Having worked as a dental assistant prior to dental school, I didn’t know how much I would learn in my RUOP in Okanogan. I felt comfortable with procedures, I felt there wasn’t much more to “see” as an assistant, and I felt I understood in general how a dental office would run. On the other hand, I hoped I would get to apply the things I learned in my first year of school. For the other RIDE students, I figured assisting was going to open an entire new realm of dentistry, a completely new experience that will bring them one step closer to becoming a dentist. I questioned myself, “what realm will open for me?” With this in mind I took a different focus on what new things I would get out of my time spent in Okanogan.
Composites, amalgams, extractions, RCT… I have spent many hours assisting these procedures. After spending a short 4 days at my RUOP, I have come to realize that there was something I could bring from my training as an assistant to this office. Most of the doctors are fresh out of school, 1-2 years. We all know that students don’t get assistants while in school and therefore, where do we learn how to utilize one to the maximum? The dentist I worked for prior to dental school was good. He was really good. He utilized his assistants to extreme efficiency! He let us feel like we were contributing to the team. I never realized how well I was trained until now. I have noticed in my RUOP that these new dentists are not used to using assistants thus do not know how to utilize assistants in an efficient manner. They grab instruments from our hands in a risky manner, they twist and contort their bodies to grab what they need, they won’t ask for something, it is just plain awkward. Out of the 10+ assistants in the office, all were trained on the job within the last ~8 months, besides two. Therefore, they have much to learn still and if the doctor is not communicating with the assistants, there won’t be systematic interaction. After seeing this unproductive and unskillful system, I decided to “discretely” help the doctors use me to the fullest. I have asked them to tell me what they want and I would have it for them immediately. As simple as my design sounds, it worked within one amalgam procedure! The doctor rarely grabbed from the tray, he anticipated the instrument to be placed in his hand, and the entire appointment ran very smooth! I hope that the doctor I worked with today will begin to realize that we are there to help, not to be a burden to his task at hand. I can’t wait to continue to contribute back to the people who are helping ME learn!
On another side, there have been experiences that are new to me, ones that have shown me the importance of treating my patient as my priority, ones that have shown that compassion is a significant part of being a dentist. Many times the patient is not addressed by their name, there is no personal interaction between the patient and employees, or there is no concern for the feelings of the patient. Almost like an in-and-out, no smile, no goodbye sort of thing. A positive experience that helped me see the importance of compassion was while working on a RCT on a man. The dentist and I were chatting away, talking about why and what he was doing, talking about life, just talking. The patient said, “I like this. I like this a lot.” We were confused. He continued on, “usually the room is silent, almost like there is tension. But this is the first time there has been interaction between the dentist and assistant. I actually feel part of the team!” (Note that I’m not implying all patients feel this tension at the office, but he certainly did.) This clearly showed that there needs to be a positive energy, even if there is no talking!
I have learned more in my RUOP, not about procedures and assisting, but about the magnitude of having an excellent interaction between the dentist and the team.
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