Dental Assisting Programs in Massachusetts
Massachusetts has 7 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, in Canton, Lawrence, Lowell, North Adams, South Easton, Springfield and Worcester.
Each is listed below with its city, address, website, and current accreditation status, pulled directly from the Commission on Dental Accreditation's own program directory.
This list covers only CODA-accredited programs — what Massachusetts itself requires before you can work chairside is a separate question from accreditation, covered on our dental assistant requirements guide.
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At a glance
In Massachusetts
Programs
7
With a program
Cities
7
Approval without Reporting Requirements
Fully approved
7 of 7
Every CODA-Accredited Program in Massachusetts
Source: CODA program directory, index dated 2026-09-09. Status terms (“Approval without Reporting Requirements,” “Approval with Reporting Requirements,” “Initial Accreditation,” “Discontinued,” etc.) are CODA’s own.
Reading the List Below
The status shown for each program is CODA's own classification. "Approval (without reporting requirements)" means the program meets or exceeds CODA's basic accreditation standards. "Approval (with reporting requirements)" means CODA identified specific deficiencies that the program must document correcting within a set timeframe — it isn't a signal to avoid the program. "Initial Accreditation" applies to a program that hasn't yet enrolled and graduated its first class.
The accreditation visit years listed are CODA's own review schedule for the program, not a measure of how long the program itself takes to complete.
For admissions, cost, and curriculum details, contact the program directly and confirm current accreditation status with CODA.
CODA Accreditation and the DANB CDA
Graduating from a CODA-accredited program is one of two recognized paths to sitting for the DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) exam's General Chairside component, alongside roughly 3,500 hours of documented on-the-job experience.
Whether Massachusetts itself requires formal training, a state credential, or neither to work chairside as a dental assistant is a matter of state law — see our dental assistant requirements guide for what the state requires.
For the general tradeoffs between a CODA-accredited program and on-the-job training, see school vs. on-the-job training, our step-by-step guide to becoming a dental assistant, and our breakdown of what's tested on the DANB CDA exam.
After Graduation in Massachusetts
A CODA-accredited program is a credentialing step, not a job guarantee.
Program completion generally moves you toward the DANB CDA and any state-specific credential Massachusetts requires, but pay and hiring outcomes depend on the employer, the market, and what credentials and expanded functions you bring beyond graduation itself.
Once you've completed a program and met whatever credentialing Massachusetts requires, see our Massachusetts dental assistant salary guide for what the role pays in the state, broken down by percentile and compared with the national figure.
From there, browse current dental assistant openings in Massachusetts to see what practices in the state are actually hiring for right now.
Where Massachusetts's Programs Are
Massachusetts's seven CODA-accredited dental assisting programs reach across the state rather than clustering around Boston: Canton, Lawrence, Lowell, South Easton and Worcester cover the eastern and central parts of the state, while Springfield and North Adams serve the west.
Community colleges make up most of the list, alongside a technical school in North Adams and a technical institute in South Easton — a pattern that holds across much of the CODA directory nationwide, since two-year and technical schools are a common home for allied dental training.
Contact a program directly to confirm its service area, campus location, and whether it accepts applicants from outside its home district.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CODA-accredited dental assisting programs are in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts has 7 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, located in Canton, Lawrence, Lowell, North Adams, South Easton, Springfield and Worcester.
Each is listed above with its current CODA accreditation status, address and website.
CODA's own directory is the definitive, up-to-date list — confirm a program's status directly with CODA before applying.
Does an out-of-state CODA-accredited program count in Massachusetts?
Yes.
CODA accreditation is a national standard, not a state one, so a program accredited by CODA counts regardless of which state it's located in.
What varies by state is licensure and any credentialing rules the state itself sets — see our dental assistant requirements guide for that side of the picture.
What does "Approval without Reporting Requirements" mean?
It's CODA's classification for a program that meets or exceeds its basic accreditation standards at the time of its last review, with no outstanding deficiencies to report.
It is CODA's most straightforward status, distinct from "Approval (with reporting requirements)," which flags specific items a program must still address within a set timeframe.
Do I have to attend a CODA-accredited program to work as a dental assistant in Massachusetts?
That depends on Massachusetts's own rules for the role, which this page doesn't cover — see our dental assistant requirements guide and our school vs. on-the-job training guide for how the state's options compare.
CODA accreditation is most relevant to the DANB CDA certification's eligibility requirements, not to state law generally.
Is every program on this list accredited?
Every program above is shown with the CODA accreditation status CODA had published for it as of 2026-09-09, the date this directory was last pulled from CODA's own program search. "Approval without Reporting Requirements" is CODA's standard fully-accredited standing; other status terms on this page — such as "Approval with Reporting Requirements," "Initial Accreditation," or "Discontinued" — mean something different, and a status can change after that date.
Confirm a program's current status directly with CODA before applying.
More Massachusetts & Dental Assistant Resources
Sourced from the CODA program directory (index dated 2026-09-09). Verified September 2026. Program details change. Confirm accreditation status, admission requirements and costs with the program and with CODA before applying.