The Compliance Divas Podcast
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The Compliance Divas Podcast
#238 Registered Dental Assistants in Expanded Functions - Advanced Skills in Action!
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The Divas interview 3 RDAEFs who are specially trained to perform advanced restorative and clinical procedures. These Power House Women are Dental Professionals who are Calif highest level Dental Assistant. Guests: Samantha Belloso, Magdalene (Maggie) Rodriguez and Leana Miller
Resources:
- Dental Board of CA, Table of Dental Auxiliary Duties Delegable by Supervising Dentist, effective Jan. 1, 2025 https://www.dbc.ca.gov/formspubs/pub_permitted_duties.pdf
Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannum. I'm Mary Gavoni. I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Long, and together we are the Compliance Divas.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the Compliance Divas podcast. I'm Leslie Cannum, and I'll be your moderator for this exciting podcast where we interview registered dental assistants in expanded functions, the advanced skills type of assistant. These are superheroes that go above and beyond your typical chairside assisting duties. And the three RDAEFs, Registered Dental Assistants and Extended Functions, are actually specially trained to perform advanced restorative and clinical procedures. And in addition to their skills clinically, they are powerhouse women. They're dental professionals who are California's highest level of dental assistant. And I'm so excited to make their acquaintance. First, we have our guests, Samantha Below Bioso. Then we have Maggie Rodriguez and Liana Miller. So I'm going to start by introducing Samantha. And I'm just curious, Samantha, how did you decide to pursue RDA EF?
SPEAKER_00Hi, Leslie. Thank you for having me on here and Mary. So yes, I decided to become an EF. I thought about it long, long before I actually did it. I've been in the field over 20 years and I just I needed more. I wanted to do more. I wanted to be able to help the doctor more and just wanted to keep learning. So I eventually just said, you know what? I'm just going to go for it and jump in and I'll figure it out along the way. And that's what I did.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. You're an EF, expanded functions, which is the highest level of dental assistant. And you're also helping others who are entering the dental profession. Can you just give us a little idea of what you're doing to bridge the gap in the workforce shortage in dentistry?
SPEAKER_00Yes, of course. Yes. So I run and operate a dental assisting program for dental assistants. The course was designed to be an accelerated course to get the individuals trained, confident, and ready for job readiness to be hired on. So we definitely seen the gap that, you know, participants were wanting to learn more. It's hard to train in the office. So we, you know, set up and opened up a location, a training location, so that we could then train individuals, come to us with the time to sit down and explain everything in detail from start to finish, you know, from anatomy to procedures to instruments, you know, taking x-rays, infection control. Now they get all the certifications that are required to be able to be ready and available to be hired on and be successful and to, you know, join a new career.
SPEAKER_01And it's so needed in not only California, but we have a workforce shortage across the country. What's unique about your programs is that you have the certificates that someone can hit the bricks running. They can start on day one, they have their infection control certificate, they have their x-ray license, they have a wealth of information that is in a whirlwind education. You go very quickly with that. So you're you're pumping out the highly trained dental assistants in a minimum amount of time. So thank you so much for your dedication to that. Mary, let's have a few words from you.
SPEAKER_02Well, as I said before we started recording, I am in awe of all three of you ladies that you are at this point in your careers where you're doing some really exciting things in dental assisting. I was one of the first few hundred registered dental assistants in Michigan back in the day, before you were probably alive. And we called it an expanded function assistant, but we didn't have restorative responsibilities, nothing like what they actually have in Michigan and many other states right now. And and I never thought I would actually see the day when this would happen. So I'm so, so very excited. So, Maggie, let's start with you. What attracted you to become an RDAEF? And then we'll have Leanne jump in after her.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Well, thank you for your kind words, first of all. And thank you so much for having us on the podcast. I know I can speak for Leanne that we feel we're so honored to be here today. And so actually, what prompted me to pursue RDAEF is you're looking at her right here. So Leanne actually, I won't take too much of her story, but after watching her complete the program in 2011, we used to work together in private practice. So I watched her complete the program in 2011. I decided maybe that was something that I wanted to do. I kind of put that in my back pocket and sat on it for a while while I um was working as an RDA for another private practice. And then I had moved locations. And then in 2016, I decided it was time I was at the right location with the right doctor who wanted an EF. And so I jumped right in and went to the same program Liana did, which is the University of the Pacific, the Dugani School of Dentistry. And I started in 2016 and then I graduated in 2017 and began working right away. And it was so fulfilling. I worked for Dr. Curtis Jansen in Monterey, very busy prosedonic practice for the last nine years.
SPEAKER_02Amazing. And Liana, tell us, tell us your story.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, in 2010, I was working for a high-end cosmetic dentist in Monterey, Dr. Jeanette Kern, a single doctor. She had told me about the new licensure, the EF, in 2010 when it came about. So I was a little hesitant at first. I didn't know if I wanted all that on my plate and the responsibility, but it sounded exciting and very intimidating. And after checking out the program at Pacific and the support of Dr. Kern's, you know, her words of encouragement and just her kind of harassing me. I needed that little swift kick in the butt. She nudged me and I went for it. So I was very fortunate to graduate from Pacific's first graduating EF class in 2012. But looking back, it was an awesome move. Just that one multiple conversations with Dr. Kern is what really changed the trajectory of my career in dental assisting.
SPEAKER_02And it changes a practice, I think, because you can provide services to more patients. It allows the doctor to really do the things that are as the terminology that's used, the irreversible kind of procedures. And then you can fill in those gaps with your experience and your training and just make that practice so much more effective. What I still don't quite grasp myself is how the expanded function dental assistants can function without their own assistant. Do you have an assistant that you work with when you're doing restorative work? Are you going solo?
SPEAKER_04I am solo. Unless I'm doing a full mouth rehab and I need an extra set of hands to take a full arch impression upper and lower, I will call that second assistant in. But for the most part, we're we're very self-sufficient. We're dental assistants.
SPEAKER_03Isolite is your ass. Isolite, yeah. I don't really ask to work in a large practice, so I usually had somebody with me. Again, if it was I was working in prof, so most of the time it was full mouth restoration. So then I did have an assistant come in and help me.
SPEAKER_02Okay, sure, because it makes you just like a dental assistant makes the doctor more efficient at chairside, an assistant to the assistant makes them more efficient as well. And I think that Leslie wants to talk to you about the specific kinds of functions. One of the challenges is it varies from state to state, and California is probably the most progressive in what you all can do. So I'm interested to learn about that.
SPEAKER_01That's right, Barry. Well, I think I'm gonna start out by asking Samantha some questions about what an RDAEF can do when it comes to oral assessments. Tell us about those duties.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so the oral assessments, a lot of the times, you know, the assistants or even us as EFs are the first ones who see the patients. So we can come in and we can do, you know, the just a screening, just take a look, making sure, you know, if we see any abnormalities or anything around the face or in the mouth, soft tissue areas, you know, we are able to diagnose it early, or I'm sorry, not diagnose, we don't diagnose, but we can, you know, notice if there's an abnormality in place and then inform the doctor. And then they can come in and you know follow through with what's needed. But it's just a way that we can come in and help and do an early detection before the doctor and then just inform them.
SPEAKER_01And new in 2025, oral cancer screening, which is so needed and so many times overlooked in dental practices, it's maybe being something that a hygienist may do a preliminary little screening, and and some doctors are more advanced, but now we you have more sets of eyes that know what to look for when it comes to oral cancer. And then there's something else that has come up on the horizon over the last full few years, and it's called radiographic decision making. Tell us what that means.
SPEAKER_00We can then come in and again, under the direction of the doctor, kind of together figure out which x-rays are needed, and then we can go ahead and start taking those x-rays, and then the doctor can then come in and do the diagnosis and confirm, you know, what our findings are. So, again, as an EF, I think the main point is that we are able to help the doctor, free up the doctor to be in another room producing, you know, other restorative care, or that we can then help in a little bit more and take it a step further. And then by the time they come in, you know, it's more of the streamlined easier exam because we've already kind of pre-did a workup, you know, for them and then they come in and confirm it.
SPEAKER_01And this is great because you're prescribing the x-rays. While you're not the dentist, you are the one that determines which radiographs or images need to be taken. And and without conferring with the dentist ahead of time, you're able to gather those images in order to save the dentist time. And you're also required to have some certificate training for that. So that's not something that every RDAEF can do. You have to be specially trained for that. Well, thanks so much for that.
SPEAKER_02Mary, I would love to hear from Liana about the types of restorative functions you can provide. Can you do amalgam and composite restorations? Can you place them? Can you do many of us call them provisional restorations, but interim therapeutic restorations? Tell us about all the restorative functions you can do.
SPEAKER_04Um I will share about um ITRs. I'll start off with that, which is the interim therapeutic restoration. I had taken that course to become certified to do that. ITR is basically they're temporary, it's a minimally invasive restoration used to manage dental carriers when definitive restoration treatment cannot be completed immediately, whether the patient has a time limit or you know, they have to leave someplace, they can't stay for the full visit, or maybe they have they don't have the financial funds to take care of that permanent restoration at the time. ITR has become very helpful. So they're designed to stabilize disease, relieve symptoms, and prevent further decay until permanent restoration can be placed.
SPEAKER_02And so what type of materials would you typically use for that ITR?
SPEAKER_04Um typically it could be some type of glass ionomer or even maybe IRM. It just depends what the office or the dentist has there for us to use.
SPEAKER_03I can talk a little bit about the um types of restorations that we do, amalgams and composites. So as an RDAEF, we can definitely help the dentist by completing the restorations for amalgams and composites. We can place, contour, finish, and adjust all direct restorations, which really alleviates a lot of time and stress for the dentist, especially those class two restorations. I know those are those are pretty time consuming. But it helps improve efficiency throughout the office as well, too, because the doctor can leave us to actually complete the filling, go in and maybe do a hygiene exam and then come back to us and then do a final check because they must do that legally. Come back and check our work.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so you're able to really once doctors finished with the prep, then you can you place any bases, any liners, anything that needs to be done in the restoration. You can place the matrix and all of that and do the, I think I heard you say do contouring, and then doctor comes and does the final check. That's amazing. Leslie.
SPEAKER_01This is the superhero dental assistant. And when I was in high school, I actually wrote my high school thesis paper on what was called at that time the expanded duties dental assistants, before we came up with the name in California registered dental assistants and expanded functions. And I always thought that it was like, well, you know, you have a paralegal legal, you have a paramedic. This is like a paradentist. And it just shows how far you can go. You don't have to be just dental assisting or just scrubbing instruments or just suctioning. There are so many places you can go to expand your abilities and to advance your career. And that's where I was wondering from our three ladies today. What is it that drives you to advance dental assistants to this great level of dental assisting?
SPEAKER_00I think it's just a great way for us to stay engaged, stay involved, especially when we've been in dentistry for so long. Of course, dentistry is very repetitive. So it gives us that excitement again. For me, it did. It definitely gave me that excitement to know that I could be more helpful. I could, you know, free up the doctor. I can now come in and show also my artistic side of it and put in those restorations and contour those fillings, you know, all of that. And again, giving back the patients, you know, their smile that, you know, they've been wanting for so many years. That's just the rewarding part of it.
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. And you know, we talked about restorative procedures. I think that I heard one of you or several of you say that there are also end-all procedures that you can do and in prosthetics as well. Can Samantha, I don't know if you want to address that, or Maggie or Liana, we'll kind of have all of you.
SPEAKER_04As far as endodonic related functions go for RDAEFs, we are allowed to size and fit master and accessory points. Once we size and fit those, we're able to then cement the master and accessory points. So, you know, again, after an endodonic procedure, the EF can perform those duties.
SPEAKER_03And then as far as procedures, RDAEFs can adjust and cement permanent indirect restorations. We can take final impressions for permanent indirect restoration that includes gingival retraction. And we can also take impressions for toothborne removable prosthesis over partials. So we have a lot of responsibility, a lot of duties that we can do, but that's what makes dentistry a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_04The process of, you know, when we have to take these final impressions, should that tooth need a buildup, that's something that's another function we're able to perform as well.
SPEAKER_01Very cool. So, in closing our podcast for today, dental assistants can excel to a higher level of providing patient care. And there are careers beyond the operatory, which include teaching, as these three ladies have demonstrated, consulting, Mary and I are in that arena, and Samantha, Lianna, and Maggie. You are proof of just how far a person can excel in dental assisting. And just a little something to put a bug in everybody's ear. In California, there's that we're working on a pilot program for registered dental assistants in expanded functions to administer local anesthetic. And the purpose of the pilot program, of course, is to provide the studies that this is a function that that could be performed by a highly trained and skilled registered dental assistant in expanded functions. So we're going to be watching to see what happens with that. And we cheer you on for all of your efforts. We're so glad that you do what you do to advance dental assistance and and to bring new life blood into our profession because, well, let's face it, you know, that there's a shortage, but some of the good ones are are retiring. And so we're finding that there's a lot of dentists who need qualified help and they don't know where to turn. And you guys are just amazing in providing that very highly skilled education and expertise to people who want to have a career in dentistry. So thank you very much for joining us at the Compliance Divas podcast. We bring clarity and simplicity to compliance to keep you on course. Please take a look at our show notes and give us a review at the bottom of the show notes. If you have any questions, you can send the questions to support at the compliancedivas.com. If you have questions for Maggie, Samantha, or Liana, we'll be happy to forward those questions on to them. Until next time, thanks everyone.