Dental

Internship
By: Kimberly Yiv
Dental Assisting II
Bright Smile Dental

Kimberly Yiv
Dental Assisting II
Bright Smile Dental

Internship Environment: Work

Environment
Within the dental practice, the layout is very spacious for all the office needs.
Inside include the following:
Reception area
Waiting room
Seven patient operating rooms
Dental lab for tool storage and sterilization
Kitchen/break room
Locker room area
Private office for Dr. Han and office manager, Chandra Park

Internship Environment: Typical Day

Typical day at Bright Smile Dental includes:
Entering office, greeting all the dentist and workers
Going to break room to go put my backpack away
Use restroom, wash hands, tie hair up
Go talk to assistants and ask if they need me to do any tasks for them. If
assistants busy, I usually sanitize instruments or do tray set ups
Assisting Dr. Bui
Coronal polishing and flossing
Dental care education

Internship Environment: Health and

Safety Issues
In the dental office, there are many health and safety procedures that
must be followed:
Personal cleanliness
Washing hands properly
Proper use and disposal of gloves used on patients
Disinfecting dental instruments and sanitation in autoclave
Packaging dental instruments in vacuum sealed pouch
Proper use of dental equipment
Sanitation of operating rooms

Internship Environment: Technology

and Tools
In the dental office, there are a wide variety of technology and tools used in the
reception counter and operating rooms.
Reception counter:
Computer to schedule appointments for patients
Phone to call and remind patients of upcoming appointments
Copy and fax machines for insurance forms
Operating rooms:
X-ray machines
Computer to view x-rays

Internship Environment: Community

Impact
This workplace offers dental care to the local community around it.
Providing necessary oral care to patients
Dental cleanings and operations
Educating the public about proper oral hygiene
Breaking the barrier between professionals and patients
Providing a comfortable experience to the patients
Eliminating fears about medical professionals
With the use of PPOs and provided insurances, the dental clinics are able to
perform quality dental work at affordable rates.

Internship Skills: Three Academic

Skills
Teamwork and collaboration
Content knowledge
Work ethic
When working at the office I have to maintain good teamwork and
collaboration skills. While interning, I had the chance to work side
by side with the dentist Dr. Bui, together we used teamwork skills to
clean the patients teeth. Another skill I utilized was content
knowledge when educating a child about how to brush their teeth
properly so they dont get cavities.

Internship Skills: Three Important

Responsibilities
While interning I had many responsibilities to carry out:
Practicing proper dental procedures
Maintaining professionalism
Fulfilling duties
Coming from Southwest Career and Technical Academy, I had a little bit of
knowledge of the dental field. Since we learned brushing, flossing, and
coronal polishing in class, I had to fulfill these responsibilities at the
office. I polished and flossed patients teeth whenever I had a free hand.

Internship Skills: Performance skills

As an intern, I needed many skills to make sure my performance runs
smoothly
Alertness
Decision making
Problem solving
Team building

In the dental office, one performance skill that is used widely is

alertness. Sometimes the dentist will need a special tool in order to
do the patient treatment. As an intern, I have to stay alert in case
the dentist needs a helping hand or needs me to go retrieve a tool
from the back room.

Internship Skills: Interpersonal Skills

Speaking: Communicating with the staff and patients of the office.
Listening: When being taught new material from the assistant, I have
to have listening skills.
Observing: When shadowing the assistant and the dentist, I have the
observe what they are doing closely.
Practicing: With cleaning the rooms and doing tray set ups they allow
me to practice in order to get better at the job.
Understanding: In order to address patient concerns I have to be
understanding of their situation to tell the dentist.

Internship Skills: Information/

Materials Provided by Internship Site
Once I started my internship at Bright Smile, they provided me with
information and materials on how they run the office, how they
handle certain situations, and how to use instruments.
Information:
Pictures of tray set ups to study
Charting sheet
Diagram of different teeth

Tools
Physical dental tools (suction, scaler, handpieces, etc.)

Internship Skills: Describe the Flow of

Information at the Office
The flow of information at the office regarding patient plans usually
start from the dentist, who tells the assistant what kind of treatment
plan the patient needs. From the assistant, they have to walk up to the
front office to tell the office manager the treatment plan. When the
patient is finished with their cleaning or procedure, they go up to the
front office and the office manager tells them about the their treatment
plan and costs.

Dentist

Assistant

Office
Manager

Internship Experience: Improving

Efficiency
In order to improve efficiency at the office, a suggestion I offer to the
office would be giving us interns a heads up when they need us to
help the dentist. Often times they tell us last minute and the dentist
has to wait on us to wash our hands, prep the area, and put our
gloves on.
Improvement I could work on:
Involvement in office
Suctioning
Coronal polishing
Tray set ups

Reflection: Most Enjoyable Experience

Throughout my time interning Ive had many experiences with the
staff and patients. One of my most enjoyable experiences while
interning at Bright Smile would be working with the kids and educating
them on proper dental care. I was able to teach them how to brush their
teeth, showing them to use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and use
light circular motions on the teeth. Being able to teach these kids at a
young age helps them remember it for their whole life. If they know how
to do it correctly when they are young, it becomes a habit. If they were
taught incorrectly and they continue doing it incorrectly, it may be hard
to change their method of brushing their teeth.

Reflection: Enhanced Experience

To enhance or improve my experience as an intern at Bright Smile
Dental I could have done the following:
Spend more time getting to know the dental assistants and dentist
Studied tray set ups
Communicate with patients more often, not being so timid and shy
Understand more about the facility

Reflection: Most Interesting Situation

Encountered
One of the most interesting situations Ive encountered while
interning at Bright Smile Dental was when I was assisting the dentist,
Dr. Bui, with a prophy cleaning. Our patient was an older woman who
struggled with spitting her saliva into the suction when we were
cleaning. During the prophy, I remember Dr. Bui had to constantly tell
her to open her mouth wider. Since she did not open her mouth big
enough, I was not able to use the HVE suction to get the saliva and
water out from the back of her mouth. When it was time for her to use
the suction, she just spit out all the content in her mouth and it
splashed all over my arm. Dr. Bui had to pause and she told me to go to
the bathroom to rinse my arm off.

Reflection: Challenges Faced

A challenge that I had to overcome while interning was learning how to work on
patients without being so nervous and shaky. When being a dentist and dental
assistant, you must have steady hands while working on patient as you have
sharp tools in their mouth and close to their face. When helping the dentist Dr.
Bui I usually hold the suctions in the patient's mouth to collect the excess water
and saliva build up. When holding the HVE (high volume evacuation) suction in
the patient's mouth, you must be precise with the area you suction and you have
to hold the tube in the correct position. The HVE suction can suck the tongue or
the side of the cheek if held wrong. When I was first learning how to use the HVE
suction for the first few times, I accidentally suctioned the patient's cheeks by
accident and I was very embarrassed. Over time with practice, I got better at
using the high volume suction. The dentist Dr. Bui helped show me how to hold it
in the correct position and which areas are the best to place the suction to get all

How has internship experience

altered your career goals?
My internship experience has definitely changed my future career goals. Ever
since I was in middle school, I was always stuck in between becoming a Dental
Hygienist or Pharmacist. Coming to Southwest CTA and getting the chance to be
in the Dental Assisting program along with interning at an actual dental office has
helped me figure out what I want to do with college and my future. I actually did
not enjoy interning at a dental office as much as I thought I would, and after
interning I think I would enjoy being a Pharmacist more.