Dental Experience Hours

[939959]

Hello all!

I just had a quick question:

I am applying to dental school this cycle, and I have the following amount of dental experience hours:

Shadowing my family dentist: ~28 hrs

Shadowing an oral surgeon’s practice: ~76hrs

Shadowing a pediatric dentist: ~28 hrs

Volunteering as a dental assistant at a clinic for the underprivileged: ~92 hrs

Total hours: ~224 hrs

Is it okay that most of my hours are from assisting? I’m not sure how strict dental schools are in general on shadowing vs assisting. Also, is it okay to have shadowed specialists?

I’m slightly concerned I don’t have enough “shadowing” hours.

Thank you all!

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[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Yeah I’d say you’re good. Assisting is better than shadowing too since you get to be hands on.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

You are good to go.

 

[PreDenting]

Some schools having shadowing requirements as high as 100+ hours but you seem to meet that criteria.

While some get students get anxious about the "shadowing" vs "assisting" designation, it's not something to stress over. The point of shadowing is to get dental experience and understand the profession. As an assistant, you're taking a hands-on, active approach to that rather than the passive process of shadowing. Good luck!

 

[939959]

Thank you all for the feedback!