Personal Reflection: My Experience At The Dental Students
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While attending OHSU, I assisted a variety of students with simple and complex procedures. I would have to say that the biggest thing I learned was not just about the dental profession itself, but the importance of being in an atmosphere where you are treated with respect and regard for your personal welfare is taken seriously. For the most part, the students I’ve worked with had very little practice working with an assistant and using four handed dentistry techniques. Near the end of my time at OHSU, I began to grow tired of enforcing the proper methods of passing. Instead of teaching each new student four handed concepts, I just did my best to retrieve my tools, have my hand ready for them to pass back or trade the instrument, and held them properly on my end. This was until I found myself caught in the middle of an exposure incident. As I was passing the chisel during a simple two surface composite procedure, the operator grabbed it quickly with no regard for its position or for my proximity to the working end. My finger was clipped; I was left with no option but to report the incident and get tested…show more content… As I mentioned earlier, when improper passes were made, it not only put my safety at risk, but it took away an opportunity for me to really improve my form. Even though I did not work up the courage to request that I place the rubber dam during a procedure, my proudest moment was when I took an impression on a pediatric patient. This was not only unknown territory, but it was a huge learning experience for me in regards to working with kids as well as practice taking impressions. Since the student had gone ahead and tried in the impression tray while I mixed the alginate, I had no reference for where I needed to place the tray. Incidentally this resulted in an imperfect impression, but luckily it was still deemed useful and served as an important