Gabrielle Chamberlain: Dentistry, Week One

Hello reader, I am Gabrielle Chamberlain. I am 16, English, have lived and been educated in Telluride since 2007.  This is an exciting summer for me. I have an outstanding Pinternship, where I  continue my journey into various areas of dentistry. With my father, nanna, and big family in the UK, I am used to traveling and have crossed the Atlantic many times. Yet, this is my first time traveling alone across the USA.  I arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday July 8th. Pennsylvania reminds me of my home in the Midlands of England, the foliage, the smell of rain, I love it!  I am based in beautiful Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. This is my first experience of living alone, and while it is unrealistic, as I am in a gorgeous house, not at all the dorm life of my near future. I am loving the independence.

My dental internship is divided between four dental practices. I had two days to settle in Wyomissing  before my first day at work.  The first week’s placement was with Pediatric Dentistry of Reading. Dr. Beth Gratson was my mentor, and Dental Assistant, Shannon.  I rely on Uber for transport and, thankfully, on my first day, I arrived on time. Dr. Beth and I walked in together at 7:30am. My first impression of the dental office was positive, the decor is stylish and professional.  After formal introductions, Dr. Beth and I were ready to see patients, but the first appointment cancelled.  I used this time to become comfortable with staff and their process.  I was quite taken by how Dr. Beth uses movies to distract children! There is a television over each patient’s chair.

Tuesday was a busy and interesting day. I accompanied Dr. Beth to Reading SurgiCenter.  Here, Dr. Beth treats patients who need a list of work done in a short time, or patients who are fearful and benefit from treatment under anaesthetic. Dr. Beth reserves this Operating Room (OR) two days each month. I attended and watched Dr. Beth treated three children. The first pediatric patient was a four-year-old girl with major tooth decay on all four of her incisors. She required crowns on both of her upper two-year molars. The decay on her front teeth prevented the opportunity to perform regular fillings. Dr. Beth drilled the child’s teeth down to where the decay ended, and prepared full white crowns. The next pediatric patient was a six-year-old girl with decay on her canines, her two-year molars, and her six-year molars.  I must admit that by the end of this procedure, I had started to feel a little sick and anxious.  I struggled as I watched the nurses take the little girl off of anesthesia and saw that her vitals did not regulate straight away. I have seen this on TV, but to see it in real life was a huge reach for me. My nerves were wrecked, but I stayed in the room until she normalized and then went to the locker room to drink some water and have a snack to settle my stomach. Dr. Beth’s last pediatric patient received two crowns and a filling, Dr. Beth explained the child could have been treated in the office but his mother wanted it all to be finished in one go and under anesthesia, so that it would be easy. I have seen my mum with my brother, after he had an experience with terrible dentistry, so I have compassion.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I learned valuable childcare technique. Specifically how to manage a terrified child. A good example is the five-year-old patient, who had been referred by another dentist due to his heightened anxiety.  Though only scheduled for cleaning, the little boy had to have a lap exam which is unusual for children over age three. A lap exam is when the parent sits in the dental chair with their knees touching the doctors, and the child’s legs wrapped around their parent’s waist, then they are laid back with their head on the doctor’s lap, who will clean the child’s teeth in this position.

I had a great introduction to pediatric dentistry in Pennsylvania, and thank Dr. Beth and her staff for their warm welcome. I am ready to dig my teeth into my second week, which will be at Berks Oral Surgery.