Overview of Common Procedures for General Dental Assisting!

I remember the mixture of anxiety and excitement as I stepped into my orthodontist's office as a volunteer for the first time.

I had no idea what anything was, what anything did, and how I could help. It took a good 2-3 visits to finally get the hang of things, and actually start observing my orthodontist in action.

This was my first exposure to the dental field, but as you may know, dental schools ask for a minimum of 40 hours of general dentistry shadowing. Specialties are great for additional experience, but not necessary.

And so, I had the privilege to shadow an amazing general dentist in the Berkeley area, and even volunteer at a free clinic. Hopefully, you can peruse my notes and it will help you learn more quickly as you shadow/assist your dentist. This list is in no way exhaustive, just some of the things I've learned over the past year! I'll include a general overview of the procedure, the instruments necessary, and what you do as a dental assistant. I also italicized any instruments that are kind of unique/more important for the procedure.

Common Procedures and Instruments Needed

• General Exams/New Patient Exams
• Cleaning, Prophylaxis (Prophy)
• Scaling and Root Planing (SRP, also deep cleaning)
• Composite/Amalgam Fillings
• Extractions

These are the general procedures that you see most often while assisting, with the occasional crown prep/seat, implant, and a gum graft if you're lucky :)

Happy assisting!

:) rachel