The action that I am hoping to accomplish is shadowing a dental hygienist. I will be going to an office once or twice a week helping out in the back, cleaning instruments and giving a helping hand where it is needed. I wanted to head in this direction with my action post because it relates a lot to my global goal which is health and well being. In many aspects I wont necessarily be by a hygienist the entire time I’ll be able to talk to the dentist and cda’s (certified dental assistants) as well.
Some complexity that I may face during this project is making sure that the dental office has the time to have me be there. Ensuring that I’m not getting in their way if they have a really busy day or even, they have a hygienist available as the office I’m going to only has one there Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am close with the manager of the two dental offices that I will be shadowing and with that I believe that I really shouldn’t have a hard time getting the time done.
I’m not quite sure if you would call my project sustainable but here is how I see it. Dentistry is something that I am passionate about and is something that I hope to do in the future as my career. I have heard that there has been a shortage of hygienist in the last year and by me wanting to pursue this as a career will help them fill that shortage and give more accessibility to patients at clinics that need the help. By having that accessibility maybe people won’t have as many cavities or root canals etc. allowing patients to a) not have to pay extra amounts of money and b) we wont ne using molds for there teeth as many gloves etc. that all get thrown into waste, leading to the possible decrease of waste.
This action will only provide opportunity for me to see how my possible future career may be like. But if anyone else out there was thinking about going into dentistry maybe this will help you out as well in pursuing it.
Orchid is the hygienist that I will be looking over. She is a certified dental hygienist, went to Vancouver community college DIP program which took 2 years and 1 year of Sci pre requisite. Orchid was then certified August of 2016 and has work for a few offices since then. She has told me the bets way you will succeed is with ergonomics (body factors) focusing on your body and body habits. Its not only the way that you yourself talk and help a patient it is also how you care for your own body making sure that you don’t strain it or go to hard.