For those who work as dental assistants...

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La Miraflorina

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I left the house this morning in search of a dentist to shadow. To my surprise, the first dental practice I visited had a nice big "Help Wanted" sign in the window so I asked about it. Ten minutes later, completely shocked, I walked out of the office with a "dental assistant" position. I think I told the woman twice that I had no prior experience in dentistry... She said it was fine; that I needed to start somewhere.

I'd always thought you could only be a dental assistant after having taken a year-long course. Have any of you ever been assistants without going through the formal training? What will I be expected to do exactly?

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A dental assistant hands things to the dentist and cleans the chairs/rooms in between patients. They often rotate through different areas every week or so to keep it interesting, for example, taking impressions and cleaning impression trays, filing charts, and cleaning instruments. Probably some other stuff, too, depending on the office.

Don't get "dental assistant" confused with "dental hygienist" which go to formal school to learn to clean teeth.
 
Yes what toofache32 said,

However, you may need to be certified to take impressions. You can also become certified in Dental radiography. Depending on the state ist 30 hours of class time and $150. If the Dentist likes you he/she may pay for it.
 
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I was in your spot about 9 months ago. I was shadowing a dentist for about a month or so and one of his assistants left to work at another office. They offered me a job I took it. Here is what you should expect. Of course your experience will differ based on the skill level, ambition, and temperment of the dentist you work for. There are two dentists in the office where I work and their styles are very different.
In the office where I work we have two dentists, 3 hygienists, 3 assistants, and two front office staff.
As an assistant you arrive early to run the lines (wash out the disinfectant), set up the rooms, turn on the radio etc. The doctors arrive about the same time as the first patient. In our office we have one assistant per doctor and a floater to assist the hygienists with periodontal charting, help set up and break down rooms, help seat patients, make up trays and steralize instruments.
The patient arrives and the front office will buzz. You go to the front grab the chart and call the pt back to the room. You put the bib on the patient, open the intstruments, take any needed X-Rays, double check the room set up and then let the doctor know the patient is ready. The doctor comes in chats for 2 minutes with the patient, looks at the chart and X-Rays lays them back and the fun begins.
If it is an initial exam you will have already taken a full mouth series (18 X-Rays). You will next take down the existing teeth and dental work as called off by the doctor, chart periodontal depths, and results of soft tissue and TMJ exam. You will also write down important info the doctor notes during the exam and any work that will need to be done. You next, while the doctor is chatting with the pt, make up the treatment plan and print it out so the fron desk staff has it and the end of the apt. When the doc is done he says his good byes signs the chart and you walk the pt out.
If you are doing a restoration you will seat the pt, put bib on pt, open instruments and let doc know what room pt is in. The doc will come in and chat for 2 min and then set up to anesth the pt. One doc I work for likes his carples of anesth warmed up in H2O the other doesnt. One likes me to hand him the topical and syringe the other doesnt. If you work for more than one doctor you will find it difficult at first to keep there their routines straight. While the dr is delivering the anesth you will be ready with your suction and air/water syringe. When s/he is done you will wash out the pts mouth unless it is an extremely anterior tooth. While the pt is getting numb you will double check room, seat other pts, sterilize instruments etc. Once numb you will start the restoration. You will suction while the dr is using the high-speed drill and use the air water syringe to keep the mirror from fogging. You will also use your suction to protect the pts tongue and retract cheeks when needed. Be sure not to place your suction in the center of the pts mouth towards the back b/c the pt will gag. It is best to place it near the location where the doc is working or nearly resting on the back molars. Be sure not to block the drs view of his work area and once you have your suction in place to not move it all around. You will find that at time you can not keep the mouth from filling with H2O. Dont worry. There will be breaks in the action when you can swoop down and suction out that H2O. Once the doctor is done drilling he will has for caries detector. Put it on a swab and hand it to him (holding the swab a the extreme end so he can grasp it). He will put the caries detector in the prep and hand the swab back. You take it, put it down, and prepare to either suction as the doc washes the prep or you yourself washing and suctioning, and drying the prep. If there is still decay he will continue. If not he will be ready to place the composite. In my office we use SE Bond, Tetric flowable and Filtek. You will hand the doc the SE Bond PRIMER on a swab. He will place it on the tooth and let it sit 20 to 30 seconds. Next you will hand him the SE Bond. Once placed on the tooth you will cure it with the light for 10 seconds. Most likely the dr will next want the flowable (make sure you have the tooth color already picked out so the right flowable is ready). You hand him the flowable and keep a 4x4 in your left hand. He places the flowable and hands you it. You wipe the tip, place it between your middle and ring finget with the handle out. The Dr. may use the explorer to thin the flowable. If he does he may hold the instrument out for you to wipe the tip. If so wipe it without your glove touching the instrument. You will then cure the flowable for 20 seconds with the light. The Dr. may grab the flowable from your hand while you are curing so that he can use it again or he may decide he next wants the filtek. Some dr will get their own filtek others want you to get it for them. You squeeze it out on a pad and cover it. Grab the flat placer, turn off the overhead light and give the flat placer and hold the pad with filtek out so the dr can take what he wants. You set the flitek down and grab the burnisher and a 4X4. Dip each end of the burnisher in SE Bond and hold it ready to give to the dr. The dr will remove any excess filtek and hold out his instrument for you to clean. you wipe it. When he is ready for the burnisher you hand it to him and take the flat placer. He finishes shaping the filling and when done you cure the filling for 20 seconds. The dr. next uses the high speed to finish shaping the filling. You will suction b/c he will most likely use the high speed. You will be ready with the bite paper to check the pts bite. Tell the pt to bite down, tap, grind side to side etc. This marks the occlusal surface for the dr. He will then make additional adjustments with the hight speed and slow speed and finish up by polishing the filling with disks.
You chart what you did and the dr signs the chart and you walk the pt out.
If you are preping a crown you pretty much suction and retract. However, remember to take the initial impression for the temporary before the dr comes in. Protect the tongue when suctioning b/c if the burr gets ahold of it it will eat it up. Once the tooth is prepped the dr will take the final impression. In our office we use relatively quick setting impression material. The dr getts the light and you get the heavy. Once he has dried the tooth he will tell you to start and you will fill the impression tray with the heavy material while he puts the light around the tooth. You hand him the tray and the pt bites down on it. When it hardens he will take it out and check it. If it is ok you will make the temporary by putting integrity (tooth colored material) in the initial impression tray and asking the pt to bite down on it. Once dry you shape it and check the bite and seat it using temporary cement. You clean off the cement, chart what you did, fill out the lab slip, and walk the pt out.
When the crown comes back from the lab you will take off the temporary, clean off the cement, try in the crown and check the margins and contacts and bite. Some dentists will allow you to adjust the bite others will not. Once done let the dr know the pt is here. He will come in and do the final check. You mix the cement, put the cement into the crown (to the drs liking), hand the crown to the dr occlusal surface up. He will take it place it on the tooth, you will hand him swab so he can clean any cement that flows out. Next he will take the 4x4 you hand him and have the pt bite down. Once set you will clean off any excess cement and chart and walk the pt out.
Root canals are pretty fun and relaxing. All you do is hand the files to the dr, clean them off, take a couple X-Rays, suction a bit, etc.

Sorry for the long reply. If you want specific info PM me.
 
toofache32 said:
Don't get "dental assistant" confused with "dental hygienist" which go to formal school to learn to clean teeth.

If you are a certified dental assistant (CDA) you are able to make temporary crowns, colonary polishing, take x-rays, take impressions and pour them up/ make bleaching trays, assist dentist (4 handed dentistry) with procedures, set up rooms for dental procedures...this all can be tought by a dentist you don't really need to have your certificaten depending who you are working for, however you do get paid more.
Also, in California you can become a registered dental assistant (RDA)...you are able to do more than a dental assistant, such as placing sealants.
 
i started assisting with no experience or training a couple years ago. it was really scary and tough at first but if your dentist and the rest of the staff is patient with you then you'll get through the initial shock just fine. anyway you'll probably start with small jobs like sterilization, setting up rooms, etc. to get a feel for the names of the instruments and materials and which ones are used when. during this time you'll probably also watch some procedures so you can see what the experienced assistants do. then you will get to try doing a few parts like isolating, impressions, sealants, charting etc., under the supervision of the experienced assistant whose patient it is. finally you will be able to try putting it all together and assisting a whole procedure on your own, possibly with another assistant standing by to help if you feel like you need it. eventually you'll be more or less comfortable doing all the things that J2AZ mentioned in his incredibly detailed post :) . do not worry if you feel overwhelmed at first. where I work I'd say it takes new trainees with zero dental experience at least 6 months to feel really confident doing everything that they are allowed to do on their own. stick with it! :luck:
 
For a regular dental assistant requires no prior education. They do room/equipment sterilization, seating patients, charting, taking impressions, handing equipment to dentist, suctioning, preparing anesthetics, mixing materials (IRM, composites, amalgams, others), polishing and varnishing teeth, and X-rays if certified.
X-rays do require a state certification. If you work for an oral surgeon, an anesthetic state certification is required.

Dental hygienists (the ones that clean teeth) requires a dental hygienist school and license which is usually about 2 years.

Certified dental assistants depending on the state require some years working as a dental assistant, taking courses and then passing a state examination. Those do crowns and more complicated procedures.

It took me about 50 some hours to get comfortable with dental assisting. Being X-ray certified does not prepare actual clinical experience. Took me many tries to taking good X-rays. One X-ray I goofed 2 errors on it but it canceled each other out. I had the metal holder upside down and the metal showed up on the film. I also offcentered the tooth a bit to the left. The film ended up with the correct entire tooth on the left side with the metal part on the right. Dentist said that was complete luck.

One of them handed me an periosteal elevator and a pair of extraction forceps and wanted me to pull a wisdom tooth. I politely declined and said I'll wait until dental school to do that. That dentist said, you have to start somewhere.
 
I worked with an Oral Surgeon. So I never got to do any esthetic things like temporary crowns and impressions. I did get to mix materials. But they never let me pull out a tooth :(

with an Oral Surgeon though you get to see some cool stuff.

Oh and where I worked, you're not even allowed to push the x-ray button unless you're licensed to take x-rays.
 
to the OP, congrats

working as a dental assistant >> just shadowing, both in terms of your experience and how the schools will view it
 
So for you guys that have been assistants, how did that work while you were going through undergrad? Were you still able to work in the office, go to class, and keep your grades up? Or was it a summertime gig?
 
Sorry but I just gotta give toofache32 a hand for that avatar... :clap:
 
heyitscyndi said:
So for you guys that have been assistants, how did that work while you were going through undergrad? Were you still able to work in the office, go to class, and keep your grades up? Or was it a summertime gig?

Why would it be that hard to work as a dental aasistant during your undergrad?

I had to work during my undergrad to be able to pay for everything...and being a dental assistant actually helped me out because I got paid really well and I didn't have to work as much hours during the week...I had full load of courses whole four years at UCSD with science GPA 3.6, did research for 2 years and had a great social life....and I'm not a super smart student but just good at managing my time efficiently..plus when you are paying for your own education you don't want your money going to waste by doing bad in a class.
 
anima dannata said:
Why would it be that hard to work as a dental aasistant during your undergrad?

It would be difficult b/c most offices want an assistant to work full time M-Th. This is not a good work sch to have when you are trying to sch classes. I can just speak from my experience and I know that I would never have been able to work as an assistant while in school. It would have been impossible to take only evening and weekend classes and still graduate.
 
anima dannata said:
If you are a certified dental assistant (CDA) you are able to... [do] colonary polishing

How exactly is that accomplished? I mean, I could see a good thorough colon cleanse. Who wouldn't like a nice cool enema during dental treatment? But actual polishing??? That seems a little excessive. ;)
 
12YearOldKid said:
How exactly is that accomplished? I mean, I could see a good thorough colon cleanse. Who wouldn't like a nice cool enema during dental treatment? But actual polishing??? That seems a little excessive. ;)
:laugh: Sorry...didn't even realize I made such a big typo.. :D I meant coronal polishing
 
12YearOldKid said:
How exactly is that accomplished? I mean, I could see a good thorough colon cleanse. Who wouldn't like a nice cool enema during dental treatment? But actual polishing??? That seems a little excessive. ;)
Here is a picture from a place here in town that you guys won't believe. I was so shocked that I actually pulled off the road and took a picture. I didn't know this was for real. What the heck is "pregnancy message"?

 
What a crappy place to work. Hah; I kill me. :D

Seriously, though, that is more than a little disturbing. Yikes.
 
awesome thread
 
toofache32 said:
What the heck is "pregnancy message"?

I think it says "pregnancy massage."

So anyway what is an ULTIMATE colon cleansing? Is it better than a standard cleansing? Do they include a colon polishing ( :laugh: )? Does it have some type of guarantee? Complete wash n' wax?
 
IcemanDDS said:
I think it says "pregnancy massage."

So anyway what is an ULTIMATE colon cleansing? Is it better than a standard cleansing? Do they include a colon polishing ( :laugh: )? Does it have some type of guarantee? Complete wash n' wax?

wash n' wax :laugh: Why not? I guess you may as well spring for the total under-chassis treatment while they're down there.
 
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