Let us look up a few instructive and informative teeth facts, and not just human ones!

1. Once upon a time, toothbrush bristles were made of hog hair, bovine hair, and rabbit hair.
2. As far back as 3000 B.C, the Egyptians were using gold wire to hold together transplanted teeth.
3. Toothpaste is a fairly recent invention, little more than 100 years old. Before this, people would use, and indeed we still do use, barks and twigs of trees such as neem and guava, charcoal powder, mixture of honey, herbs, crushed eggshell, crushed alum, etc.
4. Toothaches have plagued mankind for ever and have evolved some seriously crazy cures including picking the tooth with the nail from a coffin, wearing a pig-bone pendant, shamanic charms, etc.
5. You can assess a horse’s age by its teeth because its teeth are continuously growing.
6. Once upon a time urine was used as a mouthwash; you may be surprised to know that in some places it is still used as an after-shave.
7. Teeth have not escaped our fascination for ornamentation; there are tribes out there where teeth filed to a point are considered beautiful; in medieval Japan, blackened teeth were a mark of a wife’s loyalty to her husband; sticking small semi-precious stones to the teeth has been a popular on and off fad over the years.
8. Dental transplants of today made from ceramics and such material are a far cry from the days when a dead man’s teeth were extracted and used.
9. Sharks have some of the most fearsome and amazing teeth in the entire animal kingdom. It has rows of teeth, with a tooth waiting to replace one that may come loose in a tussle. In its lifetime a shark can go through 20,000 teeth.
10. Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body; it protects our teeth from wear and tear. Were it not for dental enamel, human teeth would need to continuously regrow like it happens with the aardvark.
11. Teeth have their own set of superstitions such as men with pointed teeth are liars; and that the tooth fairy comes to take away milk teeth.
12. It’s a myth that white teeth are necessarily healthy. Teeth staining is natural. Avoid teeth decay and keep teeth free from plaque.
13. It’s a fact that often parents are okay with their children getting their baby milk teeth decayed. If this happens, it is an invitation to malformed permanent teeth; did you know this?
14. Baby teeth in humans appear in the sixth or seventh month and these milk teeth start falling when the child reaches around six or seven years of age.
15. George Washington blazed a trail not just in American politics but also in the field of human dentures; at different times he wore dentures made of wood, elephant ivory, hippo teeth, and also human teeth.
16. Dental floss first became commercially available in 1882 and was made of silk.
17. It is a proven fact that fluoridated toothpaste helps reduce dental cavities. But you don’t want to ingest this stuff because over time it proves toxic.
18. Wisdom teeth or lower third molars are notoriously difficult when they are erupting; but it is a myth that they can actually warp the position of adjacent teeth and hence should be removed as a safety precaution.
19. Humans have a set of twenty milk teeth and thirty-two adult teeth.
20. Human teeth are made up of enamel on the outside, dentine in the middle, and dental pulp on the inside.
21. The four types of human teeth are canines for tearing food, incisors for cutting and biting into food, premolars act as grinders and crushers, and molars for making a proper paste of food so that it can be swallowed.
22. In America, more than 55 million school hours are lost every year because of children reporting dental problems.
23. Teeth are a part of our digestive system, digestion starts in our mouth. Bet you didn’t know this!
24. We go through two sets of teeth and an elephant goes through six.
25. The human tooth has a very rich supply of blood and nerves that keeps the tooth alive.
26. Over a lifetime, we spend around 40 days of our lives brushing our teeth. A very small price in time when we consider the enormous importance of teeth to our lives.
27. At one time, not too far back, roughly around 30-40 years ago, a significant percentage of the population would be without any natural tooth by sixty years of age. If you smoke, you’re at far greater risk to losing your teeth.
28. Research shows that men smile around eight times a day; women twice as much and children laugh as much as 400 times a day.
29. Good teeth rank very high in a woman’s assessment of a man. Maybe that’s why more men are into teeth whitening procedures than women.
30. In America, research has shown that Republicans are more particular about dental hygiene than Democrats.
31. Soda and other sweetened carbonated drinks are amongst the biggest cause of cavities in children all over the world.
32. Food items that stick to the teeth such as sweet and sticky dried fruits can cause more damage than chocolate and ice-cream.
33. Dental plaque can contain more than 600 different types of bacteria. Staggering, huh!

So, remember that our teeth are of vital importance to us. Dentists are our friends and highly-regarded members of society.

Pre-clinical dental assisting is the first step for students who seek online dental programs. Through this program, they need to learn topics such as introduction to dentistry techniques, methodology, dentistry ethics and history of dental field.

Basic clinical dental assisting course starts during the middle of online dental programs and this course enables them to acquire critical dental assisting and practical application skills. As a part of clinical experience training, students need to work under the supervision of a professional dentist for a few months. Students can utilize this period to apply skills they acquired during online dental programs.

Accredited Online Dental Programs
Most of the online dental schools and colleges around the world offer accredited online dental assisting degree programs to students. It includes:

• Preventive dentistry,
• Orofacial anatomy,
• Pre-clinical dental hygiene,
• Physiology,
• Microbiology,
• Dental radiology, etc.

Besides, students need to undergo healthcare training in accounting, anatomy, dental health, dental practices, preventive dentistry, nutrition, health administration, dental X-ray, etc during their online dental programs. Online dental schools also train students in clinical and administrative skills. Clinical training includes exposing and processing X-rays, taking vital signs, empower students to provide treatment and conduct oral inspections, etc. Administrative tasks include sending bills, scheduling and confirming appointments, receiving patients, ordering dental equipment and supplies, receive payments, keep treatment records, etc.

Online dental courses also enable students to put rubber dams of teeth, remove extra cements used for filling, apply anesthetics for gums, remove sutures, etc. As a student in online dental school, you also need to perform laboratory duties like cleaning and polishing dental equipment, making temporary casts and crowns for teeth and mouth, etc. If you enroll in online dental colleges, you can study as per your convenience. However, you should ensure that the courses of online dental schools and colleges are recognized and accredited by the commission on Dental Accreditation of American Dental Association.

Online dental colleges also conduct academic programs such as:

• Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS),
• Bachelor Degrees,
• Certificate Programs,
• Master’s Programs,
• PhD Programs,
• Post Doctorate Programs.

Doctor of Dental Surgery
Doctor of Dental Surgery is a four year course and the students need to study various topics such as Dental anatomy, social and ethical issues in dental practice, biochemistry, oral biology, fundamentals of periodontology, oral and maxillofacial pathology, basic pharmacology, pre-clinical endodontics, clinical microbiology, etc.

Bachelor Degrees
Students can enroll in two bachelor degrees, Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH) and Degree Completion in Dental Hygiene. The curriculum of Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene includes specialization in community dental health, periodontics, pediatric dentistry, research, hospital dentistry, geriatric dentistry, etc.

After the completion of Degree Completion Dental Hygiene program, students can work as licensed dental hygienist. The course covers topics such as periodontics, pediatric dentistry, oral microbiology, hospital dentistry, and geriatric dentistry.

Certificate Programs
Various online dental colleges conduct certificate programs such as Advanced Education in General Dentistry, Dental Assisting Certificate Programs, Certificate in Dental Hygiene, General Practical Residency, Oral and maxillofacial surgery, etc. The duration of certificate programs is one year and the students will get advanced training and education in general dentistry through these programs.

Masters Programs
Online dental colleges offer some masters programs in Eendodontics, Prosthodontics, Periodontology, Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Operative Dentistry, Dental Hygiene Education, etc to the students. The coursework varies depending on the program you selected.

PhD Programs
Online dental colleges arrange PhD programs like Oral Biology and Oral Epidemiology to train students to become productive faculty members. The topics for online dental courses in oral biology include oral cavity, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, cellular and molecular biology, physiology, embryology, immunology, etc. The modern bio-medical research also identifies systemic relationship between health status, oral conditions, and diseases such as oral cavity, cancer, HIV, atherosclerosis, etc.

Post Doctorate Programs
Training programs for the Next Generation of Oral Health Researchers (NextGen) is the post doctorate programs offered by most of the online dental colleges. This program is meant for developing a successful, basic, independent, translational and clinical Oral Health Research Scholars. They can work as interactive scientists to address dental healthcare needs of the nation.

Dental Assistant Salary
The salaries of those who undergo training in online dental courses depend on negotiation skills of individual, location, employer, experience, and various other factors. However, as per US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average earning of a dentist is $1,884,446 per year.

Highly experienced certified dental assistants can earn around $43,857 per year.

Online Dental Colleges
You can find a number of colleges which offer online dental programs to the professionals and busy students. Some of such colleges are CDI College, Penn Foster Career School, New York University, Boston University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, University of South Dakota, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Northern Arizona University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Howard University, Ohio State University, University of New Haven, etc.

In the same way, the foundation for sales education has named the Nova South Eastern University as the winner for having the top program on sales especially with regards to the sales on online dental courses. This is because the students who undertook online dental courses at this college were highly trained to undertake professional selling once they got into the market.

The University College at Rockland now offers online dental courses from the system maintained by the University of Maine. These courses are taught via video conference, interactive television, and through the internet.

According to US News, job seekers in the industry are expected to continue finding excellent opportunities as dentists or as dental assistants. These occupations however call for less years studying and more practicing. Seeing as they are in high demand, the university say it fit to kick start the online dental courses to deal with the increasing demand.

One such area of health care is dentistry that is related with care of teeth and other aspects related to oral diseases. The dental caring field has come up as the most rewarding field with respect to career in health care industry and is offered by a good number of reputed universities and organizations. The course for learning is not only offered by regular universities and colleges, there a good number of options for education are also offered by online universities too.

Online learning for dentistry has become possible due to rapid proliferation of internet and the most common course for dental care as offered online are dental administrative assistant, dental lab technicians, dental assistant, dental hygienists.  As in online dental program there are provisions for an affordable and flexible education as to make a student competent and comfortable when he goes to work into the dental assistant course and job.

The online training module for dental courses internet based projects and assignments, CD/ROMs, streaming videos, online exams and sometimes web-based labs are used for teaching and learning. Online programs use techniques like student service programs, online libraries, and other methods to keep a student involved and worth learning. Other benefit with online learning courses are that they are easy for a student to get connected with its instructor after registering with him and more he can mail to instructor at any period  and day.

However, for learning through online programs a student is needed to pay additional attention and develop self discipline as there does not exists any time constraint, therefore,  a student should create his own time schedule as to attend his lectures and classes well in time.

• Programs for Dentistry Students: There are variable courses for density occupation as they can earn certificates as lesser as in period of six weeks or can have advanced degrees that commences over longer period of time.
• Fee structure for online dental course: There are many factors which causes the determination of fee for online education and learning. There is no such uniformity of fee. It depends upon the cost of the program as each of the programs is unique in itself with its cost, flexibility and payment options. And for an accredited online program there a good number of programs are offered as with options of eligibility for federal financial aids.
• Job Outlook for Dental Industry: Employment outlook in dental field is very bright and full of hope and expectations. It is ascertained that between 2010 to 2014 dentists would rise to wondering numbers from 267,436 to 381,747 with an impressive growth of 42.7%. With an additional numbers of 68, 360, the dental hygienists would increase by more that 43%. Lab technicians are also expected to grow by 7.6%.

Amazingly, many colleges have sprouted from different points of the world and mainly teach the courses online. You therefore need not to go to the college in person in order to get these online dental courses, but only required to visit the websites of different colleges and get the courses of your choice. If you want to register for these courses or pay your tuition fee, no move will be required. The payment is done by the use of credit cards and registration is also fully online.

Some of the online dental courses that are open for every one who has access to internet connectivity are as follows:

• Oral Cancer: These courses will help dental students studying online learn different ways of detecting cancers that could affect your teeth and the mouth in general. The role of computer-aided brush diagnosis and lastly the statistics of oral cancer infections.
• Dental Radiology Update Online Course: This is an online course that will help students know dental radiographs are taken and different types of radiations used in dentistry. The need for using high quality dental medicines and cleaners are also discussed.
• Dental Laboratory Asepsis: This online course covers the rationale for disinfection needed by dentist for different dental lab cases and the appropriate components of the protocol governing infection control outside the laboratory.
• Hand Care and Hand Washing for Dental Team: The course describes CDC guidelines that are related to information and the specific reasons why the dental procedures are performed.

The online dental courses are a great means of saving money as considered by most people. The reason is that the courses saves on time and money especially for accommodation as the courses could be done at the comfort of a persons’ home or office.