u/Flinn2

Due to Hippa I can’t disclose a lot of information, but I was called to do an in person casual interview for an EFDA position at an office, but due to me having no experience they offered me a dental hygiene assistant job interview which I accepted because I’m desperate for a job haha.

After the interview the manager came out and asked me to do a working interview the next day which I accepted and let’s just say it was kind of a rollercoaster 🤣

The first part of the day before lunch went smoothly, I was just trying to learn the software, learning how to schedule new patients, learning the typical steps in the office, and the technology they had there as well as learning to independently seat patients.

The second part of the day after lunch I was tasked to take on a patient, and when I brought the patient in they said they are having a terrible day and was already rude. I brought them over to take a pano and they said “idk how to do this I’ve never had this done before.” But I patiently told them how to do it and got it done, but then afterwards the patient looked at the lead apron and got pissed that I didn’t put it on them (office policy said I didn’t have to put it on them because nowadays radiation is so low that it’s completely safe without it and we would put it on them if requested.)

I said I am sorry and that if they wanted I can put the apron on them when they got into the room when I did more X-rays which I did, the manager and hygienist was already outside in the hall telling me I didn’t have to do this and that they would step in at any moment and I was like “I’m fine 🤣 I got this.” And then I stepped into the room.

I completed the additional X-rays and told them what they were for to detect if there are any caries or periodontal disease. I just stayed calm and did my job. The patient then told me they had something to do after the appointment and hoped their teeth didn’t hurt afterwards and I asked what they were doing to create small talk and they said it wasn’t any of my business…. 💀

After that I still kept my cool and explained that I needed to polish and floss and that if they felt uncomfortable they could just raise their right hand, and they said ok. After staying calm and collected and communicating what I was doing the patient opened up about their life and we even started laughing in the room during the appointment.

When I walked out I was a bit shaken up since that was my very first “rude” patient that I had, but the manager and hygienist were standing there shocked 🤣

At the very end of the day the office manager showed me into her room and basically glazed me on how much well I did with dealing with the patient and said that even the seasoned veterans there could barely deal with them. I just appreciated their kind words and said “well I felt a lot stronger having you guys having my back and saying you would take over if I felt overwhelmed.” And she offered me the job right then and there.

When I walked out I told all of the staff there that I got hired and they all celebrated and even they glazed me on how well I did and I told them the same. It’s so much easier having a team behind you rather than feeling like you are tackling the patient alone.

But to me, that patient wasn’t a huge deal for me since I used to work in a nursing home in the dementia ward and constantly got slapped and degraded 🤣 so I was used to it. But at the end of the day I am grateful for that unruly patient coming in so I could prove my worth.

Thankyou patient, because of you I have a job 🤪

Rn I can barely text without autocorrect, how do I sober up quickly like within a few minutes 😩

So this past week, I applied for a dental assisting position at an office and they called me in to do a work interview, I did the full shift from 7 am to 4 pm doing everything right, suctioning, setting up and taking down rooms, sterilizing, doing X-rays, charting, everything. I am a new grad which I put on my resume but I had over 300 clinical hours so I’m not necessarily new. And of course with any job no matter if you are a veteran or new you need to learn how every office does things. But anyways I do that, and then they have me come back for ANOTHER work interview from 7 am to 4. The manager HERSELF said that I made a very good first impression, and the doctor wanted me to come back to do yet ANOTHER work interview. On my last day before I went on lunch the manager came in and told me I can go home and that “they don’t have the time to train somebody from scratch” 💀 they CLEARLY saw on my resume that I was a new grad, and they also said I made a great first impression. I’m so tired yall…..I am in Indiana and trying to find a dental assisting job with EFDA is nearly impossible within Indianapolis that pay at least 23 an hour. I know I’m a new grad and I won’t land a job that pays 30 but damn I went to college for almost 2 years for this. UHG.

Well, I just tried to get back into this game, but sadly I don’t have an Xbox or a PlayStation. I only have a gaming laptop. I tried to search online for places to buy the physical game to buy and download it but all it took me to was the Microsoft store, and there I needed to buy some expansion pack which I’ll need to renew monthly, and then with that expansion pack I also still need to buy the actual game. I have no problem buying the actual game for like 30 bucks but I don’t want to have to renew a subscription every month for a game I already bought 😩 that sucks so badly and screams money hungry from Microsoft, f them. Please if anybody can tell me where can I just buy the game and have it permanently downloaded on my laptop 😭 Thankyou!!

Edit: I got it fixed!! Thankyou Quantumfixiz 😁

I recently just graduated from a year and a half long program for dental assisting just a month ago. I’ve been applying for jobs left and right having around 5 interviews and such but at the same time….I don’t feel prepared. I feel like I have such insane imposter syndrome. My last interview she said I was a top candidate since I have my EFDA and all my certifications that I could possibly get, but I feel like I still don’t know anything. I don’t know how to use dentrix like at all, I don’t know when I’m supposed to schedule new patients or how. I don’t know how to make a treatment plan, I don’t know how to fully chart, I don’t know a lot of post op instructions. I feel like I have just a baseline knowledge of everything. The only way I know how to take an xray or perio chart or stuff like that on eaglesoft because I was able to assist hygienists. Other than that when I did my externships the assistants really didn’t allow me to do anything other than take a few X-rays, grab some things, run sterile, or pass instruments during restorations. Hell I’ve only ever done restorations on fake teeth. I’m terrified about being a new hire and having to rush trying to learn everything so I’m not seen as useless or a burden. I’m already sort of burnt out from doing externships during my program as is. Maybe actually making money and being able to do more will help but it’s terrifying. Did anybody else feel like me when they first started working? And if so how did you overcome it? I have a working interview shift all day tomorrow and I’m terrified….

Edit: the worst part is that I am autistic, so I already have a rougher time communicating with patients in a more professional way, trying to learn brand new things being stressed is making me scared I won’t know how to communicate properly with patients. Not in a mean way but I feel like I will be so awkward I’ll make patients uncomfortable.

I recently just graduated from a year and a half long dental assisting program here in Indiana, and it’s been nothing but problems every step of the way. First of all for our labs we had to work with expired materials which if we are trying to learn what the end consistency is supposed to be, why aren’t we working with actual in date materials to get the actual result so we are actually prepared? Second off our program basically treated us like children by implementing a no phones policy, meaning that if our laptops died we couldn’t use our phones to do our assignments or work on group projects on Google Docs. Third off our program REQUIRED us to make a resume and a cover letter, which was fine I guess, it was part of our office management class. Our professor for that class gave me an A on it when I initially took that class, but when the program was literally 2 days from ending, the program chair said that she wasn’t satisfied so I had to make revisions and changes to my resume a WEEK after I already graduated. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I didn’t receive a phenomenal job offer that required me to have an active radiology license on the government website. And what do I need to have to get the license on the website? A DIPLOMA!! Which I don’t have in my hands yet because of a RESUME AND COVER LETTER!!! You have got to be kidding me. I asked my brother who literally went to a full blown 4 year university and he said he never had that requirement. So I was literally shot a major job opportunity because of this. Another problem is that our professor for that office management class was supposed to teach us dentrix, but she only worked with eaglesoft so she was of no help on actually teaching us how to use any software at all. Another problem is we were expected to complete 300 HOURS of externship experience within a few months, leaving us no time to pick up a part time job. So I was practically working for free for 3 months with no income. And this program chair allowed a student to accept pay for her externship hours having favoritism, but she warned us that if we accepted pay for our hours it wouldn’t count. Now that I am a new grad I’ve applied to 20+ positions which doesn’t seem like a lot, but I’m not accepting any jobs that pay less than 25 an hour. I went to college, I have my EFDA, I have all my certifications including nitrous, polishing, caries prevention, CPR, radiology, and infection control. I passed all my exams first try, I’ve literally taken advantage of every opportunity I was given. I’ve gotten like 5 interviews with no call backs. My last interview said my resume was impeccable and that I am a hot commodity. With a career that’s quite on quote “in high demand” WHY am I having such a rough time finding a job? A job that ACTUALLY pays my worth?? This one job tried to offer me 17 AN HOUR!!! I could make that working at a freaking McDonald’s. Another problem is our literal PROGRAM CHAIR used AI on all of her assignments. If I wanted to learn from AI I wouldn’t have spent hundreds of dollars on dental kits and textbooks. Take my advice NEVER go to colleges for dental assisting. It’s all a waste of time and a scam. Do the 10 week courses and gain your certifications and do your exams with those. I’m just at a loss. I’m supposed to be moving in with my boyfriend to start a new chapter in 2-3 months and I can’t even secure a single job within the area we want to move to. I have great interview skills since I took a class that had a mock interview and I passed with flying colors. Also WHY do assistants have to renew their radiology certification every 1-2 years and pay money while hygienists don’t have to?! When they make more money than us?! We have the same training for it so why do WE have to renew it?! Uhgggg this is just so frustrating. 😩

I am almost done with my program with 50-60 hours left to complete out of 300. I am so freaking exhausted man. For my program, we have to do 300 hours of clinical externships and we have to do it all within a span of 2 months. That means we have to do UNPAID externships FULL TIME!! I’m fortunate enough to have family to financially support me, but what the actual fck does CODA expect from dental assistants?! They expect us to go in and work full time for free for 2 months with barely any time to pick up a part time job, handle schooling, boards, and maintain a social life. And you know what the funny thing is? They say that if the extern site offers you pay for your work it DOESN’T count towards your hours. You are practically forcing people into literal slavery for no reason at all. Why can’t we find a full time job at a dental office that pays us while also getting the “experience” we need to graduate? Why do we need to rush the experience and drain the joy out of people ALL for MAYBEEEE 20 bucks an hour. I would expect this much abuse for higher paid positions like hygiene but ASSISTING?? God I’m so frustrated that I had to cut 4 hours from my shift today to stay at home which I’ll most likely be getting side eyes from at the dental office when I get back EVEN THOUGH they don’t need me at all and I’m not getting paid.

I am almost done with my program with 50-60 hours left to complete out of 300. I am so freaking exhausted man. For my program, we have to do 300 hours of clinical externships and we have to do it all within a span of 2 months. That means we have to do UNPAID externships FULL TIME!! I’m fortunate enough to have family to financially support me, but what the actual fck does CODA expect from dental assistants?! They expect us to go in and work full time for free for 2 months with barely any time to pick up a part time job, handle schooling, boards, and maintain a social life. And you know what the funny thing is? They say that if the extern site offers you pay for your work it DOESN’T count towards your hours. You are practically forcing people into literal slavery for no reason at all. Why can’t we find a full time job at a dental office that pays us while also getting the “experience” we need to graduate? Why do we need to rush the experience and drain the joy out of people ALL for MAYBEEEE 20 bucks an hour. I would expect this much abuse for higher paid positions like hygiene but ASSISTING?? God I’m so frustrated that I had to cut 4 hours from my shift today to stay at home which I’ll most likely be getting side eyes from at the dental office when I get back EVEN THOUGH they don’t need me at all and I’m not getting paid.

Ok so get this right, I’m in a medical program at a community college that I am supposed to get 320 clinical hours in. So far in the spring I was able to get around 60 hours. The huge chunk is supposed to be the summer hence what I’m going to talk about now. I was supposed to have my externship site and details 2 weeks ago. I’ve been sitting and waiting for 2 weeks wondering when I’m going to start. Mind you the colleges insurance if I have any injuries expires on August 1st. I only have this month and next to acquire around 260 hours. This office is only open Monday-Thursday. So now I have to worry about those few hours that I need. (By doing the calculations I would only have 256 hours leaving those 4 extra hours unaccounted for) so I need to stress about that. But also here is the kicker. The one day I had a plan this week is tomorrow for a vet appointment at 1:30. Offices normally operate from 8 am to 5 pm. My professor wants me to start tomorrow on Thursday. MY ONE DAY I ACTUALLY HAD PLANS!!! Would be nice to get those 4 extra hours BUT I COULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT WHERE I WAS GOING WEEKS AGO!!! So now I have to last minute clean my house so my parents can come over and take them to the vet tomorrow for me if I start 🤦🏻‍♀️ also she said it isn’t even confirmed if it will be tomorrow!! Like girl you can’t just email me tomorrow morning at 7:30 am that I need to go in 30 min later. You need to confirm everything and give me enough notice to prepare BECAUSE THAT IS THE PROFESSIONAL THING TO DO!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Anyways this is a mess and I don’t know if ya’ll will think I’m overreacting or not but I swear this is genuinely ragebait lol.

I’m so tired of AI taking over every aspect of my life, ESPECIALLY EDUCATION!! In my college program, I had a regular professor and a program chair teaching classes. The program chair herself has made MULTIPLE assignments made with chatGPT (this is a medical program btw.) The regular professor literally confirmed to us that those assignments in fact WERE made by ChatGPT. I’m so tired of being expected insane standards set by the college, having a strict no AI policy, while having professors actively breaking those rules, harming the quality of our education while not getting any repercussions. I’m TIRED of stressing out about an assignment having to be completed at 11:59 for a good portion of my grade while it having nothing to do with the chapter we are studying. College should be a place of higher learning, professors putting more effort into the assignments they are pushing. We are supposed to be educated to a higher standard, but I receive this. It is incredibly disheartening and it shows me no hope in the future. This is disappointing AND scary.