shadowing a dentist

[steven87]

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sup iam shadowing a dentist now, is it possible to ask the dentist to allow me to get hands on expereince like to do extractions, denture impressions or actually taking part in root canals would they go for it and have you guys had the opportunity to do any of this stuff during your shadowing??????

 

[aphistis]

sup iam shadowing a dentist now, is it possible to ask the dentist to allow me to get hands on expereince like to do extractions, denture impressions or actually taking part in root canals would they go for it and have you guys had the opportunity to do any of this stuff during your shadowing??????

You can ask, but s/he will most assuredly turn you down. It's a simple matter of patient safety. You've received no education or training in the procedures, and it's about as likely to happen as a surgeon letting you help out with a heart transplant. 🙂 Stick with watching & learning for now. You'll get your chance once you get to dental school.

 

[dentalman]

Don't even ask. They won't (and shouldn't) go for it. Wait until dental school.

 

[1992Corolla]

next best thing to shadowing...suction! Helping the dentist with other things like vibrating amalgam, taking impressions, making temporaries, etc.

 

[DAS]

They wouldn't allow you to do any procedures, which is why you go to dental school. But I understand why you asked this question, it is as boring as hell to watch a dentist perform the same procedure a million times, and you are standing next to him/her doing nothing. I couldn't keep on watching the same dentist for 4 hours straight while I am there dressed up and just looking like a fool. If he gave me something to do that will directly help me in dental school it would be fine. Looking at him doing "cool" procedures made me want to drill inside the patients mouth myself.
But I loved it, it is just that I couldn't do it for more than a few months.

 

[kenniemd]

sup iam shadowing a dentist now, is it possible to ask the dentist to allow me to get hands on expereince like to do extractions, denture impressions or actually taking part in root canals would they go for it and have you guys had the opportunity to do any of this stuff during your shadowing??????

If you want to have some more hands on experience, you might want to consider taking a course in expanded functions dental assisting. You might not get to do extractions (unless the tooth comes out with the alginate) or root canals but you will get to do a whole lot more than suctioning.

 

[cdmOMR]

sup iam shadowing a dentist now, is it possible to ask the dentist to allow me to get hands on expereince like to do extractions, denture impressions or actually taking part in root canals would they go for it and have you guys had the opportunity to do any of this stuff during your shadowing??????

Isnt that illegal?? I can see an extraction if the power of the hi-speed suction is enough to pull the tooth out, but anything else? I guess its state to state, but I thought the most hands on an assistant could get is to remove temp. cement and polish.

 

[scalpel2008]

you could go on a dental mission trip to central america if you really want to do some stuff

 

[kenniemd]

Isnt that illegal?? I can see an extraction if the power of the hi-speed suction is enough to pull the tooth out, but anything else? I guess its state to state, but I thought the most hands on an assistant could get is to remove temp. cement and polish.

If you are taking an alginate impression and you have a mobile tooth, it is possible (speaking from experience) that the tooth will come out. You say you have 1500 hrs of dental assisting? Hmm

 

[cdmOMR]

If you are taking an alginate impression and you have a mobile tooth, it is possible (speaking from experience) that the tooth will come out. You say you have 1500 hrs of dental assisting? Hmm

Um, I wasnt disagreeing with you. I was kinda exaggerating your point by saying a tooth would have to be REALLY loose in order for a dental assistant to do an "extraction". Ive personally never had a persons tooth come out while doing an alginate impression, but with the force needed to break the suction after the alginate hardens, its definatly feasible that a loose tooth could come out. Then again if a tooth was really that loose it would probably need to be extracted in the first place and if you were taking an alginate impression for a partial denture lets say, you probably wouldnt need to take the impression before the tooth is extracted anyway...(just being argumentative). As far as hands on with root canals and stuff or actual extractions of an immobile tooth, I thought it was illegal for anybody but a licensed Dentist to do? Is it?

**EDIT: I can see how it sounded like I was referring to your post about it being illegal to remove a tooth during an alginate impression. I was actually referring to the original posters comment about helping out with extractions/root canals I just forgot to quote him, fixed it now.

 

[Holy Thursday]

sup iam shadowing a dentist now, is it possible to ask the dentist to allow me to get hands on expereince like to do extractions, denture impressions or actually taking part in root canals would they go for it and have you guys had the opportunity to do any of this stuff during your shadowing??????

Okay, it's great that you decided to ask us the question instead of just asking the dentist. However, unless the dentist just lost her mind, you should not be able to touch a patient. Dental students aren't even allowed to touch real patients their first year in ds so why would you think it was okay for you to do this? The dentist carries tons of malpractice insurance that req's him/her to promise that he/she will be the only one doing certain procedures. Additionally, state laws are very strict about touching patients. For example, some states will not let a recent graduate or even experienced dentist do anything except suction without a license. Thus, I seriously doubt you would get to do anything.

 

[Recapitulator]

For me, I think it is a big deal just to let a non-dental person (observer) in the operatory while someone (the dentist) is working, much less have them do work on me. So when someone asks me if they can observe I am fine with that but I make sure the patient is completely fine with them watching and/or helping out, ie suctioning.