In this Employer Spotlight we spoke with Dr. Drew Carlin, dentist at Beautiful Smiles in Erie, PA.
Can you please tell us a little bit about Beautiful Smiles?
Beautiful Smiles is a combined pediatric dentistry and orthodontics practice specializing in the oral health of children from their first birthday through high school. We also serve many individuals, both children and adults, with special health care needs that might otherwise be an obstacle to obtaining regular dental care. Our mission is to provide excellent comprehensive dental care in a gentle, non-threatening setting with a focus on prevention of oral diseases, especially dental caries (cavities), which is epidemic in American children.
Beautiful Smiles has been in operation for almost four decades. We currently have two Board-Certified pediatric dentists and an orthodontist on staff. While our goal is to treat as many children as possible with the least invasive techniques available, our pediatric dentists offer treatment under in-office conscious sedation and outpatient general anesthesia at UPMC Hamot, Saint Vincent Surgery Center and the Village SurgiCenter.
What do you look for in potential new hires when recruiting Dental Assistants?
When recruiting new dental assistants, the most important consideration is to find employees who enjoy working with children! Reliability, eagerness to learn (and learn quickly) and acceptance of constructive criticism are essential qualities. We also put a lot of emphasis on friendliness, patience, keeping composure under stress and ability to work well with the entire office team.
What do you look for in potential new hires when recruiting Dental Assistants?
As newly minted dental assistants transition from students to professionals, they should be prepared to think on their feet and learn quickly. Speaking for this practice, we are very busy and most training is on the job. Although the doctors and veteran staff are willing to teach and help new employees learn new tasks and find their footing, we need people who can get up to speed as soon as possible.
If there was one piece of advice you could give to a Dental Assistant student to help them be successful, what would it be?
One piece of advice I would share with a dental assistant student to help them be successful is to be proactive in his or her new job. Look for ways to be useful to the doctors and other staff members, ask questions if instruction are unclear and be eager to learn.
Why do you like hiring Great Lakes Institute of Technology Dental Assistant graduates?
I would continue to hire GLIT dental assistant graduates in the future, especially if they come highly recommended by their instructors. These top GLIT graduates have acquired a very good base of knowledge about dental procedures and terminology. This reduces the time and effort we need to invest in training new hires. And again, we welcome those graduates with a good positive demeanor. They make each day better for our patients and for the rest of the staff!
