How much dentistry experience do you think you would need?

[alexamasan]

Hey, I'm a sophomore in undergrad and volunteering at a free clinic. I have to say I'm getting much better experience here than I would just shadowing a dentist since I'm actually doing things like assisting the dentist with suction or drawing on the procedure sheet where they got cavities and such. But I just need to know if I'm getting enough experience. I see people here have a variety of different experiences and I only have experience at the free clinic. I plan to work there for at the very least 120 hours, since I'm doing this during the semester, but hopefully I can get over 200 hours working there.

Do you guys think this is enough in terms of experience, or maybe I should try to get involved in other dental related activities?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dentgirl09]

Hey, I'm a sophomore in undergrad and volunteering at a free clinic. I have to say I'm getting much better experience here than I would just shadowing a dentist since I'm actually doing things like assisting the dentist with suction or drawing on the procedure sheet where they got cavities and such. But I just need to know if I'm getting enough experience. I see people here have a variety of different experiences and I only have experience at the free clinic. I plan to work there for at the very least 120 hours, since I'm doing this during the semester, but hopefully I can get over 200 hours working there.

Do you guys think this is enough in terms of experience, or maybe I should try to get involved in other dental related activities?

You shoudl be fine. I only shadowed about 40-50 hours in a dientists office...but I also idnt' ge to do anything really except watch so your experience is probably more fulfilling but i mostly did it to see if I liked what he did all day. And I did!

 

[uclaDDS101]

Hey, I'm a sophomore in undergrad and volunteering at a free clinic. I have to say I'm getting much better experience here than I would just shadowing a dentist since I'm actually doing things like assisting the dentist with suction or drawing on the procedure sheet where they got cavities and such. But I just need to know if I'm getting enough experience. I see people here have a variety of different experiences and I only have experience at the free clinic. I plan to work there for at the very least 120 hours, since I'm doing this during the semester, but hopefully I can get over 200 hours working there.

Do you guys think this is enough in terms of experience, or maybe I should try to get involved in other dental related activities?

I'm a sophomore too! I would recommend also working with some specialists (either simultaneously with the free clinic or after you want to move on from there). There's still so much to learn about the field that you might not be exposed to while only working there. Right now, I work alternately with a general dent, a pedo, an ortho, an oral surgeon (and residents), dental students, and soon a prostho. And I can tell you, they have all been very different and unique experiences. There's so much to learn out there, so don't feel like you have to limit yourself to only one clinic. Take on as much as you want. In my opinion, there is never "enough" experience. (Otherwise, you'd already be a dentist.)