Interested in Work in a Dental Clinic

[Dion]

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I am interested in dentistry and I am a second year biology student. I have heard that many dental schools require that prospective students jobshadow. I would love to work in a dental office (hopefully soon, I have a broken fingertip now) as soon as possible. When I get better, I would love to gain the experience.

I would prefer to do the work of a dental assistant (than doing jobshadowing) so I can have somewhat of a more hands-on experience as to what I will be doing in the future. I was reading that there are no major requirements for dental assistants (besides a high school diploma). What qualities to dentist look for when considering prospective dental assistants? I would love to pursue this passion of dentistry and get experience.

Besides being a gd, I am interested in pediatric dentistry. I would also love to work/volunteer in a pediatric dental office. One thing worries me though: parents of children may feel uncomfortable with an inexperience employee there.

Can someone who has worked in a dental clinic while an undergad fill me in? Thanks. I appreciate it.

 

[lifeisgood]

I work in a free clinic and there are a lot of UC kids that volunteer there. All i do is assist the dentist..sucking up all of that delicious blood and spit. YUM!

 

[AplusDent]

Well I worked as a dental assistant for a year at a family dental office. I first shadowed there for a semester, gained their trust, learned quickly, had my hep B series, and was offered a job. At the beginning when I was shadowing the doctor would introduce me to the patients and while they were getting numb I would talk to the patients and help them get relaxed. Once I worked there as an assistant I was treated like all the other assistants (although I was the only one who didn't go to school to become an assistant). First I started off slow and basically did four handed dentistry with the doctor, helped seat patients and fill in ther charts, setting up rooms, cleaning them and sterilizing. Then after I worked more I did a bunch of sealants and soon did a few simple occlusal, bucal, and lingual restorations with composite resin. I haven't seen any amalgams done yet though..the office I worked in didn't supply that procedure. Basically the only thing I didn't do that the more experienced assistants did was taking x-rays (I'm not certified) and finishing the restorations with the handpiece. Otherwise I learnt pretty much everything else. It was a great experience. 😀

 

[Dion]

Well I worked as a dental assistant for a year at a family dental office. I first shadowed there for a semester, gained their trust, learned quickly, had my hep B series, and was offered a job. At the beginning when I was shadowing the doctor would introduce me to the patients and while they were getting numb I would talk to the patients and help them get relaxed. Once I worked there as an assistant I was treated like all the other assistants (although I was the only one who didn't go to school to become an assistant). First I started off slow and basically did four handed dentistry with the doctor, helped seat patients and fill in ther charts, setting up rooms, cleaning them and sterilizing. Then after I worked more I did a bunch of sealants and soon did a few simple occlusal, bucal, and lingual restorations with composite resin. I haven't seen any amalgams done yet though..the office I worked in didn't supply that procedure. Basically the only thing I didn't do that the more experienced assistants did was taking x-rays (I'm not certified) and finishing the restorations with the handpiece. Otherwise I learnt pretty much everything else. It was a great experience. 😀

Did you encounter any difficulties or anything that would discourage you? Any stressful situations?

 

[djeffreyt]

Hey Dion,

You tend to learn a lot of stuff by being an assistant, so I say go for it. Just one piece of advice. Set your school schedule up so that you can work at least 2 days 8-5, cause although dentists are willing to take a chance on someone without a dental assisting certificate, it is hard for a dentist to hire someone who can only work from 8-11 M W F and 3:30 to 5 n T Th.

Also, you may want to at least get your dental x-ray certification which you can get at any dental assisting school or Community College with an assisting program for about $250.

Like the poster above me...start out by volunteering in an office to get the handle of terminology, names of tools, setting up trays, OSHA requirements and sterilizing. At the same time try to get an X-ray certification done, then just start applying. Since you aren't close to graduating yet, you may have a better chance of getting a job since most places like a person to stay a few years.

 

[AplusDent]

Did you encounter any difficulties or anything that would discourage you? Any stressful situations?

Nope no difficulties...after observing so many procedures over and over again you become very comfortable with everything. At first it's a little odd being on the right side of the patient and being the one "in charge" for part of the procedure but you get used to it. I do wish I had my x-ray cert. but at the moment I'm kinda swamped studying for DAT tests and with my 6 classes I'm not working this semester....plus since i'm not workin "No tengo dinero..." maybe next semester. I had some really good experiences (and maybe only 1 negative one) so it really helped convince me that dentistry was what I wanted to pursue. Good luck with your search finding a nice dentist 🙂