One more thing to do

Internships are fun when you are doing what you love. They also look great on resumes. Getting the opportunity I did, through my school, I am one step ahead from other dental students my age. I recently called down to the University of Michigan to ask what would be the best college to go to so I could be one step closer to being expected into their dental school. They told me that as long as I meet the requirements, 3.6 GPA, pass the DAT, and did something to make me stand out I should be fine.

As I have already talked about dental school is not easy to get in, so why was she acting so calm and “it’s easy” sounding? By make yourself stand she most likely meant volunterring and internships. The internship I previously had was through my school, they set it up for me. I would go to the office for an hour a day. My main “job” was just to observe every part of the dental field.

My boss was really nice and really wanted me to get the full experience. She had people that sell dental instruments in so I could have a meeting with them. She really tried to show me that there is more than dentist, hygienist, and dental assistants in the dental field. Before that internship, I never really thought of working in the labs that make the crowns, bridges, or other dental equipment. Now that I know every part of the dental field I could really pick what I wanted to do.

                             

My school encouraged doing internships, not only because it looks good, but because they want you to know if you want to put your time and engery into that field. There were several students that thought they wanted to be one thing and started an internship in that field and a week later dropped it. Aren’t they glad they interned before they went to college.

I’m not going to lie the first time I saw certain operations I was a little queasy but after watching it over and over I got used to it. Internships offer so much and help you get ahead. I would strongly advise to look for one, I know I am right now.

Volunteering looks good no matter what you are volunteering for. Admissions love to see a long list of things you did for other without getting paid. They don’t just want someone smart, that want someone with a good personality and who wants to help others. The more involved you are with your community the more likely you will get ahead in life.

The Good

The best experiences at the dentist office are when patients are getting their braces off. It will be the patients first time in a few years so get to feel and see their teeth with no metal on them. It is a good chance for the dental assistant and orthodontist to be proud of their work.

            Some of the common reactions dental assistants get are “I didn’t know my teeth were this big, they feel like horse teeth.” and “my teeth feel very slimy”. It funny that they feel this way, but it makes since because there normal for the past few years was rough, small teeth. When brackets are put on your tongue can only feel small parts of your teeth. That’s what leads to the “horse” teeth feeling.

            The dentist office many have brought you some bad memories but if you ever had braces at least you got that one great memory of finally getting them off. What if you didn’t have braces? Some patients never have braces or anything major done to their teeth or mouth. However, this is rare. Patients will sometime get the feeling of excitement when getting a crown but others may not. Crowns are put on when your tooth has a crack in it, when you tooth is so rotten it has to be replaced and many other reasons. A crown is basically a new tooth with part of the old tooth underneath. That’s what it connects to. If you have been waiting for a crown with a tooth that is basically non-exiting you would be excited.

            My main point here is that dentist office aren’t always bad, and they don’t just exist to clean your teeth, but to also make you confident. When you have a great smile your confident levels go up. It’s one less thing to worry about.

            The best thing about interning at the dentist office was getting this feeling of excitement almost everyday. For the patients is comes every few years. Since I was there everyday it happened often. Every person would react differently. Some couldn’t hold in there excitement or reaction and others just said they were excited but didn’t show it. I personally liked it when they did show their excitement because it got me excited. Even though I wasn’t the person who worked on them I still knew their story. I can’t imagine how great it feels to be the one that puts in the hard work and get the reward for doing it.

Chasing My Dreams

Be coming a dentist is no easy task. All you have to do is sit in class and listen to boring lectures and take tests, right? Not even close. To obtain most degrees from a college you can get it with C grade. As many say “Cs get degrees”. To get into any dental school you have to have a GPA of a 3.5 or even higher in some cases. Getting a good GPA is important but that’s not all.

Michigan only has two dental schools and they are very competitive and expensive. First you can basically go to any college in Michigan since most college has a pre-dentistry program. In that college is were you need to get your 3.5 or higher GPA. In your last two years or so you take a test, DAT, which then determines if your hard work has really paid off. The DAT is like the ACT. For colleges to accept you, you must have at least a 20. The DAT is composed of four different sections: Survey of the natural sciences, perceptual ability test, reading comprehension test, and quantitative Research.

                           

The two dental schools in Michigan are University of Detroit Mercy and University of Michigan. Many people think that going to U of M’s dental school means you’re smarter but, Detroit Mercy is harder to get into and they have a higher success rate. I am hoping to attend Detroit Mercy next year for pre-dentistry as I denied their acceptance last year.

The difficultly of getting into dental school is a problem but the cost is an even bigger one. One year of dental school cost $77,000 mostly because they are a private school. I have so much on the line. If I don’t get the grades I need, thousands of dollars lost. If I don’t get an acceptable score on the DAT, thousands of dollars lost. If unexpected events in my life occur, thousands of dollars lost. Not only will I lose the dream of becoming a dentist. I will walk away with no degree.

The future is scary but I’m ready to face the challenge and chase my dreams.

Surround Yourself with Good People

The people you surround yourself with make your life either good or bad. At the dentist office you aren’t just with co-workers, you’re with patients. The great thing about that is if one patient is quiet, that’s okay. The next patient could be one that makes you laugh.

I love when little kids came in for the first time! We would clean their parent’s teeth first and let them watch. By doing that they are less likely to be scared of the instruments going into their mouths. When it comes to the polishing part of the cleaning we would put the instrument on their fingernails to show that it doesn’t hurt even though it makes a scary noise. When we would describe the feeling we would tell them that it kind of tickles and they might want to laugh.

This one little girl was concerned that we were gluing her teeth with the polish. The mom and hygienist couldn’t understand why she kept saying glue and scream when the instrument got close to her mouth. I understood what the little girl was concerned about. The hygienist had previously described the polish as glue. She did that because the polish is put on so your teeth stay smooth.  When your teeth are smooth it prevents bacteria from sticking to your teeth.

                           

Those were the appointments I lived for. It’s crazy what little kids pick up. They are so smart. On the other hand, the elderly spend a lot of time at the dentist because as we age our teeth start to fail out and have problems. The ones that come in very few months or so I got close with. I started to learn about their family and what was going on in their life. They started to get to know me as well. It was especially neat when their other family member would come in because you not only felt like part of the family at the dentist office but also a part of your patients family.

Obviously I love the dentist office so when my internship ended I was sad to leave the family. I hope to one day go back and be a dentist at the office and rejoin my family and add others to it as well. I learn that who you surround yourself with determines how you view life. Feeling like you’re apart of something that special is truly amazing.

Live Your Job to the Fullest

Many think that being a hygienist would be boring. Just cleaning people’s teeth day in and day out. Anything can be boring but if you don’t try to make it fun. You could go to work everyday with the attitude that you hate your job, all you do is clean teeth, and it’s boring.

            Stop being that negative person! You can make any job fun if you work to make a relationship with your co-workers and patients. When I was interning the whole day was full of interesting event. We would socialize in the lab or sterilization rooms when waiting for our patients to arrive. We would have a potluck once a week so everyone could catch up on each other’s lives. We celebrate birthdays, anniversary’s, births, everything! We were one big family.

                                     

            Interning at a smaller dentist office made me realize that’s what I want. The hygienist, dental assistants, and dentist got to know everyone really well. When a patient would come in we would ask about their kids, grandkids, and parents. I was really interesting when patients would say they loved it there because of the personal relationship we tried to make with each person.

            It’s sad to think that coming to a dentist office would be the highlight of your year but for some patients it was, especially for the elderly. The elderly who had lost their significant other would say that they couldn’t wait to come see us because they simply had no one to talk to. Most of their family had past away and the only form of human communication that was left was when they had to go to an appointment.    

            Not every job is going to be interesting but it is up to you to make it a place you want to go. Make a relationship with your co-workers and patients. Your day will go from being a two to a ten once you figure that out. It’s all about whom you surround yourself with.

            They say if you find the right job you wouldn’t have to work a day I your life. It is also important to make a family within your work place and don’t just view the patients as patients but as friend. It will make you love your job and not dread going to work whether it was the job of your dreams or what you have to do to get by.