Today was my final day with Dr. Siegel. I have had so much fun and have gained so much insight on what is it like to be a dentist. Today I talked to her temporary dental assistant about how she came to be one and what her experience has been like. It’s so cool how many different jobs one can have that would land them working with a dentist or in a dentist’s office. The coolest thing I saw Dr. Siegel do today was put a mold in someone’s mouth to make them a night guard. It was kind of similar to what the orthodontist had to do to make my retainer. I saw her mix some type of powder together with water in order to make the mold them put it in the mouth tray. It is important to pick the right size mouth tray so it fits the patient’s mouth and doesn’t make them uncomfortable. After she has the molds of the top and bottom teeth, I saw her make another type of paste that she pours into the mold. She will them send that off to a lab for them to make the night guard and they will send it to her in about a week! Isn’t that cool? I loved shadowing Dr. Siegel and hope that I’ll get to see her some time in the future! 
Tag: dentist
Day 4
Today was an amazing day. I can now say that I have seen Dr. Siegel do every procedure that she does! We have been crazy busy. She did have a dental assistant today, but the assistant had to help the hygienist at some points so Dr. Siegel had to work alone which is VERY difficult to do. She is one of the few dentists that can comfortably work without an assistant because when she first started practicing, that’s what she had to do. It is so impressive watching her work whether it’s by herself or with an assistant. My favorite part of today was watching her fill in someone’s chipped tooth. This man is a psychologist so his appearance is very important to him because he wants to have a good impression on his patients and wants to look professional. She used a technique called bonding in order to fix the tooth. She did this procedure without an assistant! It looked like a brand new tooth by the time she was done, it was amazing. He walked out of the office confident, ready to take on new patients. Her work continues to remind me of why I want to become a dentist/orthodontist. I want to make people feel better and help them feel confident in themselves. It seems so rewarding!
Day 1
During my first day shadowing Dr. Siegel, we saw five patients. It was a very busy morning especially because Dr. Siegel doesn’t have her assistant this week so she is doing a lot of extra tasks. We definitely got our steps in today juggling the patients. We saw patients of all different ages so it was very cool to see how different ages get different treatments. The most intriguing case for me was an older woman, probably in her 70’s, that came in because she was experiencing some pain caused by her denture. It turns out that she has extremely weak gums that are very sensitive. The denture was a little too long on one side and didn’t fit quite right so it was rubbing against her gum causing the discomfort. Dr. Siegel was able to remove the denture and use a sharp tool to shave down the longer side of the denture. Once she got the shape just right after a few tries, the patient felt instant relief and was so much happier with the denture. It was amazing seeing patients feel more comfortable and confident in such a short time. Also, something that I really enjoyed witnessing was the close relationships Dr. Siegel has with her patients. “That’s what happens when you work at the same practice for 30 years”, she says.
