I worked as an assistant for an oral surgeon all 4 summers during undergrad. He offered me the job after I shadowed him one day. He just had me as an extra person in addition to his normal staff. It wasn't that he needed the help, its just that he has a successful practice and the $11/hour he paid me for the 8 weeks or so i worked during the summer wasn't really hurting him. I think he was happy to give me a good experience for myself, and for my application. It gave me the opportunity to get 40+ hours/week of dental experience the summer, and make better money than I would in almost any other summer job. I plan on owning my own practice down the road, and I feel that if I did the same thing for a pre-dental student looking for experience, I would tell the guy I worked for because that shows how much value I place on my own experience with him. If that dentist really didn't hire you because you're a male that is messed up considering they were once in your shoes. That is also pretty sad that some men applying to dental school would be so self conscious that they'd be too embarrassed or "proud" to work as an assistant. How is it not ambitious? It will only help you reach your goal of getting into dental school which really shows you're ambitious. The staff and patients will probably respect you and be interested in your schooling. The only people that will think there is something wrong with it are either losers on here that will probably correct any grammatical errors I made in this post as another way of making themselves feel better/superior, or people who are pretty damn insecure and better get some confidence before those interviews come around. I really think it pays to get any and as much experience you can get, especially if it involves getting your hands in patient's mouths.