The Central New Mexico Community College, a two-year institution, was formerly named the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute after its location in Albuquerque. It has a dental assisting certificate program in its School of Health, Wellness & Public Safety. Molded in a three-term format, CNMCC's dental assisting program consists of 30 credits that includes courses such as Chairside Procedures, Dental Science and Dental Radiology.
Luna Community College in Las Vegas, New Mexico, also has a dental assistant program. LCC's offering consists of 42 credits. Its courses include Dental Materials, Bio-Dental Science, Dental Terminology, Oral Medicine and Dental Office Management. Dental assistant students are also required to take Medical Terminology and Computer Fundamentals as courses related to the program's core subjects.
Located in Farmington, New Mexico, San Juan has a dental hygienist program within its School of Health Sciences. Students take courses such as Tooth Morphology, Dental Public Health, Local Anesthesia and Pain Control, Oral Pathology, Oral Histology and Embryology. The San Juan dental hygienist program requires 51 credits for completion.
Like CNMCC, the University of New Mexico is headquartered in Albuquerque, although it is a four-year institution rather than a two-year one. UNM has a Division of Dental Hygiene within the Department of Surgery of its School of Medicine: the only college with such a distinction. Students can choose between the five-semester Bachelor or four-semester Master of Science degree. Undergraduate students need 130 credits to complete their BS degree, while graduate students require up to 71 credits.