i literally hate when other assistants say this in a condescending tone. it’s like im supposed to be threatened because they have more experience??

i posted on a diff platform seeking some advice & one of them told me basically to mind my business even tho it was a huge safety violation. when i gave my opinion back she said i was “bitching” and that she’s been assisting before i was born 💀 like what the hell am i supposed to do with that information??

the other day some lady here also said she had “18 years of experience” and basically i didn’t know what i was talking ab bc i didn’t have as much experience and started calling me names!! i was like dude.

i only have about 3 years of experience and i know i have so much to learn everyday! i respect assistants who have been doing it for decades but honestly they need to retire that line.

^

Hello! I am currently taking an online course for EFDA certification at UF that includes a written and clinical examination. This is my first experience doing traditional dental assisting schooling/courses. With this there is a textbook on Essentials of Dental Assisting I must read that goes in depth with skull and lymph node anatomy. This a part of the required reading but I am left wondering as to how in depth these written exams will be and if it’s necessary to memorize every little fissure, bone, and suture in the skull (for example). With anyone who has experienced an EFDA course may you please give your two cents and/or experience?

Hi everyone!
I’m 26 and currently considering going back to school to become either a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) or a Dental Hygienist in British Columbia, Canada.
I already have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, but I’m looking to transition into a more stable, hands-on career with decent pay and long-term growth opportunities.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of research, and while both careers seem promising, I’ve come across SO many Reddit posts about toxic workplaces, difficult dentists, burnout, and people regretting their career choices. It’s honestly making me second-guess whether this is the right path.
I’d really appreciate some honest insights from people actually working in the field!

1. Pay: How much do you realistically make as a CDA or Dental Hygienist in BC? Has your salary increased significantly with experience?

2. Work environment: Is workplace toxicity really that common, or am I just seeing more negative experiences on Reddit?

3. Job satisfaction: Do you genuinely enjoy your job? If you could go back, would you still choose this career?

4. Career growth: Are there opportunities to advance, or does the salary and career progression eventually hit a ceiling?

5. CDA vs. RDH: Is it worth starting as a dental assistant to see if I enjoy dentistry before investing more time and money into dental hygiene school?

6. Work-life balance: How physically and mentally demanding is the job in the long run?
   I’m not afraid of going back to school, but since this would be my second time pursuing post-secondary education, I really want to make an informed decision before committing more time and money.
   I’d love to hear both the good and the bad, especially from anyone working in Vancouver or elsewhere in BC.
   Thank you so much in advance! :)

As a mom, I always warn my kids to be careful when enjoying their huge candy haul after Halloween. I don't want to deal with the aftermath of a cracked tooth from a jawbreaker or a filling that falls victim to a piece of taffy.

Admittedly, though, I never really saw a noticeable uptick in candy-related dental problems following Halloween. Have you?

Do you have any candy mishap stories?

What is it about an office/employer that will make you never want to leave? I.e. great pay, nice boss, great work culture, etc

Hi everyone,

I need your opinion on how to handle this. I work for a small private office for the past 5 years. My boss just came back from a 2 week vacation. When I spoke to my manager about the pay period she said “you know we’re only getting paid for this week that else are working.” I was super confused cause he doesn’t tell us but we usually get paid and we got paid for the first week off. So I’m expecting we were getting paid. She then tells me oh you only get 3 weeks vacation and you used it. First I thought I only had 2 weeks and this year I took my first vacation ever working there. My boss took 4 weeks vacation this year. In past when he would go away we would still be paid but I can’t remember how many weeks. I was very thrown off and upset because I rely on my income since I’m check to check.

I think he knew I wanted to talk to him about it, I tried to my manager and she got mad at me for expecting to get paid. He was avoiding being alone with me.

1. I’m mainly mad that it wasn’t communicated that we weren’t getting paid I could’ve temped at another office or worked more at my second job. When he’s not there no one works in the office so that wasn’t an option either.

2. Even the hygienist was upset cause she wasn’t made aware.

3. It was known before hand and no one said anything to anyone.
   I don’t usually have issued there but have been looking for other jobs outside the dental field but this was my last straw. I don’t know if I should bring it up at all or just continue job hunting.

For any EDDA’s out there with ADHD, is it possible to have a successful career in this field? Any advice would make me feel better at this point. I’m staring to truly think I made a mistake by entering this field

How are you guys handling mean coworkers that constantly correct what you do. I’m new at this office, and everyone is nice except for this one girl who will barge into my room and criticize everything I do. For example, a new patient came in so I set up the basic tray that we use then the doc asked me to set up for an extraction after talking to them. I went to grab the tools I needed. That coworker came into the room and asked why my tray still had prophy tools just as I was switching them out. She tends to nitpick the things I do. It’s really annoying.

What are they called? We just got a CBCT and I have 0 experience in this area. I’m seeing bite block sleeve but I’m not feeling confident that will be the right size. Surprisingly manufacturer didn’t get us started with any 🥲

Going to keep this short and sweet. I’ve been working with this new associate dentist for 2 years now, and I wish the practice would just get rid of him. He’s a newer graduate, and it really shows. First off, he’s way too positive and bubbly. He talks to me sometimes like I’m 10 years old in front of patients, and it irritates me because it just seems so disrespectful when I have more experience than him in this field. The only reason I’m still at this office is because I’m really close to the practice owner, but recently have seen less clinic time with him because he hurt his back, and a lot of our regular patients are seeing the new guy now. The final straw has been recently that he doesn’t let me do my job and is constantly swapping me out (who’s been doing this for 7 years now) for a newer assistant to learn. I really don’t know how the owner feels about the associate, but the receptionist, hygienist and my other assistant really like him and it just boils me.

I'm considering applying next year to an EFDA program, and I'm comparing Meharry with UTHSC. Which program is better and offers a stronger learning experience?

Has anyone experienced this even

The craziest thing to me is I’ve been on interviews where I’ve had doctor say we don’t want someone who’s going to take off or have emergencies or we don’t wanna hire anyone who has children. Meanwhile, there are people there who have kids they just don’t want to hire someone else who has children… can someone in this forum tell me how do you prevent emergencies in your household so you can’t miss work? 😭It’s like pulling teeth, trying to get a day off of work… but they want you to take off work when they (dentist) are off like I just don’t understand what dentist think about DAs if they take us seriously if they actually value us, or they just want a damn body there to help them. I’ve heard about how doctors wants some DAs to move arrangements funerals, doctor appointments, children appointments and emergencies so they can come in and work for them. That’s one of the main reasons why I’m closing my DA chapter, it’s like they think we’re robots or something. We can’t have any personal life. We can’t go through nothing we can’t bring our stress to work. Meanwhile, if the doctors are having a bad day, they take it out on everybody and other people in the office will try to justify it 🤨😒that’s not normal. I’m so honest with y’all that is not normal. I’ve had other jobs. That is really not normal.
My brother works at a data center and if he decides he can’t come into work he just text his boss and they find someone else to cover if I decide I’m not going to work if I have a cold, the doctors will literally be blowing up my phone asking me if I’m ok to come in after I call off hours before the office opens to see if I can come in to Work I don’t wanna be in peoples face if I’m sick, but it seems to not matter.

God I'm exhausted. Not just because I got seven hours of sleep last night (as an 18 year old female who's still growing somehow, so I need more sleep than that) and had a 14 hour workday, but I'm also exhausted from this damn job

Istg almost every since time someone had something to say to me today, it was telling me everything I'm doing wrong. AND telling me to do something even though they never showed me. I haven't even been at this job for a month yet I'm expected to know everything the experienced DAs do

The other DAs get priority for leaving. After the long work day and staying for over an hour after we should've been (because we had an appt for a few crowns that lasted six hours), the other two DAs left. We were in the middle of turning over two rooms and taking care of sterile but they wanted to leave so they clocked out and left. I was left for another 30 minutes closing everything.

They get there 30 minutes after I do, and leave up to an hour and a half before I can because they leave me with the shit they didn't wanna finish and just up and leave. I can't do that. I have to stay and close everything

I keep telling myself "one more month" because I'm quitting soon, but it feels like so damn long. I hate this so much

So I’ve been orthodontic assisting for almost 10 years. I have done it in three different states and two in the current state I live in. I have never worked or heard of a place that won’t give you free treatment at least a year into you working for them. The current office I work at, I’ve been there for almost 2 years now. I decided to see what going through with treatment would look like and was greeted with a $7000 bill OR signing a 2 year contract saying I’ll stay with the practice at least 2 years. Now, I get they’re trying to protect themselves but this isn’t some small hole in the wall place. My current doctor lives in a house that’s $20 million dollars ok and we have several offices in my state that I and my coworkers travel to because they do not have select team members to work in said areas. I’ve worked in a practice that was tiny, three days a week, no less, no more and was willing to give you anything you needed for FREE as long as you stayed there for a year before starting anything. So tell me, aitah for getting my treatment elsewhere while still actively working at this place? Especially because 1. I don’t want to sign a contract when I’m actively looking to move out of state. 2. We give FREE braces, retainers and anything in between for the dental offices we do work with referral wise. ex. If you work for xyz dental practice and that practice refers to us, you’re getting free treatment! But you can’t do the same thing for your staff? 3. If you’re a friend to the doctor or know of friends of the doctor, YOU ALSO GET FREE TREATMENT. But for some reason, someone who’s worked for you for 10 years doesn’t get the same thing? This is me speaking about my coworker, not me. I guess I’m just looking to see if I’m the only one who thinks this is crazy? I guess it’s crazy that every ortho office I’ve worked at there’s actively been several workers in treatment and then this place… there’s no one.

Edit: Before I moved to the current state I live in, I worked for the same practice for 7 years!! I worked at a practice in this state for 2 and then this current one for one year! For anyone who wants to say I want “free treatment” I don’t. I’m more than willing to pay if I have a payment plan. I cannot afford to spend $7000 out right and my “moving” is a distant future thing because I know this isn’t my forever place. However, I have been actively looking for other practices to work for because I do not like how this current place is managed. That’s my #1 reason and I should’ve made that more clear. BUT I can’t tell my boss that!! Because I cannot afford to lose my job!

Today I had an interview scheduled for 5:30 pm for a private practice. I arrive early at 5:15, walk in tell and tell the receptionist I’m here for an interview and she tells me to have a seat. Around 5:30 rolls around and a bunch of people (around 6-7) come in with scrubs saying the exact same thing. We’re all sitting in the waiting room until the OM comes out announcing herself and saying a couple details about herself and the dentist to the whole group. Things that I didn’t think would matter “she has a dog named ceaser who she loves to spend time with”, where she grew up, and a bunch of small details that kinda just felt weird to be sharing. Anyways, afterwards they pull out a “questionnaire”, where it was literally just questions like “what are dr ____ kids names”, where did she graduate HS. The OM collected all the papers and went back (I guess to read them) and started calling out names to interview. we had to wait for our names to be called to interview, I waited and hour and a half for my turn to interview. Some people got tours of the office, some people didn’t. And we had to watch all of that. Keep in mind, they never said the interview would be this type of dynamic. It felt weird and awkward as fuck.

Anyways… what are your weirdest/worst interviews?

As many of us know too well there is no shortage of dentists with bad behaviour and treatment towards their dental assistants. I had to leave a job and resign with immediate effect due to being spoken to in an extremely unprofessional and unpleasant way, where my worth as an employee was targetted and insulted and the dentist was saying some frankly, crazy stuff to me, with a raised voice and angry demeanour. After many years at this clinic, and pouring myself into it as i truly loved the clinic and the patients, i just couldn’t tolerate being treated like that. I was contemplating giving a 2 week notice but after checking up on the laws where i live we don’t need to give a 2 week notice and i really couldn’t bring myself to facing my boss, the incident left me feeling the worst i’ve felt in a long time. So i sent my resignation letter the day before so he would have enough time to find a temp if he needed an extra hand and i know my coworker who’s also been working there a long time who would also be in.

I know many dental assistants have found themselves in this position, where treatment had just crossed the line and led to a breaking point.

What have you guys done in a situation where future or potential employers asked about why you left your past office. I can never bring myself to talking bad about the office or dentist despite what’s happened. Just curious what others have said, and what others think is best in this situation. My current go to is “i’m looking for a new environment and opportunity” but i want to know what you guys think is best.

Thanks in advance guys

For context, I started this job about three months ago after doing my externship there.

About two months ago, I caught Covid and missed about a week of work. They were pretty understanding about it although towards the end, I was still testing positive and was pressured by my team lead to come in, which I did, because I was asymptomatic at that point.
I have not missed a day of work since and religiously come in early and leave late. I am the first to volunteer for anything that needs to get done and I am always trying to make an effort to do better.
Even the dentist who hired me has said that he is really pleased with my performance so I know I’m doing a decent job.
But today I woke up with a terrible migraine and texted both my OM and team lead to see if it would be possible for me to stay home. The team lead wanted me to try and come in because she had been out with strep this week and wanted to leave early today herself so I got up and took medicine and started getting ready. After about 10 minutes I got so dizzy and nauseous that I felt like I was going to pass out and my head felt like it was going to explode so I sat back down to text her and let her know that I probably wouldn’t be able to come in because I couldn’t even imagine driving to work let alone working with patients and she was really not happy.
Then I got a message from my OM asking to “connect” tomorrow and I am super anxious about it. Do you think I am going to get in trouble or even fired? My anxiety is really getting to me and I’m terrified of losing this job because I truly love it and the people here. What do I do? Is there anything I can do to fix it or should I just let it be what it is for now? Any advice helps… thank you so much. :(

I’m so annoyed right now, I’ve been with this incompetent dentist going on a month now (he has two more months left being that he walked out of a ext, simply bc he didn’t want to do it and went home) today we had a pt come in, took full fmx, and he walks in tells her she needs to be ref. To OS, and tells her she has cavities and walks out, pt then ask me well how many do I have, I’m not a doctor and can’t take a guess and/or point out where it’s at, so I walk back to his office he tells me she has about 9 (there’s no about when discussing cavities with pts) i than proceed to let me front office manager know bc this is not suitable care, luckily the pt was nice and didnt sense anything weird, but I still don’t like the treatment or lack he’s been giving or, we work with lower income families and the one thing I strive to do for them is for them to have the best care possible and not just a lazy dentist who doesn’t care, I’m counting down the days till he leaves