A dental assistant is a person with a secondary medical education (nurse, paramedic, obstetrician), who has completed advanced training courses and works as an assistant to the relevant specialist.
Why do we need a nurse in dentistry?
Odontology is a narrow medical specialization. To work in this area requires special knowledge and level of training, because when providing dental care, high-tech equipment, tools, devices and materials are used, protocols that you need to know by heart are followed.
The presence of an assistant at the appointment of a dentist and the work of 4 hands is the standard of modern dentistry. The well-coordinated work of two specialists contributes to increased productivity, better and faster provision of medical services and, in emergency cases, prehospital care.
As a rule, the assistant makes the first contact with the patient, inviting him to go into the office. Properly started communication already at this stage creates a prerequisite for the emergence of trustthe patient to the clinic and the specialists working in it.
The doctor's attitude to work, the quality of treatment and the speed of his work largely depend on the degree of mutual understanding and trust of the doctor and the nurse. Each doctor adheres to his own taboos in therapy and the assistant must take this into account. Therefore, in many clinics of the country, a rule is introduced: each doctor has a personal assistant.
Responsibilities of a Dental Assistant
The work of a nurse is not as easy as it seems at first glance. What are her responsibilities:
Preparing the office for the reception
Morning, "interpatient" and evening cleaning of the office lies on the shoulders of the nurse. Before the appointment, the assistant prepares all the necessary tools and materials, eliminates malfunctions in the operation of the equipment, if any. The collection of material in the office before admission is based on the goal (which also needs to be known in advance): caries - filling materials; endodontics - all for the treatment of root canals; hygiene - ultrasonic and sandblasting tips and so on.
Compliance with cleanliness and sterility
The words "medicine" and "sterility" practically cannot do without each other. The nurse must carefully clean and tidy up the office after the previous patient and before inviting the next one. The possibility of developing complications of treatment or even infection with an infectious disease depends on the sterility of instruments and the cleanliness of the installation and objects in direct contact with patients.
Accounting and storagedental materials
Good treatment requires high-quality, up-to-date materials, which are monitored by a nurse for their expiration dates. Also, in the assistant's bedside table there should be a certain list of drugs and dental consumables for the fastest and most comfortable work.
Filling out medical records
The following documentation is being filled in: general cleaning schedule, quartz treatment, write-off of consumables, sterilization logs. Also, in some clinics there is a special journal where nurses write comments to each other.
Performing x-rays on doctor's orders
Taking pictures for diagnostic purposes is the job of an assistant. In order to perform the task correctly, you need to know anatomy, equipment and have the skills to perform x-rays, which have their own nuances.
Implementing emergency care
In such cases, the sister does only what the doctor says, but again, you need to know that when asked to bring "everything for hypertension" - this is a tonometer and certain antihypertensive drugs, and when "everything for anaphylactic shock" - this is at least adrenaline and prednisolone, which will be administered by a nurse.
All this lies on the shoulders of a nurse, and this is not all her duties.
Education
Many people ask the question: why do we need medical education and whymore specialist certificate to work as an assistant? At first glance, it seems that this work does not require in-depth knowledge and anyone can learn it. But that's not the case at all. The thing is that even to provide simple first aid, knowledge in the field of medicine is needed, including anatomy, human physiology, pharmacology, and so on. The list is endless. Take, for example, the sterilization of instruments.
To do this, you need to know all the stages of the process, the rate of exposure in solutions, their dilution, which microorganisms are affected and which are not, and so on. Theory and practice for future work can be obtained in nursing courses in dentistry. All the basic information that is listed above lies on the shoulders of teachers in medical colleges and schools.
How to get a specialist certificate?
First you need to graduate from medical school and get a diploma. Without this document, no one has the right to issue a certificate. In any city, even in the smallest, there is at least one center for advanced training of medical workers. The directions are diverse: nursing in dentistry, massage, cosmetology, medical statistics and so on. Getting into these courses is not difficult: you only need a diploma, a work book and a passport. But the courses are not free and by no means always cheap.
There are two more options for obtaining a certificate:
- Method one: an educational institution can meet halfway. That is, a student can be sent for additional training already at the endgraduation course, and it will be issued with both a diploma and a certificate of nursing in dentistry. With the assistance of a medical college or school, training will be faster and cheaper.
- Second method: the employer can pay for these courses for a future employee. If an organization is interested in an employee, with education and documents in full order, but there is no document on advanced training, the clinic itself pays and sends the applicant to courses to obtain a specialist certificate.
The work of a nurse in dentistry is very multifaceted and complex, but at the same time interesting and highly paid. If you understand that this job is for you, feel free to choose one of the ways to get a speci alty "nursing in dentistry" and go towards your desire.
