You may be wondering how this blog could be useful to you or how you could benefit from reading our posts or actively participating by giving us feedback. We want to clarify our purpose for creating this blog. There are numerous resources out there for dentists and hygienists to network and share ideas with each other for things that do and don't work in their practices. Sadly, there are practically no resources for assistants. We are an important part of the dental team and equally need to network and support each other to lead a productive and satisfying career in the dental field.
Dental assisting is anything but boring! It would be boring if all you're doing is suctioning spit! If you're bored as an assistant, we want you to ask yourself why. Think about what roles and responsibilities you could take on to challenge yourself and help make your doctor happy and the practice as a whole become more productive. Your role as an assistant is much more important than just suctioning and assisting your doctor during restorative procedures. You are the one person in the practice who really knows your doctor best. You spend the most time with him/her by working side-by-side - all day, everyday. If you're good at what you do, they know and appreciate that. But now it's time to take it a step further.
So remember, you're not "just a dental assistant." We have the advantage of having a close relationship with our doctor and our patients. As we continue to post information, please share your comments and your helpful hints. Through our different experiences and dental education, we all have something to share and learn from each other.
great blog.. way to go!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Gina & Amber!
ReplyDeleteI believe that most dental assistants are not given the recognition and respect that we deserve. We need to spread awareness to the dental community that we are a valuable asset and very much needed. We need to recieve more continuing education, and there needs to be more of that out there directed towards dental assistants, but sadly most of what I see is meant for Dentists and Hygienists. If more dental assistants came together and started trying to make a difference I believe that we would be given more recognition, and that more of us would hold our career to a 'higher standard' and be so proud to do what we love to do. We wouldn't feel as though we are just the petty helping held, we would feel important. I don't mean to sound pessimistic but sadly we aren't given the recognition we all truly deserve. I know myself being an EFDA I place all the composite restorations in our office, fabricate all the temporary crowns and bridges, perform coronal polishing, denture adj's, take impressions, and perform regular tasks as well such as basic chairside assisting and sterilization. I am also in charge of all ordering and inventory and manage the lab. I feel like that is a pretty hefty job description and I feel it everyday when I finally get to clock out, but at the end of all of it I'm still just the helping hand. It has been this way throughout my journey working in different dental offices, from the first one to the last, as well as all other EFDA's I've spoken to feeling this way as well. And not that it's necessary to mention, I'm sure, but if compensation were a way of determining one's worth..well I think that it speaks for itself. I make a lousy $12/hr with no benifits though I feel lucky to be able to even have a job in our tough economy and the world we live in and I thank God for what I have every night, I am also tired of selling myself short and doing this work which I am personally so proud of to only make a 'decent' wage. Oh...and I also have trained both the new girls in our office who have recently started and are both only allowed at the moment to perform basic chairside functions and one has started out making $1 more per hr than me ($13/hr) even after the Dr. saying that I have the best hands he's seen in over 20 yrs. I think most of us feel over worked, underpaid and under appreciated. So that being said....let's do something about it!! How can we turn it around? How can we get the recognition we all deserve? This may be my sob story but I'm sure we all have our struggles.
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