Will become a dental assistant in 3 months...?

I am almost done with school. I have one month of school left and 2 months of extern after that (I won't be getting paid unless the dentist offers it)


Do you think I will find a good paying job right out of school? I've had hands on experience for the past 7 months...just not on real people! :) I am a single mother of 2, so its important to me to have a good job. That is why I went back to school.


What is the average pay for a dental assistant. I have looked into myself, but thought I might get better answers from people who actually are in the field.





If any dentists are out there, would you hire someone right out of school? The school I attend doesn't have the best reputation I have heard. But I am one of the best students in my class. Straight A's.





Serious answers only please!

Will become a dental assistant in 3 months...?
I can only tell you about my personal experience and my opinion of inexperienced assistants.





I did luckely get a job right out of dental assisting school. However, back then, we were not under such strict guildlines as we are now. Back when I started, you basically only had to be certified in radiology and you could be an assistant. Now, in my state, and I am sure in many, if not all others, you have to take a test and be registered with the state and keep up a certain amount of continueing ed credits a year. The school I went to helped me find a job. Dentists would contact the school knowing that they wanted a new, inexperienced assistant, because they wanted someone they could train who wouldn't be set in their ways. That was about 11 years ago and I started out at $7.50 an hour. Yikes!!! Not what you expected huh?? Don't worry, most pay more now. I have heard of assistants right out of school making about $16.00 an hour which shocks me, but it happens. I wouldn't expect that if I were you though. Probably between $9.00-12.00 would be closer to accurate, depending on the area and the dentist.





In my office, the veteran staff get a say-so in the new assistants we hire, and I can tell you in my office, no offense, but we don't hire newly trained assistants. WHY?? Because I don't have the time or the patience to train someone. We just see too many patients a day and have too many detailed, extensive procedures going at any given time, to have someone with very limited dental knowledge working there. We need people who are very quick, can do multiple things at once, and need very little guidance. I'm not saying we have NEVER hired a newly trained assistant, but it just didn't work out. There is alot to dental assisting that is learnt on the job, and we just don't have the time to train people.





Not saying that there are not offices that are not willing to give newly trained assistants a chance, cause there are. You just need to make up a resume and take it to many different offices. Sooner or later you will get a dentist who is willing to take on a new assistant. Hey, we all were there at one time!!!





Good luck
Reply:I had a hard time getting a job right out of school. I think offices do prefer assistants that have a lot of experience. I finally got a job as a hygiene assistant at $8/hr. They did not pay me a lot, but I had to take it. I just realized that I need to get more experience in the field and when I did, I applied for another job. Now I make $12/hr. I finished school in 2004, and I really enjoy my job. So I suggest that you learn everything that you can when you are doing your externship! Ask questions when your not sure of things. Try to assist the doc on the different procedures performed. Hope you get a good job!!
Reply:There are A LOT of dentists that hire right out of school here in California. I am an assistant and got hired right away at where i am working. However, the pay isn't that great, i wouldn't onl;y rely on assisting, i would do more in the dental field if you really like it. Im in school now for hygiene, I think thats where I would be better placed. Look in the newspapers and pennysavers if your state has those or even craigslist.org. The jobs in the papers usually will say hiring students or grads. Your school should actually give you doctors names on who will hire you right away, you can actually get an assisting job now while you are in school. Its practice and its good hands on. Good luck!!