Dental Assisting Programs in Texas
Texas has 7 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, in 7 cities across the state: Corpus Christi, Denison, El Paso, Ft.
Sam Houston, Houston, San Antonio and Tyler.
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 Texas itself requires before you can work chairside is a separate question from accreditation, covered on our dental assistant requirements hub.
Verify before you apply
At a glance
In Texas
Programs
7
With a program
Cities
7
Approval without Reporting Requirements
Fully approved
7 of 7
Every CODA-Accredited Program in Texas
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
CODA uses a few specific status terms. "Approval (without reporting requirements)" means a program meets or exceeds CODA's basic accreditation standards. "Approval (with reporting requirements)" means CODA found specific deficiencies the program must correct within a set timeframe — it is not a warning to avoid the program, just a compliance step in progress. "Initial Accreditation" applies to a program that hasn't yet graduated its first class.
The last- and next-visit years shown are CODA's own accreditation-visit schedule, not the program's academic calendar.
For admissions, cost, and current status, contact a program directly and check CODA's own directory, which is the definitive, up-to-date source.
Why Accreditation Matters for Your Credential
Whether Texas requires formal dental assistant training at all — and for which duties — is a matter of state law.
We don't yet have a dedicated Texas dental assistant requirements page, so check our dental assistant requirements hub and confirm the current rule with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners before relying on anything here.
What CODA accreditation does affect is your national certification path: the DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) credential's General Chairside component requires either graduating a CODA-accredited program or documenting roughly 3,500 hours of on-the-job experience.
If you're still weighing which route to take, see our school vs. on-the-job training comparison, 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 Texas
Once you've completed a program — or an on-the-job path, where the state allows it — the next questions are what the job pays and where the openings are.
Our Texas dental assistant salary guide covers current pay data for the state, broken out against the national figures, so you can see how Texas compares before you negotiate an offer.
From there, our Texas dental assistant job listings show open positions you can apply to directly, wherever you trained.
Where Texas's Programs Are Located
Texas's 7 programs are spread across the state rather than clustered in one region: Houston and San Antonio anchor two of the state's largest metro areas, Ft.
Sam Houston sits alongside San Antonio, El Paso and Corpus Christi cover the western and coastal edges of the state, and Denison and Tyler serve North and East Texas.
Contact a program directly for its current curriculum, application cycle, and clinical-site details — the CODA accreditation status shown for each program reflects its last accreditation visit, not its admissions process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CODA-accredited dental assisting programs are in Texas?
Texas has 7 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, located in Corpus Christi, Denison, El Paso, Ft.
Sam Houston, Houston, San Antonio and Tyler.
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 Texas?
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 — check our dental assistant requirements hub and confirm current rules with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
What does "Approval without Reporting Requirements" mean for a Texas program?
It's CODA's term for a program that meets or exceeds its basic accreditation standards, with no outstanding deficiencies to correct.
It's a routine status, not a warning.
Confirm a program's current status directly with CODA before applying, since status can change between accreditation visits.
Do I have to attend a Texas program to work as a dental assistant in Texas?
Attending a Texas-based program is not required for CODA accreditation to count — CODA accreditation is national.
Whether Texas requires formal training at all, and what documentation it accepts, is a matter of state law rather than CODA's directory, so confirm current requirements with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
See our school vs. on-the-job training guide for how those paths generally compare.
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 Texas & 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.