Dental assistant job

Started by taeyeonlover
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taeyeonlover

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7+ Year Member
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Has anyone worked as a dental assistant? I wanted to get more dental experience so I was looking for some dental assistant jobs in my area and I noticed that all of them require some experience and certification.

I am wondering how I can get this experience beforehand?

Please let me know!
 
From my experience searching for a dental assistant position and working as one a few months ago, usually you have to look for a dental assistant position at a corporate dental chain. Small private dental offices usually require experiences because you will be one of maybe 2-3 assistants and they will need you to know what you're doing from the get-go. At a large corporate dental office, you will be one of 10+ assistants across multiple offices and they have experienced assistants who will be responsible to train you. Because they have a lot of dental assistants, they can afford to have an inexperienced one for a few weeks.
 
Dental assisting varies by state. Some states require you to have completed a class and hold a dental assistant license (RDA), while other states allow the dentist to train you on the job.
 
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I started out shadowing and helping out with sterilization at a free dental clinic, where they eventually let me start assisting. I then went on to get a job as a DA in a small private practice. It really helps if you've already taken an X-ray certification class (though I assume this depends on the regulations of whichever state you live in).
 
Check out postings for orthodontics offices! You don't need certification to be an orthodontics assistant, just a doc who is willing to teach. This is what I've been doing part-time during the past year before dental school starts up for me. I've only shadowed in a general dentist's office, but the experience is vastly different from what I've seen/done. Orthodontics is VERY hands-on, a great way to get a head start on procedures I wouldn't have been able to do in any other setting.
 
Be sure to check your dentist as well - either they may let you, or they'll know dentists in the area that take students to assist, that's how I got into it!
 
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