We started the Dental Assistant Nation podcast with one goal: Giving you a regular dose of encouragement while touching on some of the toughest topics that dental assistants face in their careers.

Seven years ago during my first tenure as the editorial director for Dental Assisting Digest, I worked on a survey with more than 1,000 dental assistants around the country. I am redoing that survey now and would love to have your help.

Bullying is an awful thing. It’s by no means new, but it certainly seems like it’s become more prominent in recent years.

It was early on a Sunday morning this past winter when I first received several notifications on Facebook about a “new” prescription drug abuse menace in America that was “killing thousands.”

The duties of chairside assistants are not just assisting and cleaning instruments. When there are no patients, your time should be used to catch up on cleaning the treatment rooms, tubs, and trays, stocking treatment rooms and burs, organizing stock closets, and more. Treatment rooms should look immaculate at all times. This cannot be emphasized enough.

Recently, we discussed bullying in the workplace. For many, it was an eye-opening read. We’ve all heard about bullying in schools or from friends and family who know someone, but we never expected it to hit so close to home-the dental office.

If you’ve been in the dental world for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly noticed an unspoken divide, a deeply entrenched chasm, bridged only by presumptions of roles and responsibilities by the dental auxiliary who crosses that chasm.

Anytime I hear about a cyber bullying case or a colleague’s child being bullied at school, my heart goes out to the victims. It wasn’t until I was doing some research for this article that I realized to what extent bullying exists in dentistry, and that I myself have been a victim of bullying to a certain degree at various points in my career without even realizing it.

In 2003, Apple introduced a music-selling service called iTunes, voters in California ousted Gov. Gray Davis and elected action film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in China, a pharmacist named Hon Lik patented the modern e-cigarette. Yes, we’ve come a long way since 2003. But as it turns out, perhaps not far enough. Tom Viola, RPh, CCP, explains.

Not every day is going to be perfect … and not every day is going to be the worst day of your career. It’s what happens on the days between those days that makes all of the difference for many assistants.

Check out this great free Webinar from Ginny Hegarty on some of the most controversial topics in the dental practice today!

The Dental Assistant Nation podcast, powered by IgniteDA, is designed for dental assistants. With most episodes lasting around 10 minutes, these quick and informative listens are designed for education and empowerment.