Spit Traps

[gt123]

Does your dental school require you to clean spit traps? I'm asking because the administration at my school is trying to make this change. We (the students) are pretty livid about this.

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[oralcare123]

It's pretty disgusting. May make you appreciate work of the assistant a little more

 

[jeffity]

Chair-side trap screens? Yes. Every Friday afternoon we do maintenance. Takes a solid 10 minutes, if that, and 12 seconds Monday morning to flush solution from the feed lines. Most of that 10 minutes is just letting the atomizer run. The traps are disposable. Whether I'm doing it in the 'real world' or not, it's a good habit to keep in mind now. Who does yours now?

 

[jeffity]

Does your dental school require you to clean spit traps? I'm asking because the administration at my school is trying to make this change. We (the students) are pretty livid about this.

After today's announcement in huddle, I see where this came from. Suite?

 

[nguyenkimphat]

what exactly is a spit trap!?

 

[jeffity]

what exactly is a spit trap!?

Filter at the end of the suction that traps chunks of stuff (like fragments of tissue (hard and soft) or materials). Any office out there should have a routine for this. Assistants should do it, not the doctor, of course. But we do it here and I don't have a problem with it. Just like set up and clean up of operatories. I think it's good to get in the mindset of it being done (I could imagine assistants wanting to skip out on a Friday afternoon), and it'll help us appreciate and relate to our staff later. I think part of the fuss is that it's just another thing on the plate....and on a Friday afternoon. It's also good to know your equipment. Repair techs aren't cheap. I've started a procedure and had a problem with suction. I knew where to handle it and keep going.

So whatever. I don't have a problem doing the dirty work.

 

[nguyenkimphat]

i guess it is a way for us to learn humility

Filter at the end of the suction that traps chunks of stuff (like fragments of tissue (hard and soft) or materials). Any office out there should have a routine for this. Assistants should do it, not the doctor, of course. But we do it here and I don't have a problem with it. Just like set up and clean up of operatories. I think it's good to get in the mindset of it being done (I could imagine assistants wanting to skip out on a Friday afternoon), and it'll help us appreciate and relate to our staff later. I think part of the fuss is that it's just another thing on the plate....and on a Friday afternoon. It's also good to know your equipment. Repair techs aren't cheap. I've started a procedure and had a problem with suction. I knew where to handle it and keep going.

So whatever. I don't have a problem doing the dirty work.

 

[ChrisM07]

Totally agree with jeffity. While it is a pain it is something that must be done and doing so may give you a little perspective into the other parts of the field. Getting to know the other aspects of dentistry are important IMO. As an assistant though, nothing is worse than changing the trap after a whole day of OS in the office. I had to change it once after single patient because the chair lost suction there was so much material in there.

 

[gt123]

Chris, please answer the question. I would be interested to know how it works at Tufts. Our school decided to not make cleaning spit traps mandatory.

 

[jeffity]

I love how this was even made a big issue. I can think of 1,000 other things more worthy of discussion/negotiation that actually pertain to my education and training.

 

[gt123]

I love how this was even made a big issue. I can think of 1,000 other things more worthy of discussion/negotiation that actually pertain to my education and training.

I think it's just all relative. While it seems you're speaking in hyperbole, most students in my suite actually had zero - 0 - things we needed to discuss/negotiate about my suite before the spit trap issue. So for us it was a HUGE deal. For other suites, y'all might be more concerned about other stuff.

 

[jeffity]

I think it's just all relative. While it seems you're speaking in hyperbole, most students in my suite actually had zero - 0 - things we needed to discuss/negotiate about my suite before the spit trap issue. So for us it was a HUGE deal. For other suites, y'all might be more concerned about other stuff.

Pretty drastic views from suite to suite, I guess. The neighboring suite overturned it in the same huddle when they were told they were no longer the responsibility of the student. All students/pairs simply agreed to keep doing their own. I'll be doing mine tomorrow. I'm not saying I'm full of complaints, just can't believe spit traps are being discussed to this degree. I've heard two specific D4s were championing the whole thing.

 

[gt123]

Pretty drastic views from suite to suite, I guess. The neighboring suite overturned it in the same huddle when they were told they were no longer the responsibility of the student. All students/pairs simply agreed to keep doing their own. I'll be doing mine tomorrow. I'm not saying I'm full of complaints, just can't believe spit traps are being discussed to this degree. I've heard two specific D4s were championing the whole thing.

That is interesting.. I don't know anyone upstairs who would willingly clean their traps. It's sad how polarized people are around this whole thing. I think it's mostly because of how poorly it was handled.

Two D4s championing what?

 

[tooth knockn]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/index.php?threads/Where-do-I-stand?.1086414/

 

[ChrisM07]

Chris, please answer the question. I would be interested to know how it works at Tufts. Our school decided to not make cleaning spit traps mandatory.

I haven't actually started school yet not do I know their policy on it.