working as dental assistant?

[liketeeth]

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If I don't have any job shadowing experience, would working as a dental assistant for a few months be helpful to my application?
For current/former dental assistants, how did you find your position? (i.e. job ads, cold calling, mass mailing resumes) and did you have any dental assistant training before applying? Thanks.

 

[wise146]

Don't get the job as a dental assistant. You should shadow a dentist, most dentists don't mind at all.

You should get another job before dental school that pays more so you can save up a little bit.

 

[Radioheadblue]

Try to get a job as a dental assistant, liketeeth. I'm trying to do the same myself. What better way to get an idea that you like to work in the mouth than actually doing it. Of course it would help. The adcoms want to know that you're really interested in the profession, not just another pre-med failure who has dentistry as a fallback. And about getting a job to save up. I really wouldn't worry about saving up for school. Cause if you go to NYU or some other private school, saving $$ would be like spitting in the ocean. GO FOR THE ASSISTANT JOB! just not where I live. Good luck.

 

[SpringHaze]

Definitely try to go into assisting if you can't shadow, I say. And actually I made more money as an assistant than I would've otherwise. At least in the offices I've worked in, it's been just as good as shadowing and it might give you a little insight to keep in mind when you have to deal with your own assistants later on down the road. Only problem is that not many places will higher assistants for just a few months, since they have to take the time to train you and get you accustomed to that specific office, they usually like to see longer staying power. What I did last summer was work for a temp dental assistant agency. That was even better because I got to see how six different offices were set up and run and how each dentist carried out their procedures. Picking six different dentists brains too was great. Unfortunately there's no promise of work from week to week, so I didn't make as much as I could've with a steady job, and some dentists tend to forget that you're a temp and can't read their minds like the assistant they had for 10 years. But for the experience you can't beat it.