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On this day, I went to my mother’s dental clinic at 8:00 a.m., where she worked in her operatory room. Once we got there, she showed me a quick tour of the small place, and I was greeted by some of her co-workers. In her operatory room, she showed me where I could put my belongings and pulled out an extra spinning chair for me. She then grabbed a few cleaning supplies, and I helped her sanitize all the equipment. After cleaning, I watched as my mother filled out the files for the first client. She let me choose a calming song to put on in the background, I chose a relaxing lo-fi song. Then the first client arrived, and I explained what I would be doing that day. The lady then sat down in the dental chair as I watched and took notes. All I really did was sit and observe, but it was quite peaceful, especially with the calming lo-fi music in the background. Occasionally, my mother would ask me to hand her some tools or to roll over the mini screen with all the dental information on it. After the client left, I helped my mother sanitize the room again and watched as she filled out another file for the next client. Yet again, I explained what I would be doing that day to the client and then watched as my mother cleaned their teeth. This process went on again for two more clients, and by then it was already 4:30 p.m. In total, she had four clients. I helped her sanitize and tidy the room one last time and gathered my belongings. We said goodbye to all the staff and walked to where my mother’s car was parked. That was essentially how I spent the whole day with my mother. I really enjoyed this experience and found it quite peaceful and welcoming.
- What did you hear, see, smell, and feel in the work environment on Nov. 1st?
The first thing I noticed while entering the clinic was the smell of Dental products and rubber gloves. My mother and I came early, which means there were not any clients yet, just the staff. As I followed my mother around the small clinic, I passed a few of her co-workers, I greeted them in Korean and continued till we got to her operatory room where she would be working the entire day. As she prepared for her first client, I sat down on one of the extra spinning chairs. I looked around the room and saw a few notable things; the operatory lights above the patient chair, several dental tools, and many boxes labeled in Korean, filled with filles. As my mother sanitized the whole room, I smelt various cleaning products like alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer. A few of the other hygienists were also preparing and I watched as they walked past our room, sometimes even stopping to say hello to me. Since I had forgotten my own mask, I was given one of the extra masks my mother had, it was a bit odd to be wearing masks again, but I got used to it. One thing about the clinic was that it was slightly cold but still refreshing, it was also quite bright, which was helpful in the morning. Overall, the clinic was peaceful, and everyone was very friendly, which made for a welcoming atmosphere.
- What about the environment would motivate you to wake up every day to attend work?
For me I would say the one thing about the work environment of a dental clinic that would motivate me would be the warm atmosphere and the people I would work with every day. I just love the sense of community that comes with working in this field, knowing that every day I wake up early and head to work I would be greeted by my co-workers who could relate to me as they do the same thing every day. I also value the idea that every day when working in this field you know you would be helping someone else, whether that be with benefiting their oral health or just getting to interact with someone, I find that aspect of dental hygiene very admirable.
- What about the work environment would discourage you from waking up every day to attend work?
Although there are many remarkable things about dental hygiene there are a few aspects that would discourage me from attending work every day. One smaller thing is in between each client can sometimes get quite hectic as you only have a few minutes to clean up, reorganize and sanitize the whole room. The bigger aspect of dental hygiene that would discourage me from attending work every day would be the fact that there is a risk of potentially hurting or injuring your patients/clients and it would really discourage me if I knew that something I did hurt someone. Since the mouth is filled with nerves this makes it extremely sensitive, this means you must be 10 times more careful in what you do as there are higher risks. One last thing is when working in dentistry you often depend on technology, and it is not always the most reliable. This just adds to the pressure of feeling like you constantly need to do a good job for your clients since they put their trust in you. Altogether there are a few discouraging things, I believe there are more ups than downs.
- What is ONE thing you found interesting about your workplace visit?
One thing I adore about dental hygiene is the community aspect, I love the idea of meeting new people every day and being able to help them, having a sort of support group of co-workers who you can relate to and who you enjoy working with. I find it interesting as you wouldn’t expect that from a job where you primarily clean teeth all day, however in reality you do experience those types of situations and relationships as a dental hygienist. It is very intriguing to see all the unique and different people you come across while in this field of work. I imagine even seeing usual clients is refreshing knowing that they continue to come back to your clinic after you have helped them in a way is always reassuring. It is the same thing with having respectful and encouraging co-workers, in my opinion it is the people who surround you that really leave an impact and affect the environment so that is why having a good community is important.