Dental Assistant Subject Guide

Getting Started: Handbooks, Manuals and Reference Works

Begin your research with books to find background information and definition of terms.

ADA/PDR guide to dental therapeutics. 4th ed. American Dental Association.
REFERENCE RK701 .A33 2006

Delmar's handbook of essential skills and procedures for chairside dental assisting
MAIN RK60.5 P483 2002

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins' dental drug reference with clinical implications
REFERENCE RK701 .P63 2006

Mosby's 2007 dental drug consult
REFERENCE RK701 .M58 2007

Torres and Ehrlich modern dental assisting
OVERSIZE RK60.5 .B57 2002

Specialized Materials

Comprehensive periodontics for the dental hygienist. 2nd ed.
MAIN RK361 .C58 2006

Craig's restorative dental materials. 12th ed.
MAIN RK652.5 .C73 2006

Delmar's dental assisting exam review.
OVERSIZE RK60.5 .T427 2000
Also available as an eBook.

Dental radiography: principles and techniques. 3rd ed.
MAIN RK309 .H36 2006

Drug dictionary for dentistry. Meehan and Seymour.
REFERENCE RK701 .M44 2002

Drug information handbook for dentistry, 2002. 7th ed. Wynn, Meiller and Crossley.
REFERENCE RK701 .D78

Essentials of dental radiography for dental assistants and hygienists. 7th ed. Johnson, McNally and Essay.
MAIN RK309 .D44 2003

Orthodontics: current principles and techniques. Graber and Vanarsdall, Jr., eds.
OVERSIZE RK521 .G673 2000

Restorative dental materials [videorecording]. Delmar Publishers.
AUDIOVISUAL RK60.5 D334 2000

Safety standards and infection control for dental assistants. Ellen Dietz.
MAIN RK52 .D54 2002

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Finding Books

Begin your search with MnPALS, our online catalog. MnPALS provides access to books, audiovisual materials, eBooks, and other resources available at DCTC and at other libraries in the MnPALS system. Our books and audiovisual materials are organized according to Library of Congress call numbers. Items not available from the DCTC Library can be requested online through interlibrary loan (ILL).

The best way to begin a search in MnPALS is to enter one or two keywords on your topic. To focus your search, find the most relevant records in your results and look at their subject headings. MnPALS displays subject headings as links and clicking on them will begin a search for that particular topic.

MnPALS includes the titles of our magazine and journal subscriptions but does not provide the articles themselves. To search for articles, see the Finding Articles section below.

Sample subject headings relevant to Dental Assisting:

dental assistants
dental pharmacology
dental materials
dental technicians

orthodontics
dentures
dentistry
teeth

Most books about dental assisting and related fields are shelved in call numbers beginning with RK. You can browse those shelves for additional books.

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Finding Articles

Use periodical indexes and databases to locate articles, reports, and other documents on your topic. Most of these resources provide full-text articles, which you can print, save, or e-mail. We also have print subscriptions to some magazines and journals that aren't available electronically. We keep the current year and three previous years of most magazine and journal issues. If an article you need is not available at the DCTC Library in either print or electronic format, you can request the article from another library through interlibrary loan (ILL).

Periodical Indexes & Databases

EBSCO MegaFILE (1865 - Present)
EBSCO MegaFILE indexes nearly 24,000 publications and provides full text for over 19,100 publications. EBSCO MegaFILE covers virtually all subjects and includes biographies, company profiles, primary source documents, and images. EBSCO MegaFILE combines four EBSCO indexes and databases: Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, MasterFILE Premier, and Regional Business News.

ProQuest Newspapers (1980 - Present)
ProQuest Newspapers provides full text articles from nearly 700 newspapers and wire services from all over the world.

Journals

Community Dental Health

Dentistry Today

International Journal of Orthodontics

Journal of the American Dental Association

Journal of Public Health Dentistry

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Web Sites

American Association of Public Health Dentistry

American Dental Assistants' Association

American Dental Hygienists' Association
A one-stop source for timely, reliable, and easy-to-use oral health information for consumers, reporters, legislators, and dental hygienists.

Dental-Related Internet Resources
Educational resources for dental professionals, good links to worldwide list of dental schools and other professional support organizations.

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Reference Librarian

The DCTC Library's Reference Librarian is

Barbara Tuttle
651-423-8345

Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, concerns, or for additional help with your research.

This page is maintained by Michael Kirby and Barbara Tuttle.
Last updated: October 29, 2007.