Shadowing at Dental Office HELPs !!!

[Shadowwalker]

Hello everyone,

I am planning on shadowing over this summer. I have some questions, please feel free to share your advice.
1. May I shadow 80 hours this summer, and terminate for school, more shadowing will be on next summer?
2. Should I shadow 2 dentist at a time? or just one? Please explain.
3. Which attire should be worn?
4. Can you list things I will be doing during my shadowing? Like just watch, question?, helping paper work for front desk or any helps should i do?
Thank you for your help. I am looking forward to seeing your responses!

Sincerely.

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[sjv]

1. Yes.
2. Up to you.
3. Business Casual.
4. Observe various procedures, ask questions about anything you like, see how private practice works and mostly see if this is what you really want to pursue. Anything else is really up to the the Dentist, they may have you set up trays, sterilize, etc.

 

[tendram]

I think the answer for 3 varies by office. You can't go wrong with business casual like sjv said but after one office suggested wearing scrubs I made it a habit of asking any new offices what they suggest I wear. And definitely ask questions. It will help you understand the procedures better and will give you some insight to how a dental office works.

 

[sdnlurkeress]

1. Yes
2. If you have time go for it. Practices are run differently by other dentists and you can get more hours under your belt.
3. Like tendram said, it depends on the office. You should call ahead before you go to ask. One dentist I shadowed had me put on a spare assistant uniform at the office. I don't know how common that is, but I always came in that office wearing business casual attire as a back up. I have scrubs as well however.
4. Depends on the dentist. On slow days I helped the assistants organize materials while we were waiting for the patients. I would ask permission from the dentist and the patient before entering the room to view whatever procedure that was about to take place. Ask plenty of questions so you can get the most out of the visit. Even just listening to the dentist talk to the patients can be very helpful.