After taking a year off between undergrad and dental school (hopefully!), I'm really excited to have begun a full-time paid internship at a local orthodontic office. My first full week was this week and I have to admit, it was a bit overwhelming! They will be training me to essentially be a fully qualified orthodontic assistant over the next year. I was wondering if anyone could point me to a website that has a list of orthodontic instruments with pictures so I can study up this weekend? There are so many tools it can really be confusing at first so anything I can do to help myself would be awesome! Thanks!
Question regarding Orthodontic Internship...?
- Thread starter spider367
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Best that you can do is just dive into it head on during work.
Come home and dream about it some more.
Go back into work the next day and think about it even more!
Your life will be hectic and be comprised of nothing but dentistry for a few months.
The first thing you should do is get rid of the term tool because they are not tools, they are instruments.
Come home and dream about it some more.
Go back into work the next day and think about it even more!
Your life will be hectic and be comprised of nothing but dentistry for a few months.
The first thing you should do is get rid of the term tool because they are not tools, they are instruments.
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I volunteer at a community dental clinic and had the same problem. I purchased a spiral bound book called Dental Instruments A Pocket Guide by Linda R. Bartolomucci Boyd. I purchased it on Amazon but you may be able to find something similar at a dental assisting/hygiene school. I just looked at it again and there is a chapter dedicated to orthodontic instruments.
But this was more helpful than the book: I set up a tray with the instruments arranged the way the dentist wants them and took a picture. I made a second picture of the less used instruments that we have on hand but don't routinely use. I labeled both pictures with the names of each instrument and it helped me learn their names.
But this was more helpful than the book: I set up a tray with the instruments arranged the way the dentist wants them and took a picture. I made a second picture of the less used instruments that we have on hand but don't routinely use. I labeled both pictures with the names of each instrument and it helped me learn their names.
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http://lmgtfy.com/?q=orthodontic+instruments <---- sorry couldnt resist
http://www.orthodontic-supplies.com/orthodontic-instruments-2-c.asp
You can go through that inventory list and see what instruments they use in your office.
I wouldnt stress about studying the ortho instruments at home, just be an active learner and try to learn as much and as fast as you can. Its more important that you learn to get comfortable opening/closing brackets (or placing/removing O rings if your office doesnt use self ligating brackets - the ones with doors), removing and placing wires, and being able to visualize elastic wear/powerchain placement when the Dr tells you what to do. Many offices have models of teeth that have brackets on them to show patients. You can use these models to practice opening and closing brackets so you feel more confident when you try it out on a patient.
Learn how they number teeth in ortho (palmer system), learn the types of occlusion (class I, II, III), learn the wires (round vs rectangular, nickle-titanium/stainless steel/resolve/...). The names of the instruments will come as you start to use them. Its not like in GP where the assistant just hands instruments all day to the Dr.
http://www.orthodontic-supplies.com/orthodontic-instruments-2-c.asp
You can go through that inventory list and see what instruments they use in your office.
I wouldnt stress about studying the ortho instruments at home, just be an active learner and try to learn as much and as fast as you can. Its more important that you learn to get comfortable opening/closing brackets (or placing/removing O rings if your office doesnt use self ligating brackets - the ones with doors), removing and placing wires, and being able to visualize elastic wear/powerchain placement when the Dr tells you what to do. Many offices have models of teeth that have brackets on them to show patients. You can use these models to practice opening and closing brackets so you feel more confident when you try it out on a patient.
Learn how they number teeth in ortho (palmer system), learn the types of occlusion (class I, II, III), learn the wires (round vs rectangular, nickle-titanium/stainless steel/resolve/...). The names of the instruments will come as you start to use them. Its not like in GP where the assistant just hands instruments all day to the Dr.
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About how long will it take to learn to do all the procedures you talked about above (opening brackets, placing archwires, etc)? I really am excited about working in an office full-time but am nervous that I'm gonna be a slow learner. For example, about where should I be in a month from now (seeing patients 4 days a week every week)? Thanks!
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Every day you will do new, unfamiliar things. Your initial reaction will be "wait, i've never done that before", but you have to go for it. First day I'd ask about the model teeth with brackets on them so you can get familiar with their bracket system and how they work. Ask an assistant if you can close up the brackets (assuming they are self-ligating. Google "self-ligating brackets" to see what im talking about). Then you can try opening a few brackets. Most likely itll take you a long time (bc you'll be nervous about hurting the patient) so just try a couple.
Another easy thing to learn is taking off power chains (which you will do a million times a day as an assistant). Ask an assistant if they can show you how to take off a powerchain and then do one. This is very easy to do and you can probably do it on your first or second day.
The point is this: make it very clear that you are eager to learn and try what they will allow you to do. They'll teach you everything so dont worry. After a week I was taking on my own patients to do basic adjustments (powerchains, wires, elastics), then I started to do bonding apointments, deband, bands,... Slowly but surely.
Thanks. I'm just a little nervous because next week will only be my second week there and they're only going to have one assistant working the whole week! I'm just nervous they're going to be asking me to do quite a bit more than my first week and I don't want to f*** up!
Congrats on the internship! If you are really interested in ortho, you might want to pick up Contemporary Orthodontics by William Proffit and at least read through the diagnosis portion. Looking through that book will prepare you and get you acquainted with the basic terminology. Also, my advice would be to ask questions. Don't ever do something you're not sure about because you're afraid to ask. When I trained my assistants, I never got frustrated when they asked questions, but I got extremely annoyed when they would do things incorrectly just because they didn't ask. You should be able learn the ropes within a month or two, and from that point you should try to push yourself and predict what the next steps are. Ask the doc if he/she could explain the thought process behind the activations and the info you gain will be invaluable. If you have time, try to become a certified ortho assistant as well so you can be responsible for more procedures. (legally). Have fun and good luck!
