Can Dental Assistants Place Fillings in Illinois? An EFDA Guide for Dentists
Yes. Under the Illinois Dental Practice Act, a dental assistant with at least 4,000 hours of clinical patient care experience who completes an approved restorative training program can place, carve, and finish amalgam restorations and place, pack, and finish composite restorations under your supervision. You prep the tooth, your expanded function dental assistant (EFDA) restores it, and you approve the work before the patient leaves. Here's exactly what the law allows, what your assistant needs to qualify, what's required of you as the supervising dentist, and how an EFDA can free up your chair time.
What an EFDA Can Do in Illinois
The Illinois Dental Practice Act (225 ILCS 25/17) generally keeps amalgam and composite restorations off a dental assistant's list of duties. The exception is an assistant who has completed the additional education and certification the law requires. Once trained, that assistant can:
Place, carve, and finish amalgam restorations
Place, pack, and finish composite restorations
Section 17.1 of the Act also lists other expanded functions an assistant can be trained for, including final impression scans, pulp vitality tests, intracoronal temporization, coronal polishing, sealants, coronal scaling, and nitrous oxide monitoring. Each one has its own training requirements. This guide focuses on restorative work, which is the biggest jump in what your assistant can handle chairside.
What Your Assistant Needs to Qualify
Restorative EFDA training isn't for new hires. To qualify, your assistant needs:
At least 4,000 hours of direct clinical patient care experience, or completion of restorative training through a CODA-accredited program
A completed, approved coronal polishing and dental sealant course before starting restorative training
A current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, kept current going forward. Under Section 17.1, the supervising dentist keeps proof of current certification on file.
If your assistant's BLS has lapsed, Dental AssistEd's Basic Life Support course includes the American Heart Association BLS card.
For most offices, the right candidate is an experienced assistant who already knows your systems, your materials, and the way you like to work.
Your Role as the Supervising Dentist
Delegating restorations doesn't mean stepping away from them. Under the Act:
You authorize each procedure and remain in the facility while it's performed. You don't have to be in the operatory the entire time.
You approve the work before the patient is dismissed, and you remain fully responsible for the services your assistant performs.
You observe and approve 8 amalgam or composite restorations as part of your assistant's training before they're signed off.
You keep the certificate of completion on file at your dental office.
You can supervise up to 4 dental assistants at one time on these restorations, within a combined limit of 4 assistants or hygienists performing expanded functions.
This is a summary of the statute, not legal advice, so it's worth reviewing the current Dental Practice Act and any IDFPR guidance before you build EFDA work into your schedule.
Why Train an EFDA? What It Means for Your Practice
More of your time goes to the work only you can do. With a trained EFDA, you can diagnose, anesthetize, and prep, then move to the next patient or exam while your assistant places and finishes the restoration. You come back to check it before the patient is dismissed. On a busy restorative day, that shift in who does what adds up.
Upskilling is easier than hiring. In the ADA Health Policy Institute's Q1 2026 dental economy update, about 70 percent of dentists who recruited dental assistants said it was very or extremely challenging, and about 41 percent cited applicants who weren't qualified. Training an experienced assistant you already trust skips that search entirely.
It gives your best assistants a reason to stay. Expanded function assistants in Illinois earn about $46,609 a year on average, compared with about $40,838 for general assistants, according to our Illinois dental assistant pay breakdown. Offering a clear path to EFDA certification is a meaningful career step for an assistant who might otherwise look elsewhere to grow.
What the EFDA Restorative Course Involves
Dental AssistEd's EFDA Restorative Certification Course is approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, and it's taught by lead instructor Ashley Heenan, RDH.
Format: 16 hours of online didactic study, completed before the in-person portion, followed by 4 full days of hands-on training (9 AM to 4 PM) at our Chicago training center, including 14 hours of manikin-based clinical instruction
Curriculum: dental nomenclature and caries classification, oral anatomy, basic occlusion, restorative instrumentation, liners and bases, dental materials, matrix and wedge techniques, amalgam placement and carving, composite packing and finishing, and rubber dam isolation
Cost: $3,700 per assistant, covering both the online training and all 4 hands-on days
Time away from your office: the 4 in-person days, since the online portion is completed ahead of time
The EFDA course is a certification course, not a continuing education course, so your assistant earns a credential rather than CE credits.
If You're a Dental Assistant Reading This
If you're the one hoping to become an EFDA, this is a good article to share with your dentist, since the supervising dentist's role is a big part of the process. For the assistant's side of the path, including the prerequisites and how to plan your hours, read our guide on what EFDA restorative certification is and how to get it in Illinois.
The Bottom Line
Yes, dental assistants can place fillings in Illinois once they qualify as an EFDA. That means at least 4,000 hours of clinical experience, a completed coronal polishing and sealant course, a current BLS certification, and an approved EFDA restorative course. As the supervising dentist, you authorize the work, stay in the facility, approve each restoration before the patient leaves, and observe 8 restorations during training.
For practices short on chair time and struggling to hire, training an experienced assistant as an EFDA is one of the most practical ways to expand what your team can do. Enroll your team in the EFDA Restorative Course or contact us to talk through whether your assistant qualifies.
