Has anyone worked as a surgical asst for a dentist?

SusanJean · Jan 27, 2005

Yes, the routine stuff is boring but the surgery is interesting. Sounds as though the benefits are good. Since this is surgery, you may have a good situation.

Give it a try. Good luck!

RNKITTY04 · Jan 27, 2005

I have a friend that used to work for an oral surgeon. The money was good and the hours were great. She ended up leaving b/c the Doc was a total prima donna who apparently had hissy fits daily but if not for that it was a good job.

Good Luck

Mommy/Grandma · Jan 28, 2005

I have a friend that used to work for an oral surgeon. The money was good and the hours were great. She ended up leaving b/c the Doc was a total prima donna who apparently had hissy fits daily but if not for that it was a good job.
Good Luck

I was told that this guy tends to fly off the handle but then acts as if nothing has happened. The last girl worked for him for 6 yrs left and then came back for 8mo and now left again for personal reason. This is what the reception person told me.

stevierae · Jan 28, 2005

I was told that this guy tends to fly off the handle but then acts as if nothing has happened. The last girl worked for him for 6 yrs left and then came back for 8mo and now left again for personal reason. This is what the reception person told me.

I've seen oral surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons like that, too. They tend to be very type A perfectionists--which is GREAT for their patients--but you must be very thick skinned, let most things just roll off your back, and set boundaries when necessary. You'll learn quickly enough which battles are worth fighting and which are better off ignored.

Make sure that things flow absolutely without a hitch when you are in the room, and SHARE with other people how to make that happen--so that he and your co-workers don't get all stressed out when you are sick or on vacation. Most likely, you'll end up becoming his right hand, and he will be very glad you stayed. The money and benefits do, indeed, sound good. Usually their attitude and problems have absolutely NOTHING to do with you--they are often the same way at home, and are having marital and child-rearing problems. They come to work VERY stressed out.

I once saw a maxillofacial surgeon go off on one of his assistants, literally at least twice an hour over the course of a complicated procedure (called a LeForte mandibular osteotomy) which took 8 hours. The poor girl had to keep breaking scrub to change her mask, which was soaked with tears. What was her crime? She forgot to pack a certain retractor in the group of instruments that they brought with them to be sterilized. We could have sent a cab over for it--but, no, he chose to play the martyr and make her suffer.

Well, one night, we heard a rumor at the hospital that this particular prima donna maxillo-facial surgeon had died in a car accident. No one questioned it for accuracy--they just cancelled all his patients for the next morning!! He apparently had made many enemies among the floor nurses.

Guess who strolled in the next morning, alive and well, wondering where his patients were....

You will do just fine. Be confident, flexible, eager to learn and demonstrate your new skills, and be a self-starter without being a know-it-all--don't wait for someone to tell you what to do--just act like it's YOUR place, because very soon it will be, and you have the right to expect order. At the same time, give the office staff your utmost respect, and let them know that you are willing and eager to help out--but at the same time, don't let them take advantage of you. Congratulations!! Sounds like you are destined for great things!