A newly hired dental assistant asks you for help in setting up the impression armamentarium for a crown and bridge procedure. Sh
e admits that although she has been a dental assistant for 5 years, her previous employer used only rubber base impression materials for final impressions, and she is unsure of the procedure, or the difference in setting up the materials. She knows both impression systems are a bit complex but is not clear on what the benefits of each are. How would you respond?
I would explain to her how the two procedures work, explain the benefits of each, and ask her to watch while I manipulate the procedures, paying attention to how all the processes are done.
Explanation:
If the new dental assistant does not know how to do the procedures correctly, the ideal is that she is taught, so that she does not do anything incorrect, harming the client, or causing problems to the equipment and materials. For this, it is important that a more experienced professional, explain to the new assistant how these procedures work, in a very detailed way, and make a demonstration asking her to observe the entire procedure very carefully and if possible make notes that may help her to memorize how the procedure should be performed.
