For residents of South Dakota interested in becoming a dentist, the University of South Dakota offers a major in Pre-Dentistry which is designed to prepare a student to attend a School of Dentistry. Courses include biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and math. Other courses may be required like genetics, depending upon the requirements of a particular dentistry school. Students should contact those dentistry schools they might attend to make sure all prerequisites are completed. For South Dakota residents going to Dental School, the state provides tuition reimbursement in return for three years of practice in a rural community. As of 2011, the reimbursement total is $100,000.
In addition to Pre-Dentistry, the University of South Dakota at Vermillion School of Health Sciences offers a dental hygiene program. Students may obtain an Associate or Bachelor Degree. The school admits 32 students per year. Services are offered at clinical settings throughout the state, thus aiding residents and students alike. Other student opportunities include public health services, oral cancer and health screenings and a three week internship in a dental office.
Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, SD, provides its students with the opportunity to earn a diploma over an 11-month period. For further training and education a 20-month program with an Associate in Applied Science Degree is available. Both programs prepare students to be the extra help in the dental office. Lake Area has a modern dental lab for training and an internship in a dental office completes the course work.
Western Dakota Tech is located in Rapid City, SD. It has a Dental Assistant Apprenticeship Training Program that is sponsored by the Black Hills District Dental Society. Entrance into the program requires a student be employed by a dentist who is a member of the Black Hills Society. The program supplements the on-the-job training received in the dental office. Upon graduation students can perform the functions of an advanced dental assistant and administer x-rays upon approval of the South Dakota Board of Dentistry.