How did you guys get dental experience?

[DrowningInWork]

Is it mostly volunteering in a clinic and shadowing, or is there other stuff you can do without a dental assisting license or something?

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[KoonS]

Talk to the dental students at your state dental school, and ask them if you can assist them. Most of them is very willing to let you assist them during their practices.

 

[RuffDay]

I received a lot of dental experiences in the past 2 years. Volunteering at a dental clinic, working for a dental lab, and interning at a dental office.

I found my experiences through networking and Craigslist.

 

[Frychicken]

Talk to the dental students at your state dental school, and ask them if you can assist them. Most of them is very willing to let you assist them during their practices.

Seriously? I'm not sure we can let pre-dents up in the clinic shadow us. It's already jam-packed as is and we're also still in training ourselves. Your best bet is to contact local private offices.

 

[BYU4you]

Shadowing like 90 percent of pre-dents

 

[KoonS]

The dental student here in CO let us assist them, Not SHADOW. They would answer any questions that we have, if they 100% sure. It was way better experience than shadowing a dentist for me, so much more comfortable because they treat us like friends. The best thing is that you can meet the dean and admission staff. You can ask them the application processes and stuff like that, what they are looking for in the students....

 

[Soleus715]

Due to IL law for dental assistants, I was able to work for the dentist I shadowed and received hands on training. I've been working for about a year now and it's been great working with the dentist, the assistants, patients, etc.
It doesn't even feel like work.. it's more like going on a field trip every day. And then get paid for it. I highly recommend dental assisting if your state allows it.

 

[ncide]

I took a course that trained dental assistants and then worked under several doctors, but I'll be the first to tell you that you don't need that education. All you need is to ask.

Doctors see themselves in you. Eager to learn and willing to dedicate themselves.

Take that advice and ask doctors to work under them. Some will be more helpful than others. If you feel like you could learn more under one, than by all means go and ask them. Don't let opportunities pass you by.

 

[SM555]

I shadowed 5 dentists during undergrad and now the summer before I start dental school I'm assisting my hometown dentist. I learned more in 2 hours of assisting than my 300 shadowing hours. It may be different for other states but where I'm from you can either become a certified dental assistant before you begin working or you can start learning how to assist without a license and then take the test later on.

 

[DetermineDent]

Ask dentists in the area. Join a pre-dental club at your school, and see if there's any dentists that are already known to let pre-dents to shadow. Once you get comfortable with a dentist you can ask to assist with a procedure. It'll be up to them of course. The few dentists I have shadowed let me assist with procedures I was comfortable with.