Centre Dufferin’s Co-op Corner

April 18, 2019 · 0 Comments

Student: Chloe Hill

Placement: Shelburne Family Dental

This week Chloe Hill from Centre Dufferin District High School shares a little bit about her experience and how Shelburne Family Dental is contributing to our community’s future.

Shelburne Family Dental was originally opened in 1970 by Dr. Robert Bond, and was taken over by Dr. Dino DiSanto in 2000 and new patients are always welcome. This office provides dental care to the community such as crowns, fillings, extractions, root canals and cleaning appointments. They make molds for whitening trays and mouth guards, as well as orthodontics for all ages. The wonderful caring staff here includes 3 Dental Hygienists (Sherry, Jenn and Melanie), 3 Dental Assistants (Cathy, Janna and Sarah), 3 Office Administrators (Jutta, Amanda and Jennifer), and 1 Sterilization Assistant (Jill).

Within Shelburne Family Dental I work for the most part alongside a Dental Hygienist, and in the future I hope to do some work with the Dental Assistants as well. My tasks/duties in this office include taking apart and wiping down used rooms, setting up clean rooms, placing dirty instruments in the Ultrasonic machine, rinsing and drying off instruments, and finally packaging and sterilizing instruments. I pull and file patient charts, and also book and bill hygiene appointments. I have had the opportunity to assist the Hygienists with probing, as well as to pour up models and make whitening trays. Some tasks/duties I hope to be introduced to during my placement time are assisting the Dentist with basic fillings and routine extractions. Special equipment which I use at this office include a vacuum forming machine, a model air bubble remover, sterilizers, model trimmer and a dremel tool.

One of the other jobs brought to my attention while working in this office is a Restorative Hygienist who places fillings. I have also learned that becoming a Dental Assistant can lead you in different directions such as working with Public Health, or as a Sales Representative for a dental company. Other intriguing jobs include Laboratory Technicians and Office Administrators/Receptionists.

Beneficial involvement my placement has with the community is contributing to fundraisers, funding a Science Award at CDDHS and also giving donations to teams. As well, Hygienists in this office have gone in to local primary school classrooms to teach kids about good oral hygiene and how to properly brush their teeth.