How to Become a Dental Assistant in Virginia

What you can do from day one

A Dental Assistant I in Virginia requires no state credential. Under Va. Code 54.1-2729.01 it is simply a person employed to assist a licensed dentist or dental hygienist, and 18VAC60-21-160 lets the dentist delegate duties suited to your training and the practice under indirect supervision. This is the standard entry point, and practices across the state hire and train beginners into it.

Dental Assistant II is a registration with the Virginia Board of Dentistry. Under 18VAC60-30-120 you need a current DANB Certified Dental Assistant credential, or an active Virginia hygienist license, just to enter the program, then a competency-based program with set laboratory and live-patient hours and written and clinical competency examinations. It permits the restorative duties listed at 18VAC60-21-150, under direct supervision.

The X-ray rule in Virginia

Virginia does not issue a radiography permit. Under 18VAC60-21-170 a dentist may only let you place or expose radiographs if you hold one of three things: a radiation safety course and examination from an institution that maintains a CODA-accredited program, certification by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, or the DANB Radiation Health and Safety Review Course plus a passing score on the DANB Radiation Health and Safety exam. Whichever certificate you earn has to be posted in plain view of the patient.

Confirm the current options with the Virginia Board of Dentistry, and ask employers which route they support.

The fastest realistic path

Step 1: Prepare and get hired as a DA I anywhere from Northern Virginia to Richmond to Hampton Roads.

Step 2: Complete radiation safety training in your first months.

Step 3: Work toward DA II registration; it is Virginia's built-in promotion, and the DANB CDA credential is the gate you pass first. A second option arrived with the 2026 amendments to Va. Code 54.1-2729.01: a DA I or DA II with 1,800 hours of clinical experience can be certified for supragingival scaling and coronal polishing under indirect supervision, and that certificate comes from your supervising dentist, not from the Board.

Common questions