The University of Cincinnati offers two associate degree programs for dentistry. The first, dental hygiene technology, prepares students for working on a dental team, most likely in an office, and performing preventative dental procedures on patients. The second, pre-dentistry, prepares students for a bachelor's program, and then eventually for dental school.
The Fortis College is a multi-campus college that offers a program in dental assisting training. This program prepares students for work in a dentist's office and alongside dentists in laboratories. The training also prepares students for work in insurance and other health facilities, both public and private.
The Accelerated Dental Assisting Schools of America is located downtown, and provides 40 hours each of classroom time and lab experience to prepare students for work as a dental assistants. Students also learn how to use modern dental equipment found in most dental offices. The program includes a one-day internship in a dental office.
The dental assistant program at Ross Medical Education Center prepares students for real-world work by mandating and organizing an internship for every student. The program also includes class time and lab work where students learn to perform many of the basic tasks of a dental office, including taking impressions, assisting dentists during check-ups and sanitizing instruments.
The downtown campus of Xavier University offers a pre-dental program which prepares students for admission into a graduate program. It requires students to take the normal gamut of general education classes in order to fulfill the four-year degree requirement, and it guides students through the tests and scholarly requirements in order to gain acceptance into dental school.