before the program

Know looking back I wish that I had worked in an office before coming into the program. I know that it is recommended to observe. I observed the dental school, a pediatric dentist and my personal general dentist. This was not enough. It would have been good to be an assistant and work with instruments and materials in the office. The students in the program who have had experience are clearly a head of the class. I would recommend to every student entering the program to spend time volunteering or working as an assistant. Even though things are done differently in the school those who have worked in an office pick up the task much quicker. An example is in dental materials pouring up gypsum. Those who have done it before seemed to get it done right away while I had to redo mine because it had blebs (bubbles) in it making the cast unusable.