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Dental Work Experience

If anyone doesnt mind i need some help regarding dental work experience. I know we gotta do 2 weeks as a minimum but where and which fields do we have to do it in?

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Reply 1
I know people who went to dental school, and they did a few weeks shadowing at a community dental practice. You could also try the hospital dentist/maxillo facial surgery department.
Reply 2
Shockley
I know people who went to dental school, and they did a few weeks shadowing at a community dental practice. You could also try the hospital dentist/maxillo facial surgery department.

Thanks
Reply 3
well find out from frend if they know anyone hu works in dental department they could link you up. for me my aunt worsk as a dental nurse and she asked the dentist she works for to give me some work experience and he agreeed coz he was hapy to help out his employees and for the future of dentistry! hospitals by now will be full as u have to apply for their summer work experiences so highly unlikely to get a place there, try dental surgery get your phone book out and start calling asap!
its best the get a range of different placements in various areas rather than a long period in, say your local dental surgery. i did a few days at a dental technician, oral surgeon, orthodentist and finally a week with a GDP. it looks better to the admissions people and it gives you alot to chat about in interviews
Reply 5
cheers guys, i need this kinda help! BUT, just consider this, ive done 5 days in a NHS general practise as well as 5 mornings in a private general practise as well as 5 mornings in an orthodontic practise as well as a couple days in a community dental practise as well as a couple of days in an endodontic practise. i also go to a nursing home every satreday for an hour as a volunteer. AND two days in the dental school/hospital of bristol. Is this enough? Do i really need to do some in a maxillofacial department (facial surgery)?
i would say thats definatly enough, but if you can get any further experience, without too much effort and you have the time, more is always better. its quite a good idea to have some arranged for after the interview period. they will often ask if you have any further work experience arranged, if you do, it obviously looks good and shows you arnt just 'jumping through hoops' but seriously considering the carreer to which your aspiring.

but yeah, thats a great amount of experience, make sure you remember what you saw and what you learnt, experiences blahblahblah as they will definately expect you to talk about it in detail
Reply 7
Thanks alot man, that was a massive help in the right direction!!
Reply 8
hey guys. do any of you know how to define a COMMUNITY DENTAL SERVICE. cos, i searched it on the net rang one and the receptionist just a bit annoyed, shouting down the phone:eek: , saying she was confused and that they were just an ordianry NHS dental practise.:confused: :confused:
Reply 9
hi guys
sorry if this might be a little irrelevant. I've just finished my GCSEs and at the beginning of this summer I decided I wanted to get started with w/e. So I went to my own NHS dentist and asked but she said I wouldn't be able to do it for insurance reasons?? and that I had to do it through school and Trident? Is this the case because I'm really confused. Should I try organising some through school for October? Or will private clinics let me do it not through school. Or do I just have to wait til next summer when I'v done my A/S's? Thankyou so much guys, just reading through this forum has helped me loads :biggrin: x
Reply 10
ali.yousuf
hey guys. do any of you know how to define a COMMUNITY DENTAL SERVICE. cos, i searched it on the net rang one and the receptionist just a bit annoyed, shouting down the phone:eek: , saying she was confused and that they were just an ordianry NHS dental practise.:confused: :confused:


I spent some time last week with a community dentist based in a school and they only see children and disabled people. Patients don't pay for treatment. Thats about it.
Reply 11
http://www.avon.nhs.uk/dental/salariedPCDS/Default.htm

The Community Dental Service is often now known as the Salaried Primary Dental Care Service. The SPDCS often treats "access" type patients e.g.Out of hours service or people who do not have / are unable to access an NHS dentist. It also includes the CDS which provides care for special needs patients usually on referral from a GDP.

If you need to find where your SPDCS is located contact your PCT and ask for the PALs office. This is the Patient Advice and Liason Service
http://www.pals.nhs.uk/ and will be able to help you. They may even have a work experience co-ordinator. To find out which PCT
area you live in have a look here
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Organisationpolicy/Healthreform/DH_4138540
or enter your postcode and search for trusts
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/homepage.aspx

In Scotland the system is different. In England most patients who are treated in the SPDCS are "exempt" from patient charges however not all and some do pay NHS charges for their care.
Reply 12
It doesn't really matter what departments you do it in. What is important is that you take a genuine interest in what you saw, and you know everything that happened in the 2 weeks or more inside out, so that you can talk about it and actually sound like this is something you want to do in the future.
Reply 13
Vee31011
hi guys
sorry if this might be a little irrelevant. I've just finished my GCSEs and at the beginning of this summer I decided I wanted to get started with w/e. So I went to my own NHS dentist and asked but she said I wouldn't be able to do it for insurance reasons?? and that I had to do it through school and Trident? Is this the case because I'm really confused. Should I try organising some through school for October? Or will private clinics let me do it not through school. Or do I just have to wait til next summer when I'v done my A/S's? Thankyou so much guys, just reading through this forum has helped me loads :biggrin: x

REPLY TO Vee31011

Try at a different NHS dental practises. some are a bit moody about it. ive done more than 2 weeks without any insurance checks and all that. I would advise you to do your w/e asap,,,any person applying will tell you how much they regret leaving it to the last minuit. if u cant get some for this summer, arrange it for ur haf terms or xmas holidays and so on...
hope this helps
Reply 14
I managed to get one week work experience at a orthodontics and i was wondering if there was anything i should know before i begin wor experience there.

Do I need some sort of proof of the wor ex?

Do i need to take notes of what i did?
Reply 15
Original post by Link96ra
I managed to get one week work experience at a orthodontics and i was wondering if there was anything i should know before i begin wor experience there.

Do I need some sort of proof of the wor ex?

Do i need to take notes of what i did?


Blimey, this is quite an old thread resurfaced isn't it!?

Well done for securing a weeks worth of work experience at an orthodontic practice - back in the day I did 1 week at ortho and 1 week of GDP.

I think it's always difficult to do reading about this kind of stuff before you start - so don't worry too much about that.

The most important thing is that you gain as much as you can from this week - make sure you ask plenty of questions, take a real interest in what's happening (usually the dentist does not mind if you get real close and observe - it's always polite to ask the dentist if this is okay before the first patient arrives and then you will both get used to it).

Also ask the dentist at the beginning if it's okay for you to ask questions - that way they will be more likely to encourage questions and will be expecting it.

DEFINITELY take notes - they will prove very helpful when writing a personal statement and for interviews to refresh what you learnt at your work experience (which is arguably the most important interview question).

Take notes not only about the procedures you see, but also about how the orthodontist manages their patients, is there any difference between how an adult and a child is treated? If so, how so? How does the dental team work together? What is sterilised? How? Why?

All the best and enjoy your week!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Reply 16
Original post by JayG99
Blimey, this is quite an old thread resurfaced isn't it!?

Well done for securing a weeks worth of work experience at an orthodontic practice - back in the day I did 1 week at ortho and 1 week of GDP.

I think it's always difficult to do reading about this kind of stuff before you start - so don't worry too much about that.

The most important thing is that you gain as much as you can from this week - make sure you ask plenty of questions, take a real interest in what's happening (usually the dentist does not mind if you get real close and observe - it's always polite to ask the dentist if this is okay before the first patient arrives and then you will both get used to it).

Also ask the dentist at the beginning if it's okay for you to ask questions - that way they will be more likely to encourage questions and will be expecting it.

DEFINITELY take notes - they will prove very helpful when writing a personal statement and for interviews to refresh what you learnt at your work experience (which is arguably the most important interview question).

Take notes not only about the procedures you see, but also about how the orthodontist manages their patients, is there any difference between how an adult and a child is treated? If so, how so? How does the dental team work together? What is sterilised? How? Why?

All the best and enjoy your week!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App


Thanks for the advise! do i have to get any proof of the work ex though like say a cover letter?
Reply 17
did anybody do w/e in the east midlands area? any details would be MASSIVELY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply 18
Original post by Makavelii
did anybody do w/e in the east midlands area? any details would be MASSIVELY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!


Was it really necessary to post the same post in 6 different threads?
Started my work experiance yesturday. Working till thursday. Enjoying it so far!

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