Crystal Beasly's three years of studies will come to an end in May when she graduates with South Florida Community College's fifth class of dental hygienists.

Though it started about six years ago, the SFCC dental program is still the newest of the state's 16 dental hygiene and dental assistant programs.

Prior to enrolling in the college, Beasly had heard many good things about the dental program, including the 100 percent passing rate on the board exams.

"I really wanted to be able to help people and at the same time get a good education and have a good career," the Wauchula resident said.

August will mark Dental Education Director Rebecca Sroda's fifth year at SFCC.

"When I first came, I promised these dentists that I would give them the best quality dental care worker," she said. "That's what we work for."

The college's dental program students have 100 percent success rate on all their board exams, Sroda noted.

Dental hygiene students take an eight-hour written national board exam and a state board exam, which involves cleaning the teeth of a patient.

Ricardo Bautista of Sebring heard good things about SFCC's Dental Assistant program from his sister who completed the program two years ago. She is now working for the county health department in Lake Placid.

"She gave me a lot of hints about what the benefits were," Bautista said. "I came in and checked it out ... and everything is going great."

Bautista will complete his studies in July.

The dental assistant students have been visiting local dental offices.

"We are trying to make a really good impression at all the offices we visit and hopefully one of them will consider hiring us," he said.

Sroda said the job outlook continues to be good for dental workers.

It seems like Polk County has the greater need for dental hygienists right now, she noted. Whereas, dental assistant graduates continue to find employment in Highlands County.

Some graduates chose to work outside the Heartland including one who went to South Carolina and others who went to Orlando and Fort Myers.

Salaries for dental assistants range from $10 to $13 per hour and dental hygienist earn about $250 per day, according to Sroda.

Application packets are available now at the college for both programs, which have a capacity of 12 students.

After passing a year's worth of prerequisite class, students may apply to the two-year Dental Hygiene or 11-month Dental Assistant programs.

"We are looking for people who like helping people," Sroda said. "Their focus is on other people not so much on themselves."

Also, dental hygienists need good hand-eye motor coordination, she said. "Your hands have to be able to do very small detailed work."

Graduates are referring their friends to the program by telling them how much they learned and how prepared they were to go to work, Sroda added.

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 863-386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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