Advice for a dental assistant

[577455]

Hey everyone,


I posted this in the pre-dental forum, but I thought it would be valuable to have some input from those that are actually working in the field.
I was a volunteer at the dental department of a large FQHC. I had no dental experience but I learned quickly. The director of dentistry was very kind and mentored me knowing that I was about to apply to dental school. We discussed a paid position where I would continue to bring patients back, setting up for the operation, assist, and sterilize instruments.
For the first two months working everything was great. I was assisting in dental procedures and last week the director was teaching me how to take impressions and pour out models. Yesterday, one of the dental assistants complained about being scheduled the week's float to the office manager. The DAs and manager had a meeting and decided that I would be made the permanent floater. This means that I would no longer be assisting, and that I would be responsible for bringing the patients back, setting up for the procedure, then cleaning up after when the procedure was done. In between I would be sterilizing the instruments. This is a labor intensive job, meaning I would be standing all day, and cleaning up after everyone. Of course the other DAs would agreed because all they would have to do is sit next to the dentist and pass instruments while I'm doing all the janitorial work. They justified this by saying that I was not certified and not allowed to take XR. In my state the only way to get to sit for the XR exam is to go to an accredited dental assisting program. The first two months things were going fine though. If needed, I would just ask one of the DAs to take an XR for me. While they were doing the XR I would finish whatever they were working on then we'd switch back after the XR.
I don't want to approach the director regarding this issue. She is responsible for 4 dental clinics, 6 dentists, 2 GPR residents, dental students, a lot of staff, and she practices.

They never asked how I felt. I didn't object because I wanted some time to think before I said anything.

I'm looking at this a few different ways:
1. You are being mistreated. It's unfair to make one person the permanent float, despite the XR situation. The other dental assistants are taking advantage of a convenient situation where they can have someone else do what they don't want to do. You accepted the position in order to learn about becoming a dentist, not to scrub instruments. Confront the office manager.

2. You should be thankful they offered you a paid position. You did the same thing as a volunteer, now they are actually paying you for it. You are untrained so whatever they tell you to do, you do. You are not being mistreated.

3. You are being mistreated but need to think of the long term. You are in the middle of applying to dental school and are waiting on strong letters of recommendation from the director and the dentist. You can't be causing trouble for them. Keep your head down, work hard, and pray you get into dental school. Once your in dental school, you'll never have to scrub instruments and clean rooms again.

If anyone has any advice on what to do, I would appreciate it.

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[oralcare123]

Your responsibilities now are actually easier, then you think. The most stressful in the job of a DA is dealing with people in pain and keeping static positions during assisting. It sound janitorial, but it is actually lovely and relaxing.
Dentists actually hate the delays, caused by DAs switching to do X-rays and impressions
The problem for you is, that you would not be able to watch dental procedures, which in preparation for the DS is quite important. You could put hours of observation on your ap and learn easier in the lab. So talk to the manager from this point of view.

 

[Drbcca]

Don't be a complainer, you are not mistreated at all welcome to the dental field, even as a dentist you have to be able to scrub the instruments and clean the rooms sometimes, if you were hired in my office I'm sure my floor supervisor would do the same to you too, I look at it this way you are totally new, no experience and no license. You have to learn how to be fast and efficient I'm 100% sure if you be the best at what they ask for, you will be promoted to be a DA or work as a DA, you have to be thankful that you are in this environment and have an opportunity to be exposed to dentistry and learn, but the rest is up to you.

 

[sgv]

Let's break this down:
(1) You're not a formerly trained dental assistant
(2) As far as assets are concerned, you bring the fewest assets with your level of training
(3) The vast majority of predental volunteers or assistants get scut duty anyways (breaking down rooms, setting them up and assisting only when full-time dental assistants are too busy)

What about the dental practice's point of view:
(1) Dentist wants to get the most out of his or her employees by efficiently delegating their skills
(2) Why would a $15/hour, formally trained dental assistant's skills lay waste by cleaning up rooms and breaking them down when literally anyone off the street can do this job? Why not maximize $15/hour worth of skills to more technical work like taking x-rays and dental assisting? Believe it or not dental assisting isn't as easy as you think it to be. I like my dental assistant to anticipate what I'm going to want and memorize my particular nuances related to the procedures and instruments/materials. You don't know this yet but it can be irritating when a dental assistant doesn't do these things and, in fact, a bad dental assistant slows the dentist down.
(3) This is where you come in. You bring the least level of training and are the least paid. Wouldn't you say it's probably best to keep the critical work to those who are trained and are paid for their level of training? Why waste a trained dental assistant's skills, who I'm paying top dollar for dental assisting, to do work that someone without training can do?

Here's what you can do:
(1) Quit and volunteer somewhere else.
(2) Seek formal training and negotiate later (highly NOT recommended IMO b/c it's a waste of time and money for a dental school applicant)
(3) Max out at 100 hours or whatever the shadowing requirement is nowadays and then call it quits.

You should suck it up. It's honestly kind of weird to call it volunteering at a clinic when you're getting paid anyways. I would have preferred to not be paid and be able to call it volunteering on my application.

 

[oralcare123]

I would disagree, that cleaning and sterilizing instruments takes no training. This is where cross contamination and instrument damage happening, eventually causing financial loss

 

[577455]

Let's break this down:
(1) You're not a formerly trained dental assistant
(2) As far as assets are concerned, you bring the fewest assets with your level of training
(3) The vast majority of predental volunteers or assistants get scut duty anyways (breaking down rooms, setting them up and assisting only when full-time dental assistants are too busy)

What about the dental practice's point of view:
(1) Dentist wants to get the most out of his or her employees by efficiently delegating their skills
(2) Why would a $15/hour, formally trained dental assistant's skills lay waste by cleaning up rooms and breaking them down when literally anyone off the street can do this job? Why not maximize $15/hour worth of skills to more technical work like taking x-rays and dental assisting? Believe it or not dental assisting isn't as easy as you think it to be. I like my dental assistant to anticipate what I'm going to want and memorize my particular nuances related to the procedures and instruments/materials. You don't know this yet but it can be irritating when a dental assistant doesn't do these things and, in fact, a bad dental assistant slows the dentist down.
(3) This is where you come in. You bring the least level of training and are the least paid. Wouldn't you say it's probably best to keep the critical work to those who are trained and are paid for their level of training? Why waste a trained dental assistant's skills, who I'm paying top dollar for dental assisting, to do work that someone without training can do?

Here's what you can do:
(1) Quit and volunteer somewhere else.
(2) Seek formal training and negotiate later (highly NOT recommended IMO b/c it's a waste of time and money for a dental school applicant)
(3) Max out at 100 hours or whatever the shadowing requirement is nowadays and then call it quits.

You should suck it up. It's honestly kind of weird to call it volunteering at a clinic when you're getting paid anyways. I would have preferred to not be paid and be able to call it volunteering on my application.

Thank you for your insight. I've taken everyone's advice and continued to work hard at being a float. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I was originally a volunteer at the clinic. I worked hard and they offered me a job as an office trained assistant. So now I'm not a volunteer, but a paid employee. I am currently applying this cycle and I will work here until I get into dental school. I've listed this experience separately on AADSAS. A volunteer experience and a paid dental experience.