Dental Internship Stories: Part 3

I shadowed the dentists for the first time today! It was exciting, as it not only gave me examples of multiple dental procedures but also broke up the boredom of having to sit at a front desk all day. I mostly shadowed under the other dentist at the office (the one that is not my dad), but I did shadow my dad once for a filling. With the other dentist, I watched him do 2 fillings, two crown cements, and a crown prep. Before, all these procedures were just words that I had heard; I had never seen one actually done (I did get fillings before in my childhood, but I never saw the dentist perform one on anyone outside myself). The different techniques and tools that the dentists and their assistants used were fascinating to me, and it further solidified my goals to become a dentist.

One tool that was really cool was this scanning device. It would shoot out these light rays in the mouth, and a 3-D model of the mouth showed up on the computer. This tool was used for the crown prep, and it blew my mind. I never knew such technology existed! The model of the patient's teeth on the computer screen next to the dental chair was super accurate, and the system allowed for the crown to be immediately ordered directly on the website. Technology in the dental field has advanced so much, and I got to experience just a small but interesting portion of it.

Other than the fascinating technology, the people themselves were super kind and explained everything really well in an understandable manner. I wasn't really close to the dentist I shadowed the most today, but after witnessing his work and interacting with him a lot today, I became much closer. He turned out to be a more nicer and more funny than I thought. Prior to today, I only saw his shy nature and didn't talk a lot to him, but at the dental chair, he opened up quickly and taught me well. His assistant was very kind as always, and she also was very informative with her advice to me. Obviously, my dad and his assistant (who I have known as long as I can remember) were nice to me as well, but I already knew a lot about them and expected such an experience with them.

Overall, today may have been my favorite day since I started interning with my dad. The shadowing aspect, which I have been desiring to experience, had finally come, and it showed me the details of a field that I only vaguely known about. I knew about these procedures, but actually witnessing them with my own eyes really helped improve my opinion on dentistry. Hopefully I will be the one actually performing those procedures one day!