A Career As A Dental Assistant

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One smile at a time, dental assistants make the world a better place. Without their support, dentistry would be chaos; It is their job to increase the efficiency of the dentist and help provide proper oral care. Dental assistants perform several tasks, which can make their profession tense. From social to technical skills, dental assistants are responsible for assisting the dentist during procedures, captivating x-rays, collecting previous medical history along with blood pressure and pulse, sterilize equipment, and perform oral hygiene like cleaning teeth. While doing these tasks, dental assistants must take safety precautions from oral diseases and viruses. Though providing oral care is rewarding, it is not always rewarding for every person in the dental field. Dental assistants deal with severe health hazards daily, and they do not always receive all the credit that they deserve. Like mentioned before, the duties of a dental assistant are among the most comprehensive and varied in the dental office. The dental assistant performs many tasks requiring both interpersonal and technical skills. Some of the duties performed are not the most pleasurable and are often stressful. It is not surprise that dental practice is stressful. However, evidence …show more content…
Mercury, the main component to dental amalgam, is a notoriously harmful substance, and can affect a person’s health in numerous ways. In fact, a report from the World Health Organization warns, “It may cause harmful effects to the nervous, digestive, respiratory, immune systems and to the kidneys, besides causing lung damage…Recent studies suggest that mercury may have no threshold below which some adverse effects do not occur (Kennedy).” Dangerous levels of mercury are generated in the dental workplace by numerous daily procedures. Many dental assistants do not realize that procedures involving use of an old or new amalgam will expose them to