Fellow dental assistants: I have a question?

Do you ever get just overwhelmed at work? Or am I just really overworked? There are times when I just can not seem to get stuff done. In my office we have 3 assistant,but only 2 of us are expanded and we are depended on for everything. Besides assisting on normal everyday patients, I do all the implant and surgery cases, order the supplies, and do half of all the large reconstruction cases. It seems like there is never enough time to get all the instruments done, clean the rooms, send out lab cases, chart in the patients charts, or any of the other stuff I am suppose to do. My dentist realizes that we are over worked and has tried to cut down, but he has a hard time turning people away, and he is one of the most popular dentists in town. When patients arive the front desk puts their charts in a bin, and the other day I was right in the middle of trying to catch up on instuments when one went in the bin, and without thinking I said very loudly "SH-T!!!" Am I the only assistant stressed?

Fellow dental assistants: I have a question?
No, I'm not a dental assistant, so I am just blowing smoke, but...





Yeah, it's a high stress job. If your boss is really overworking you, maybe it's time for a change. Either for him or for you. I am very strict about the schedule. We know how long it will take for procedures and we schedule that much time. We don't short change the appointment. If someone is late, we either find something quicker to do or we don't see the patient. They need to learn about respecting the schedule anyway. Yes, we have emergencies, but you have to finally ask, "To whom do I owe what?" This applies to the practice in general, your boss and also to yourself. If you are doing so much in other areas, maybe you can let someone who is not as clinically qualified as you are order the supplies.





For what it's worth, I have 2 rooms (plus hygiene) and 2 assistants. They each have "their" room. One starts the day on Monday and Thursday and the other one on Tuesday and Friday. The patients alternate from that point on through the rest of the day. They are not both equally qualified on all procedures, but by having each of them do whatever falls into their room, they eventually will be pretty close. You need a relief from the pressure of "all" the implant and surgery cases. Besides that, your boss needs someone else to become as qualified as you are. What happens when you are sick? Does he cancel the implant patient? Does he reschedule the surgeries? I hope not.





You know how to get in touch with me if you want to bounce this around some more.
Reply:Apparently you are. You really need another line of work, I suspect. If you can't take the heat, leave the kitchen!
Reply:it sounds like you are working very hard.


but if you swear at work, you need a time out...


go outside and take a short walk and some deep breathes on your break


and talk to your boss about what could be done


always discuss problems instead of lashing out at innocent people who don't know what is going on...
Reply:NO, you're not. I'm a RDA, but I mainly run the front office (I can't stand working with my dr), but I do assist in back as needed, and I know there's at least one day a week I wish I could just get up and walk out. The other day I was trying to catch up on billing, help with xrays, take an alginate (I HATE these) and he was hollering about don't forget to check with the lab blah blah blah...I went and hid in the bathroom for a while.
Reply:Girl, I understand your suffering! We have 2 doctors in our office and each has 2 assistants and boy, do we need to get another doc in there! We are SO swamped all the time. The doctor I work with hates her other assistant and relies on me for everything. I'm also in charge of ordering all supplies for the office and everyone seems to have a problem letting me know when they have taken the last of something! I don't even have time during the day to use the restroom! We're suppose to be done by 4:30 but I usually don't get done until almost 6 (this doesn't even include the time I spend at home ordering supplies online every week). I love my job but whew! am I tired.
Reply:I'm a dentist, not a dental assistant, but I'm going to chime in here....





We are reasonable people, and believe it or not, money isn't everything to us.





Moreover, we know perfectly well that good assisting staff is hard to come by, and that a content staff makes for a better staff.





If you find yourself overworked, perhaps you should sit down with the doctor and explain that the work conditions are burning you out (and if your fellow assistants feel the same, mention them too). You might be surprised by his response.





Think of it this way: we don't know you are being overworked unless you tell us. As long as our operatories are properly set-up, we think everything is peachy-keen. We're not going to hire another assistant until we know it is needed.





Ask, and ye MAY receive!
Reply:I can understand what you are saying. I did temp work at an office and the assistants were running around all day.





Maybe ask if you can get a part time assistant to just take care of instruments and/or cleaning the rooms, maybe a few days a week for 4 or 5 hours each day. I am sure there is some mom out there with kids who just started school who would love to come in during school hours and make a little cash.





My sister works at a perio office, and she is an assistant to the hygienists there. She takes care of the instruments, sharpening them, getting them into the autoclave, cleaning rooms, helping to set up rooms, helps to record vitals during implant procedures, helps to record perodontal readings for the hygienists and assists with XRAYS. She does other small things here and there but the other people in the office are happy she is there because their job isn't so rushed or stressful.