YARMOUTH, Maine — A Yarmouth dentist announced on Friday the launch of a program that will train dental assistants in 11 days, a move supporters said will help fill a dearth of dental staff statewide.
Dr. Brian Boynton and his wife and business partner, Marcy Boynton, held a news conference at their Yarmouth office on Friday to cut the ceremonial ribbon for VIP Dental Assistant Training of Maine, a program the couple is promoting as a fast and inexpensive way for Mainers to get certified to fill more than a 100 dental assistant vacancies being advertised.
Gov. Paul LePage delivered remarks at the Friday event as well, saying he believes it’s the government’s role to make it as easy as possible for people such as the Boyntons to launch and grow businesses.
“It’s going to be difficult to bring a 10,000-employee company to Maine, so we have to grow ourselves,” LePage told reporters after the ribbon-cutting. “We have to get the entrepreneurs, the job creators, the people who are willing to risk their capital to create jobs and opportunities, and I want to be the one that helps them.”
The governor, who is locked in a close race with Democratic challenger Mike Michaud leading into Election Day on Tuesday, offered some self-deprecating humor as well, telling the Boyntons, “I may call you next Wednesday for an application — you never know.”
Marcy Boynton described the new program as “perfect for recent high school graduates, young moms or those who desire a better career and lifestyle.”
According to a written announcement of the program launch, Forbes magazine has called dental support work the country’s best job for young people, with more than 16,000 annual job openings nationwide and an average salary of nearly $35,000.
Boynton also announced on Friday that the training program will offer $200 off the $3,960 tuition — for which payment plans are available — to the first 20 students to enroll.
The inaugural class will begin Jan. 2 and continue for the next 10 Fridays.
In the most recent legislative session, lawmakers approved — and LePage signed — a bill allowing dental hygiene therapists to open practices in an effort to expand dental health coverage options into some of Maine’s rural, underserved areas.
The training program launched in Yarmouth provides certification for dental assistants, not dental hygienists or hygiene therapists, so it is not related, other than that it responds to an industry need.
Dental assistants help dentists during procedures, take X-rays of teeth, sterilize equipment, take impressions of teeth or work at the reception desk of a dental office, among other duties. Dental assistants are not required to attend college, while hygienists, who can provide teeth cleanings and administer anesthetics, among other tasks, need a bachelor’s degree in their field.