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Meet a real Assistant, Dental, Christopher Beadle
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Christopher Beadle, Dental Assistant, Dental Technician Second Class, Naval Post Graduate Dental School, Comprehensive Dentistry, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
Christopher Beadle, Dental Assistant, Dental Technician Second Class, Naval Post Graduate Dental School, Comprehensive Dentistry, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland

1. I chose this career because...

2. My typical workday involves...

3. What I like best/least about my work...

4. My career goals are...

5. When I'm not working, I like to...

6. Educate not Catch-up...


1. I chose this career because...

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Christopher Beadle washes his hands and gears-up with a mask and face shield to meet with a patient. Providing a sterile environment for each patient is important to reduce the risk of infection.
Christopher Beadle washes his hands and gears-up with a mask and face shield to meet with a patient. Providing a sterile environment for each patient is important to reduce the risk of infection.

I chose to become a dental assistant after entering the Navy and undergoing testing to identify my skills and abilities and determine where they might best be applied.

From College to Work to Navy

After graduating from high school, I started college at Pennsylvania State University. After a few months, I decided that college didn’t suit me; and I returned home. I found a job in a battery plant, and later worked as a material handler for a direct mail company. After three years, I realized that I wanted better career opportunities. With the encouragement of my brother (who was in the Navy and worked as a cook in the White House), I decided to join the Navy.

Naval Training

I went through military boot camp in Chicago. Then I was sent to the Naval School of Health Sciences at Shepherd Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas (http://nshssd.med.navy.mil/sheppardafb/dentalA.htm) where I trained as a dental assistant for four months. After training, the Navy sent me to Naples, Italy for two years to give dental care to the military stationed in that area. While taking care of the military personnel, I became fluent in Italian and proficient as an Italian cook. On my return to the United States, I was assigned to the White House and had the privilege of providing dental care to the first family.

2. My typical workday involves...

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Christopher Beadle performs a routine tooth cleaning.
Christopher Beadle performs a routine tooth cleaning.

My typical workday as a naval dental assistant, involves seeing a patient every hour for restorative dentistry.

My tasks are to:
  • Prepare the examination room, making sure to control infection with sterile supplies and techniques
  • Have appropriate materials ready for specific procedures: bonding agents-silver and amalgams for fillings, etc.
  • Complete administrative responsibilities such as filing records and scheduling appointments for the dentist
  • Take dental impressions of patients and pour into stone models
  • Make prostheses such as orthodontic retainers

After completing the additional training of an expanded functional assistant I also:
  • Make sports mouth guards, trainer trays, and temporary crowns
  • Assist with surgical periodontal procedures such as setting up a sterile field, irrigation of the mouth, suction, and sutures
  • Scrub and assist the dentist directly with the patient

(Captain Cook, Chairman of Operative Dentistry at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Careers/Postgraduate_Dental_School/ and instructor for the Expanded Functional Assistant program, says “the goal is to provide more care to more patients and allow the dentist to delegate tasks to the trained assistant. Before completing the expanded training, the assistant can take x-rays, make impressions of the patients’ mouth and hand instruments to the dentist. After training, the assistant can place restored teeth in the patient’s mouth under supervision by the dentist, perform routine cleaning, administer sealants to the teeth, and place temporary crowns.”)





3. What I like best/least about my work...

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Christopher Beadle uses a dental mirror and scaler to clean a patient's teeth.
Christopher Beadle uses a dental mirror and scaler to clean a patient's teeth.

What I like best about my work is the customer satisfaction that I receive from the patients that I help treat. I also appreciate the fact that the dentist, whom I assist, values my work. I have come to realize that my training as a dental assistant is a good steppingstone into the healthcare field, that will lead to many other opportunities.

What I like least about my work is that I am so busy that I don’t have enough time for myself. I also dislike the occasions when procedures take longer than expected which results in delays for other patients.

4. My career goals are...

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Christopher Beadle works on a patient's dental impression using a model trimmer.
Christopher Beadle works on a patient's dental impression using a model trimmer.

My career goals are, at present, to complete my training as a surgical assistant in Portsmouth, Virginia at the Naval School of Health Sciences. The training will take about 9 months, and is another step toward achieving my other goal of becoming an anesthesia nurse.

5. When I'm not working, I like to...

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Dental impressions before (left) after (right) finishing techniques.
Dental impressions before (left) after (right) finishing techniques.

When I’m not working, I like to fish for trout in a local lake, and go deer hunting in Pennsylvania. I also like to travel, and have just returned from a visit to Naples, Rome and Florence, Italy.

6. Educate not Catch-up...

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The most important part of your life after high school is your education. Be smart, pay attention and eliminate “catching-up.” Set goals for yourself and make every effort to accomplish those goals. Ultimately, I owe my success to the example set by my father who had a strong work ethic. Include the military as a possible source for your education and investigate the unique opportunities the military offers. As a result of my military training, I have had the prestigious duty of going to the White House and Camp David to treat the President of the United States of America!


















































     
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